Tremor vs Rebel

[MASH]

I'm in a Dodge RAM Rebel rental while my Tremor is in the shop getting an interior makeover. Boy am I glad I bought the Tremor. The only advantages the Rebel has over the Tremor is maybe turn radius and the cool look of the hood. The Tremor excels at everything else; ride, power, noise, electronics, swing tail gate and on and on. The Rebel has a squishy ride, worse than the Ranger Wildtrak I rented in New Zealand earlier this year. I would have thought that the Bilsteins on the Rebel would have been an improvement, but the standard Tremor suspension is more comfortable on the highway. The road noise is annoying. The technology is underwhelming.

 

[Spamslurpee]

I'm in a Dodge RAM Rebel rental while my Tremor is in the shop getting an interior makeover. Boy am I glad I bought the Tremor. The only advantages the Rebel has over the Tremor is maybe turn radius and the cool look of the hood. The Tremor excels at everything else; ride, power, noise, electronics, swing tail gate and on and on. The Rebel has a squishy ride, worse than the Ranger Wildtrak I rented in New Zealand earlier this year. I would have thought that the Bilsteins on the Rebel would have been an improvement, but the standard Tremor suspension is more comfortable on the highway. The road noise is annoying. The technology is underwhelming.

I think the Rebel has more ground clearance than the TREMOR does. But I believe that when leveled, its about the same.

 

[VivasTremor]

I thought the Tremor is more comparable to the RHO?

 

[Escape Hatch]

I thought the Tremor is more comparable to the RHO?

With a tune in the 3.5 the RHO cannot touch it.

 

[TheWaterman]

I thought the Tremor is more comparable to the RHO?

With a tune in the 3.5 the RHO cannot touch it.

This is interesting. I came from a 2019 Ram Rebel with the eTorque 5.7 to my 402a 5.0L Tremor.

I can honestly say the Ford excels in almost every category.

Interior: You can't even compare the quality. The Ram is a bit "flashier" interior but the construction itself is leaps and bounds better in the Ford. Better leather, better quality dash, and IMO, a more thoughtful layout. The stuff they do in the Ford is just much more quality and clever. The locking rear seat, the mobile workstation, the paneling on the doors, etc.

Exterior: The styling is a bit more of a toss up. My wife said it best. The Rebel suited me better when I was younger but now she said the Tremor is more "professional." It's still aggressive but more classy. I will also say, they killed the 5th gen 2.0. The Rebel, used to be really a Rebel. Now it's almost just a slightly tweaked Big Horn with the styling. When I had the 19' Rebel, it was bold. Now it's just sort of ehhh. I do not like the refresh of the 5th gen Ram 1500's at all. Now, the 2500's, those are sharp trucks. Especially the Power Wagon.

Motor: I really think the 5.0L is the king of the 1/2 ton V8's. GM, forget it. Toyota, same. Ram is still making a decent hemi V8 but the eTorque is straight trash and they shove it down all the dealers throats. The Hurricane makes a ton of power but they are still having issues. The Ford 3.5 is tried and true.

Suspension/Drive: I will say the Ram Bilsteins are nothing to brag about. They are made for Stellantis and are no where near their proprietary offerings, direct. My stock Bilsteins were shot by 50k. Although I never had a problem with the rear on my Ram, Ford makes one of the best rears on the market. The front Torsen axle is supposedly leaps and bounds better. The only leg up I give to Ram: The ZF trans and ZF t-case. ZF makes a damn good trans and t-case.

Really the only two things lagging behind the Ram in the Ford are the trans and the over-raked stance. Although, they do say the Tremor has a better entry angle for offroad. How? I am not sure.

The RHO is more comparable to the Raptor. Similar suspension, stance, motor, etc. I always knew it as this:

Tremor vs. Rebel
Raptor vs. RHO
Raptor R vs. TRX

 

[Lobo-Tremor]

The only way you could get me into a dodge would be by loading my coffin into the back of one.

 

[TheWaterman]

The only way you could get me into a dodge would be by loading my coffin into the back of one.

You'd be hard pressed to find second best to the Ford. Ram, as much as folks hate to admit it, is #2.

GM with their garbage V8's? No way. Toyota with the equally garbage motor? Heck no.

I won't say never, but I can't see me leaving Ford.

 

[VivasTremor]

The RHO is more comparable to the Raptor. Similar suspension, stance, motor, etc. I always knew it as this:

Tremor vs. Rebel
Raptor vs. RHO
Raptor R vs. TRX

I always forget about the Standard Raptor.....you are correct though. This lines up better

 

[TheWaterman]

I always forget about the Standard Raptor.....you are correct though. This lines up better

The RHO was fluke in terms of strategy for Stellantis. Tavares, the ex CEO, was terrible. In 2024, when they killed all their performance offerings (Hemi V8, Challenger, TRX) the only bright side was the RHO. But I don't think they actually knew it would be at the time.

The rumor was Tavares and the board didn't want the TRX (along with the Hellcats, etc.) anymore because they were getting away from big V8's, wanted to change the company's vision, and the EPA supposedly was on them for all the years of big gas-guzzling V8's. Which as everyone knows, was an idiotic move. That's what Mopar had been since the 1960's: Off the wall, fun, performance offerings. Without digressing: That birthed the RHO. A twin-turbo baby TRX modeled off the base Raptor. There was SOME sound logic. You see way more base Raptors on the road than TRX's.

Ram had not had a truck to compete against the base Raptor. The Rebel matched nicely with the Tremor but was no match for the base Raptor. They gave up on the super-performance 1/2 ton market and killed the TRX in lieu of the RHO thinking the super-truck market was dead. It's not.

Now the new CEO Filosa, who seems to have much more sense about him, brought back the TRX, Hemi, Challengers and other fun stuff. Guy was smart and decided "Hey we can give them everything they want and people will buy it." Now everything matches up and Ford and Ram continue to be #1 and #2 respectively. The RHO ended up being a nice fit for the those in the base Raptor market.

Stellantis was in sad shape for a while. I was someone who had 15 years of Mopars. I had a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, then a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and lastly my 2019 Ram Rebel. When they announced in 2024 they were doing away with their V8's, combined with all the warranty issues I had, I knew I wasn't getting another Ram. I had already made up my mind on the 5.0 and it was probably going to be in a Tremor.

Long story short, the RHO ended up being a beautiful screw-up that somehow worked out to put them in competition with Ford, vertically in the line up of trucks.