Sponsored by Ram Trucks
We here at Fish’n Canada certainly have some road experience when it comes to travelling to a fishin’ hole. Whether it be by Ang or Pete venturing to a walk along a creek bank for Brook Trout, or a full crew heading to the east coast of Canada with the boat in tow for a week-long saltwater adventure. We have pretty much done it all.
The following list compiles all of those “little” extra features that we feel put our Ram trucks in the forefront of “Gettin’ There” when it pertains to style, comfort, safety, and convenience!
1 – ALL-ROUND COMFORT
We can pretty much guarantee that a “short” drive to the fishin’ hole for us is at least an hour and a half. Add in a coffee stop, complete with apple fritter and maybe a BLT bagel, and then we are pushing the two hour mark.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Walleye and Brook Trout havens of northwestern Ontario, though well worth the trip, often require drives approaching 20 hours in length. That equals a lot of truck time.
Comfort for all passengers during these hauls is critical if we expect to perform at our best while on the water – and our Rams provide plenty of it.
As per the Ram Canada website, they state:
2021 RAM 1500 CLASSIC, COMFORT AND CAPABILITY AWAIT YOU
And that is for the Classic… wait until you sit your butt down in a Limited model!
2 – RamBox® STORAGE BINS
There are so many features on our Ram trucks that make things convenient for us, but one of our favourite features that you always hear us harping about is our RamBox storage bins.
At first glance, we too thought that there would be way too much box or bed/floor room taken away with this feature and that made us hesitant. Once we saw the difference though, it was a must-have option.
First off, inside the truck bed, the only room you lose is in front, behind, and on top of the wheel wells. The important question is: will a 4×8 sheet of plywood still fit in the bed?
You bet.
We love the extra dry, lockable storage that you gain from your RamBox storage bins. It far outweighs the loss of a bit of bed/box space.
This creative option is truly remarkable!
3 – TAILGATE EXTENDER
This feature has pulled us out of the storage fire more than once. If loaded properly, we can put an extraordinary amount of gear into the box of our truck, and that is even with a tonneau cover on.
By pushing anything that needs dry storage towards the front of the box, we can then leave the items that aren’t hurt by rain, sleet, snow,etc,towards the back. Simply, leave the tailgate down, put the tailgate extender in, and load er’ up!
4 – AIR SUSPENSION
Ok, this one is most definitely a luxury, however, if you plan to tow a heavy boat, motor, trailer combo – this can be ultra important.
Have you ever had your truck’s rear end sag or get weighed down when a big, heavy trailer is attached? Perhaps the tongue weight of that trailer is not balanced due to improper weight distribution. Well, with Ram’s air suspension, that extra weight will be compensated for and your truck will do what it is supposed to – ride perfectly level.
Another trick we have learned (see right hand image above) is to lower the suspension before hooking up a trailer and then, once in position, raise the suspension up, limiting the cranking of the wheel jack. Yeah that’s kinda being spoiled but… why not!
5 – FLAT-FLOOR BACK SEAT STORAGE
This is a feature that we discovered on our latest Ram Truck. It is handy for a couple of reasons. First, if you have a middle passenger in the back seat, they no longer have to deal with the typical “hump” that sits over the transmission. Second, it creates a nice flat area to store fishing gear, (when the seat is lifted up) so tackle boxes, fish finders, plus so much more will not be rolling over onto each other.
6 – IN FLOOR STORAGE
Here is one we love for all the things that we don’t want to carry on the boat (saves weight and so on). By putting a small tool pouch in the floor storage cavity, this hidden compartment becomes the ultimate “go-to” that we have found use for again and again while on the road. Throw in some pliers, an adjustable wrench, some screwdrivers, a tape measure, and you’ll be surprised how much you use this hidden gem!
7 – 360 DEGREE SURROUND VIEW
Oftentimes we will have the need to park our rig (truck alone or truck and boat) in a not-so-perfect spot. Maybe it’s tight to a curb between two driveways. With our 360 degree surround view camera, we never have the need to get out, do that typical circle around the entire rig, and then back in to make more adjustments. Now it is simply drive up, look at the surround view, and exit the truck and lock it. Quick and easy!
8 – BACKUP CAMERA
Where would we be without these babies, right? Gone are the days of cranking our necks only to get “close, but not quite!”
With our Ram Truck’s backup camera, hitting that perfect spot is a cinch!
For some reason, and trust us, we don’t know why, our eyes tend to misdirect us while using the backup camera; we sometimes get a bit confused. That is where the guides come in really handy. By watching them and meticulously maneuvering the truck in the proper direction indicated, we can more often than not hit the trailer hitch to the tongue perfectly.
9 – MULTI FUNCTION TAILGATE
How many times have you wanted to reach “just a bit further” into the bed of your truck? With us, if our tonneau cover is locked on, and we only have to grab a single small(ish) item like a tackle tray or tackle box, we really don’t want to undo the tonneau or crawl up underneath it… I mean, come on, it’s just one item and… well… we’re no spring chickens anymore.
That extra space with the tailgate out of the way… that’s just awesome!
10 – BLIND SPOT WARNING WITH BOAT ATTACHED
This is an amazing feature on our Ram Truck that takes away all the guessing. Blind spot detection on its own is such a treat, however, once you add a trailer into the mix, having our truck compensate for the extra length is phenomenal.
This means if we have someone starting to pass us on the left, we know enough to stay in our lane. If we are passing someone else, our warning light does not shut off until we are completely passed… truck and boat together. What a game-changer!
CONCLUSION
There you have it. Insight from a couple of guys who tow boats on trailers spring, summer, and fall. Take it from us, all of the above features will come in handy on pretty much every trip you take.
Comfort, safety, and convenience are the keys to a successful voyage to the lake, and back home.
