We’ve had Hellcat-powered Rams on the brain for the past several weeks after hanging out with our friend Charles (@that_guy_from_br) and his insane 2019 Ram 1500 “RebHELL” pickup at our friend Dave Hayes’ SRT Hayes private track rental event in Grand Bend, Ontario. While Charles and America’s Most Wanted 4×4 in Holly, Michigan created a monster, some people are still eagerly and patiently awaiting Ram Trucks’ final product to hit showrooms sometime next year. But we are hearing some good news about the future production Rebel TRX, that we figured we would share.
According to a couple of our sources at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the plant is busy installing additional equipment to get ready to start pre-production prototypes in the months to come. While we have seen about a dozen of the all-black lifted Ram 1500 Rebel TRX prototypes running around Metro Detroit and Silver Lake Sand Dunes on Michigan’s West Coast, these upcoming pre-production vehicles will be featuring a completely different look, closer to the vehicle that will be arriving in showrooms during the 2021 model year. Don’t expect these prototypes to be running around with heavy camouflage though.
Our sources, are telling us that the production Rebel TRX will ditch the current sport performance hood in favor of a massive hood scoop. This sport hood scoop will be feed as much cold air as the Hellcat engine needs, as the production version should be running the full 700+ horsepower, unlike the 575 horsepower that the Rebel TRX Concept did back in 2016.
As we learned on our outing with Charles to the track, there might be a specific reason why those early Rebel TRX prototypes are carrying 8-lug heavy-duty axles in the rear of them. The supercharged Hellcat HEMI has no problem spinning the tires with massive off-road tires on it. However, it also loves to snap stock axles. Charles snapped both axles in his RebHELL truck at the track and is now upgrading to Dana 60s to be able to handle the power. The important thing to remember too is when he did break the axles, the truck was only 8 pounds of boost, not the standard Hellcat’s 12 pounds.
We definitely look forward to seeing pre-production prototypes on the road this spring. So be sure to check back to 5thGenRams.com and MoparInsiders.com, as we continue to bring you the latest information on the upcoming Hellcat-powered Ram 1500.
