The 2009 Dodge Ram 2500 is Dodge's three-quarter ton pickup. There are a lot of pickups around, of course, and a lot of them are from other countries, especially Japan, but at this level the competition is all American. Aside from Dodge, you can get this size pickup only from Chevrolet, GMC and Ford. This year's version of the Ram 2500 hasn't changed in looks, but it has added larger brake rotors with twin piston calipers, and remote start is now available on the diesel engine.

Speaking of engines, there are two available. The standard engine is the Dodge Hemi, a 5.7 liter, 345 horsepower gasoline V8 - a reintroduction of the famous Dodge engine of the sixties. Optionally, with any trim, you can get the almost equally famous 6.7 liter 350 horsepower I6 Cummins Turbodiesel. Either one should give you all the power you need.

Like engines, there is a choice of transmissions. Again, standard on all trims is the 5-speed automatic with overdrive. Or you can get a 6-speed automatic and a 6-speed manual, both with overdrive, on all trims.

There are no mileage figures for the larger pickup trucks, but you don't have to be a wiz with numbers to figure out that having so much power pulling and that much weight won't give you 30 miles per gallon. 10 or less is more like it.

There is a plethora of trims available on the Ram 2500, but they break down into four basics - ST, SXT, SLT and Laramie, in ascending order of cost and features. Each comes with cab options of regular (2-door), quad (small back seat) or crew (full back seat). All but the ST also come with Dodge's Mega Cab, an even larger version of the crew cab. There is also a sport version of the four-wheel drive called the Power Wagon.

Except for the Power Wagon, all trims come with either 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive. Dodge's 4-wheel drive has the special feature of not only a locking rear, but a locking front, differential.

As with fuel efficiency, these vehicles are not required to undergo NHTSA safety testing, however, since they are the next thing to a tank, there should be no particular worries in that department - unless you happen to be in the car that gets hits by one, of course.

Maximum payload and horsepower are above average for class. The bigger cabs, especially the Mega Cab, have excellent passenger space, and the unlimited power train warranty is about as good as that gets. Overall, the only knock on the Ram 2500 is that it is about an inch and a half lower on ground clearance than class average - a minor issue if there ever was one.

The Dodge Ram 2500 starts at $28,685 which is a little higher than the base price of competitors. Still, it competes well with them, or beats them, in almost every other category.