It's official....we finally took delivery on 08 October 2021 for the base of our future home on wheels - the 2022 Ram Rebel Quad Cab. Anxious the truck would be delayed [again] due to the shortage on semiconductor chips and parts, it was relief when the dealership called to inform us of the arrival of the truck. This truck will be somewhat of a rare build, due to Ram discontinuing the option of the Quad Cab configuration for the 2022 Rebel, which makes it all that much more unique to us! Now that we had our first oil change and a drive across the country to meet Mandy after the 2021 Rebelle Rally, it's time to go over our first impressions!
Initial impressions upon delivery - the truck is aggressive without being ostentatious. The exterior cues project its off road capability and functionality. Everything has a purpose, with the front end sporting a legit skid plate and recovery points. The truck comes from the factory with a 1' taller suspension height from the factory, as well as full skid plates underneath. Other capabilities built into the truck are a locker for the rear axle and hill descent control. As this is our first full size platform, we are looking forward to getting to know its limits and capabilities, but it seems plenty capable to tackle the trails!
The truck proved plenty capable offroad during our initial trip to Rausch Creek. As expected, the size of the truck took some getting used to and becoming familiar with the its dimensions was vital to avoiding damage. The two primary concerns was the trucks width and wheelbase on some of the tighter trails. With some expert spotting from Mandy, experience with the Gladiator's wheel base while stock navigating tricky areas, and use of the trucks camera systems, we made it through the day without damage (only a few scrapes to the skid plates). With the 3.92 gearing and the torque from the 5.7 liter Hemi V8, the truck crawled over everything with minimal effort.
Thoughts on the truck's camera system - these provided not only a front, rear, and side view, but also a bird's eye surround view of the vehicle which came in handy when approaching obstacles. For a stock vehicle with no modifications, the truck proved plenty capable and went everywhere we pointed it and once we got comfortable with it on the trails, it didn't feel as large as you would expect for an oversized truck.
The interior is impressive. Ram has done an awesome job designing a space that is comfortable, modern and functional. Every surface exudes quality and luxury - not a bad place to log some serious miles. We opted for features to make travel enjoyable; such as heated, adjustable seats; and safe; adaptive cruise control, lane departure assist, and blind spot monitoring. So far we've been happy with those features and despite Mandy giving Josh a hard time for the MASSIVE screen, it will come in handy for long trips and let's face it, just looks cool!
While the truck is full of pros, there are a handful of cons worth pointing out.
Why is the spare tire an A/T Falken, when the four tires from the factory are Goodyear Wranglers? Not only is it a different brand, but a different size. We've already ordered a matching replacement to correct this problem, given we plan to rotate the spare in with each oil change like we do on our Jeeps. Be aware of this if you didn't already know.
The new wireless Car Play. It's buggy. Thankfully this is known and seems to be something they are actively working on, but we're having a ton of issues with our devices staying connected, connecting in general. The dealership flashed the system to reset everything and that seemed to help, but it still needs some work.
Mandy's comment - the seat heat is weak! For how powerful the truck is, we would have expected it to be warmer. She's a user of seat heat year around to ease tense muscles after the gym and just a sore back from sitting so much! We honestly wouldn't know they were on if we hadn't pushed the button!
One oil change done, many more to go. We're happy with our decision to go this route 9,000 miles in. Now it is time to get some recovery gear and protection on the vehicle while we continue to research our options for the flat bed for our future camper. Stay tuned for what we find and continue to follow along with our build. Thanks for reading!