Dodge was such a marginal player in the 1980s pickup market that it could risk adding a Cummins diesel to the line. After all, it had virtually nothing to lose.
The first 3/4- and 1-ton American pickup equipped with a heavy-duty turbodiesel engine was the 1989 Ram packing the 5.9-liter Cummins straight-six turbodiesel. Though it was rated at only 160 hp, the Cummins made a massive 400 lb-ft of torque at only 1,700 rpm. That simply revolutionized the world of towing. So much so, in fact, that today the vast majority of heavy-duty pickups come equipped with turbodiesel power.
Yes, GM did install its legendarily horrid Oldsmobile diesel V8 in pickups during the late ’70s. But they inspired revulsion, not a revolution. And there had been other diesel pickups, too. But it was the turbocharged Cummins that changed everything.
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