In January, Mopar Insiders acquired spy shots of a couple of prototype 2023 Ram Heavy Duty pickups. One of the development trucks had been fitted with a new set of towing mirrors that were rumored to pack a ton of features. But an olive green Ram 2500 with a camouflaged hood was touted as a brand new model: A Ram 2500 Rebel. MI kept up with spy shots and speculation since, and thanks to an anonymous source who e-mailed an equipment list, received the best evidence yet that there will be an off-road-focused heavy duty Ram on the market soon.
Of course, Ram already has the Power Wagon. What’s interesting is that the equipment list is for the 2023 Ram 2500 Power Wagon, listing Rebel equipment among the options. The current Power Wagon only offers the 6.4-liter V8 Hemi with 410 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque. According to the optional equipment listed, the 2023 Power Wagon would be available with the 6.7-liter inline-six Cummins tubodiesel. The inclusion of the 68RFE six-speed automatic means this would be the lower-output Cummins with 370 hp and 850 lb-ft; the stouter diesel with 420 hp and 1,075 lb-ft is yoked to the Aisin ASC69RC six-speed transmission. With the options all listed together, we’re not sure if a buyer would need to choose a Rebel package to get the diesel, or if the Power Wagon could have that, too. Other items include a Rebel-themed instrument cluster, Rebel suspension and active rear leveling, a Sports Performance Hood, and a Rebel badge for ready identification.
Crew Cab with a 6’4″ box and four-wheel drive is listed as the only configuration, matching the current Power Wagon; the 1500 Rebel comes in Crew Cab with a 5’7″ box and the option of two-wheel drive. The Rebel wouldn’t come with the Power Wagon’s locking front differential, nor a winch, it seems. However, the standard gross vehicle weight rating is also up to 10,000 pounds. The 2022 Power Wagon is rated at 8,565 pounds, meaning there could be big increases in payload capacity coming for all Power Wagon buyers.
Other included and optional goodies are expected to be available throughout the heavy duty range, like the 12-inch digital gauge cluster and the power telescoping and folding mirrors that bundle supplemental turn signals, auto dimming, blind spot detection, and puddle lights.
An introduction could come later this summer when Ram announces the 2023 lineup. We won’t be surprised to see more price increases coming for next year’s models, making the 2023 Power Wagon more spendy than the $64,000 model on sale now. If the 2500 Rebel automatically comes with the Cummins, it could be an expensive option. Head to Mopar Insiders for a full list of what’s on the early equipment list for the 2023 Power Wagon, but when parsing the list note that the pages aren’t in numerical order.