Ram invited us out to see some of the punishment they dish out during truck development.
When we get a new heavy-duty truck out to our base in Colorado, we’ll typically pitch it against the terrain here or in Moab, or take it on the infamous Ike Gauntlet. Occasionally, automakers will set up their own programs where we can get more insight on the trucks’ capabilities, as Andre and Kase did at Davis Dam in Arizona. This time is a little bit different, though, as Ram invited us out to the Chelsea Proving Grounds (CPG) in Michigan to get a closer look at how it tests ‘QRD’ (Quality, Reliability, Durability) in its new trucks, including this Cummins-powered 3500 Limited dually.
While we can’t show CPG in its entirety since Stellantis uses it to test top secret prototypes (as do other automakers), we can take the Ram 3500 through a battery of tests meant to prove up the truck’s ability to handle severe punishment over years of use, or perhaps find weaknesses engineers need to address through the development and validation process.
The 4,000-acre proving ground has been in operation since 1954, Stellantis has opened CPG up to external customers as of 2023, including to automakers, production companies or other entities that may need to rent out some of the facilities.
In the video below, Andre and Ram Chief Vehicle Synthesis Manager – Truck Segment Doug Killian pitch the Ram 3500 against several obstacles around the proving grounds. That includes frame-twisting concrete humps and dips, climbing up a steep sand hill (and a 32% paved grade, for that matter), running through “serpentine” obstacles, heading off-road, taking on Chalma Road — an insanely bumpy road meant to accelerate endurance testing that Andre soon called “Trauma Road” — and even a 73-foot long, 12-inch deep mud trough meant to test water intrusion. And that’s all before we let it rip with a proper dually burnout, because why not?
Check out how the testing went and how the truck fared in the full video below:
