[Sgtark]

How did they come up with the generations? was 88 the first year the trucks were called ram? I thought it was earlier than that. Gen1 technically started in 1972 and went to 93. only differences were the sheet metal. I know that GenII and GenIII look similar but is GenIII a completely new truck?

 

[Dodgevanman]

Well...we had to divide it up at some point and the break-off point was 1987. One reason is because EFI started in 1988. I think the Ram designation started in the early 80's (1981??). I agree that the sheetmetal is the only difference really, but we didn't want to have one forum covering almost 25-30 years worth of truck models.

1972-1987 model years are covered in the Vintage section.

 

[FreeLantz]

How did they come up with the generations? was 88 the first year the trucks were called ram? I thought it was earlier than that. Gen1 technically started in 1972 and went to 93. only differences were the sheet metal. I know that GenII and GenIII look similar but is GenIII a completely new truck?

2nd generation Rams are 1994-2001 models. Yes, they were completely different than the truck they replaced, the 1st generation Ram (the bodystyle of which had been virtually unchanged since '72).

3rd generation Rams are 2002 to present ('05) models. Again, completely different than the 2nd gens.

As far as the vintage trucks, Nate just about covered that already! And actually, before Nate joined us and helped reorganize the forums a bit, the first generation Ram forum did cover all of the trucks from '72 until '93.

 

[Dodgevanman]

Yeah...it's hard to determine "generations" on a truck that remained basically the same body style for almost 25 years. Dodge vans are really hard because they basically had the same shape and chassis configuration for 32 years, but you have to make due with what you have and determine a good cut-off point. In the early Ram and Ram Vans case I just figured, "Okay, how about the carbureted models go in the Vintage section and fuel injected models stay on the main page." This site does cater to the modern computerized fuel injection vehicles, so those vehicles should be at the forefront.