The Ram Power Wagon is the most rugged off-road variant of the brand’s heavy-duty pickup truck, powered exclusively by a 6.4-liter V-8 gasoline engine. Ram offers a 6.7-liter Cummins diesel straight-six engine in its other HD trucks, and recently, more customers have expressed interest in a diesel-powered Power Wagon. A Ram powertrain engineer informed Invoice Pricing that while a diesel-powered version of the HD off-roader won’t be available for the 2025 model year, it remains a possibility for the future. Heavy-duty, off-road pickup trucks from Ford and General Motors come with diesel engines, but the Ram Power Wagon does not. It only comes with one engine choice: a naturally aspirated 6.4-liter V-8 gas engine. Unlike turbo-diesel engines, this one doesn’t need a compressor. Ram needs the Power Wagon to have a winch, and the supercharger gets in the way of a front-mounted winch, which is one of the main reasons why it can only run on gas. The brand’s most powerful HD off-road car may finally get a diesel engine, though. A Ram Power Wagon with a Cummins engine? A recent chat with one of Ram’s powertrain engineers by Invoice Pricing says that customers have asked for a diesel Power Wagon instead of Toyota’s 4Runner, which doesn’t have a manual transmission. In fact, we found that a lot of clients have recently asked for it, and their wishes are being taken into account. “We hear what’s going on,” the Ram tech said. If there’s a chance, we can make it happen.” A worker at Ram said that a diesel Power Wagon wouldn’t be ready until after the 2025 model year, but he didn’t give a specific date. We’ve now driven the newest Cummins turbo-diesel, a 6.7-liter straight-six engine with 430 horsepower and 1075 pound-feet of torque. It’s part of Ram’s HD range, which was just completely redesigned. At the moment, only the Hemi V-8 engine, with 405 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque, can power the Power Wagon. The Ram 2500 Rebel, which is made for off-roading, comes with a Cummins engine. Some users still want the Power Wagon to have a Cummins engine, but the Ram engineer thinks the application is good for use off-road. “It’s like, for some reason, people want 1000 pound-feet of torque to put in the sand,” he said. Of course, what can be done and what will be done are not the same thing. For now, people who have wished for a Power Wagon with a diesel engine know that it is known. If people keep wanting them, Ram might finally give its HD off-roader diesel power.
