Ram is ready to ramp things up.
The truckmaker has received a patent for a unique built-in ramp system for pickups.
The design features two extendable ramps flush-mounted to the floor in tracks that continue through the lowered tailgate. There, a perpendicular track allows them to be moved side to side to accommodate wheeled vehicles – like ATVs and lawnmowers – of any width that will fit in the bed.
The patent describes the ramps being covered in the same material as the bed floor.
The new Ford F-150 offers an integrated ramp system, but it requires them to be detached and stored on the bed walls, where they take up space.
There’s no official word if it will be featured on the Ram 1500 or its heavy duty models when they’re redesigned over the next several years, but it’s not the only innovation the company has been exploring. Last year, Ram filed a patent application for a barn door-style tailgate that can either be flipped down conventionally, or swung open to the sides.
Now if it could just figure out how to combine the two ideas. Then again, maybe it already has.