The Paris Motor Show might be happening, but half a world away, the 2016 Texas State Fair is the epicenter for truck debuts today. Impressive stuff is debuting from the Big Three, but nothing competes with Ram’s new concept truck – the Ram Rebel TRX. It’s a Hellcat-powered Ram 1500 with 37-inch tires, a fully custom suspension with 13 inches of wheel travel, a six-inch wider track, and a one-off interior that showcases just what Ram engineers and designers want to build.

First off, the engine. Okay, so it might be a Hellcat Hemi V-8 displacing the familiar 6.2 liters, but it’s been tuned for high-speed off-road truck duty. That means dropping the horsepower and torque figures to keep from snapping axles or exploding the transfer case. The supercharged V-8 makes a still-respectable 575 horsepower. Torque figures aren’t release, but expect a drop from the 650 pound-feet in the standard-tune Hellcat. Nevertheless, the Rebel TRX Concept is the most powerful Ram ever built – even more powerful than the 500-horsepower, Viper-powered Ram SRT10.

There’s so much more to this truck, though, so keep on reading for the full run-down.

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The TorqueFlite 8HP70 automatic is present, but with new calibrations to match the engine and ECU tune. The transmission can be controlled via huge paddle shifters on the Alcantara-covered Viper steering wheel. The eight-speed is mated to a BorgWarner 44-45 transfer case that sends power to the front axle when the driver selects 4WD or 4WD low range. External bypass shocks at all four corners keep the truck floating over rough terrain. Massive 37-inch Toyo mud-terrain tires wrap 18-inch beadlock wheels. Drilled rotors and upgraded brake calipers bring the Rebel TRX to a stop.

For the first time, this Ram boasts a terrain mode selector system, allowing the driver to choose different terrain modes including Normal, Wet/Snow, Off-Road, and Baja. The rotary dial resides where the transmission shifter normally is, with Ram designers electing to use a traditional console-mounted gear lever.


Speaking of the interior, the Rebel TRX Concept uses many of the same components from the Ram 1500 Rebel, on which it’s based. This truck gets six-point safety harness, a steering wheel borrowed from the Dodge Viper, pull-strap door releases, a bank of auxiliary switches, the one-off terrain mode selector and console-mounted gear shifter, and an integrated GoPro camera mount near the rearview mirror.

Outside, the Rebel TRX Concept gets a unique look thanks to Baja-style wide fenders, one-off bumper designs, a center hood scoop with side heat extractors, dual side-pipe exhausts, a custom headache rack with LED off-road lights, and a bed-mounted spare tire carrier. A two-tone paint scheme is completed with huge TRX and RAM logos.

Of course, this is only a concept, so don’t get your hopes up for Ram to start rolling these off the production line. However, with the off-road market heating up thanks to the 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor and the upcoming Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, we’d surprised if Ram didn’t build a production truck inspired by the Rebel TRX Concept. Let’s just hope the Hellcat powerplant and 37-inch tires make the cut!


But here’s the thing: This won’t happen unless consumers let Ram know they want it. Ram even said so in its press release, saying, “ Ram Rebel TRX concept is an engineering, design, and consumer-interest study for an extreme performance half-ton pickup.” That’s where you come in, my awesome readers. Ram needs to see actual consumer interest, so get out there and make some noise about this concept.

We’ll have a full review of the 2017 Ram Rebel TRX Concept in the next few days, so stay tuned to TopSpeed Trucks.