Skip the Sappy Cards, Enter “My Dad & His Ram” Father’s Day Contest

June 9, 2010 | by | 34 Comments

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There’s nothing that your father loves more than his Ram Truck and chances are, you’ve got at least one cool story about it. We know this because we’ve got one (or ten) ourselves and we’ve told it so many times that the guy we buy our bait from knows it word-for-word. Recently, we’ve come to realize that there are only so many times you can tell a particular story before you stop getting invited on fishing trips. If you’re beginning to draw the same conclusions, keep reading.

 

We here at RamZone have no aversion to shooting the breeze and as a matter of fact, we actually welcome it. That’s why for Father’s Day, we’re giving you the chance to unload your favorite story about Dad & his trusty Ram and win big in the process. It can be any story of your choosing – from the time Dad towed out your school bus to that ill-advised barn raising – we want to hear it about it. Make us laugh, make us cry, make us wonder if perhaps social services shouldn’t have intervened at some point. The six of you with the most touching tales will snag some heavy duty swag for Dad, and possibly oust your smarmy brother-in-law as the favorite child.

 

To get in on the action, leave your entry in the comment box below and be sure to register with a valid email address. Submissions will be accepted until 12:00 AM EST on Friday, June 18, 2010 and winners will be announced Father’s Day June 20, 2010. The Grand Prize winner will receive an Atomic Solar G-Shock Watch while five Honorable Mention winners will earn the Graphica 4-in-1 pen.

 

You’ve got less than two weeks to land Dad a present that will instantly make up for years of gifting various personal grooming devices, so get writing!

 

Image courtesy of Flickr member muirtrail68

  • Adrian Thompson

    My Dad owned a 1969 Dodge Adventurer that had a 440 Magnum under the hood. As a kid, my brothers and I loved riding in that ridiculously fast truck. Let’s just say that our Dad taught us all about G forces and acceleration in that beast!

  • Ann White

    my dad is a rebel at heart no doubt about it. He owns a 98′ dodge cumminis, 12 valve automatic 2 wheel drive, and its all mechanical, not computer. so lets just say alot of people want it. and to make it even more manly its purple with snoopy stickers on the windows. my dad drives that truck like a kid, and i remember this one time we had a trailer full of cattle hooked up and we went all the way down the on ramp and realized the interstate was backed up full of traffic. my dad threw it in reverse truck and trailer and all went all the way back up the on ramp. Hes my role model, and i love him no matter the crazzy things he does.

  • Kayla Dunnuck

    My Dad earned himself the nickname of “Gate-Slayer” after he got a real nice Dodge a few years back, an ’04 navy blue, four door dually and completely destroyed the tail-gate. Completely here being, he forgot to put the tail-gate down when he unhitched the gooseneck trailer…. Then he ran it over….. Twice…. (Don’t ask me how he managed that one I have NO idea!) Everyone called it Big Blue or simply, Roger’s Truck. There were only two trucks in town just like Big Blue but what set my Dad’s apart from the others was that Big Blue was always filthy, muddy, full of plumbing supplies and missing a Tail-gate! After many trusty years Big Blue was finally passed on as a work truck and traded in on a lighter blue, ’04, four door. Now this truck was loved just as much as the first, the only thing missing was the dual wheels. It can’t have been 4 or 5 months after my Dad gained possesion of this truck that he, true to his name, took out the tail-gate with a skidsteer…. now he drives around town with a 2×4 holdin in his cargo!

  • Brandon bailey

    my dad owns a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 4×4 with the 318 5.2l magnum that is purple and ram head stickers on the windows since it is the only one in town it is knowin as the purple people eater the truck runs great an is driven every were

  • my dad has a black ram that he has done alot of things to. he is always working on his truck. i enjoy going to shows with him. the last show we went to he won first place. i love him and love his truck!

  • kali

    I think the day we had so much fun out of 11 years, in this truck me and my brothers went with my dad in his 1999 dodge ram up Mt. Lemon and the highway was closed so insted we went to Mt.Reddington and we notice people were going through a fast running creak with their trucks and cars. my dad told us “Hmmmm, i dont think we can go through, it might be goin’ too fast.” i told him “Do you really think that its fast? just GO” we went after couple of trucks and cars went and the creak was so fast it basically washed my dad’s truck. we all laughed and they tried to scare me and we did so many doughnuts that was so hilarious…We had this truck since i was a baby and my brother was a baby…We grew up with it. he loves the truck so much h spends so much time on it, there is NO WAY he will sell the truck ANY time soon! its the best truck EVER!

  • patti

    my father has owned a ram pick up for as long as I can remember. My favorite was the 71 adventurer club cab,Tiger Lily with an awesome cap. My father hopped up the suspension to 1 ton rating with extra leafs and air shocks, that truck was used and abused, but kept running. Unfortunately my dad’s circumstances changed and he had to get rid of it, but he sold it to a friend in 1993, that truck is still running today the friend’s son is now driving it. I always associate my dad with the truck, I think that’s why I got a ram for myself. My dad likes to borrow my truck, think he misses his. I get a kick out of an 83 years young guy speeding around town in the truck

  • Jared

    On my birthday about 5 years ago I went with my stepdad to look at new trucks. We drove through the auto mall and he was set on a Ford but I made him drive by the Dodge Dealership in Salinas. As we went past I noticed a gray 2005 Quad Cad with a HEMI sitting there and made him stop. It was being sold as used with 226 miles on the Odometer. It was a Chrysler owned truck they took to shows. A loaded Laramie. He bought it and I got to drive it home for him. I was not very close with him for most of my or his. It was that year and after the truck purchase that we talked and it helped bring us closer. Sadly he only got to enjoy the truck for about 6 months before he passed.

  • Chad Coble

    I have own my Dodge for about 2 years konw it is a 2001 pickup and i will not drive anything but a dodge

  • Alonzo Sullivan Jr.

    The Good Guys in White Hats: The Story of an old Dodge and the Sullivan Clan

    This is more of a saga than a single story. It all began in 1973; my dad got his driver’s license with his dad’s 1957 Dodge stepside. It was the beginning to a life-long affair between the Sullivan men and Dodge trucks. It would be the first of many trusty old Dodge trucks sitting in the background of pictures of dad on his hunting forays. I can close my eyes right now and see that old black 57, right behind my then young dad and one of his many whitetail kills.
    Fast-forward to 1984. My dad works hard as an ironworker to provide for me and my mom. It has taken many years, but he can finally reward himself with his first new truck…a bright red D100. It was a slant 6, 4spd, with no radio or air….but he loved it! That old truck served him like a faithful friend for twelve years without one single breakdown! It was the very truck that sealed my fate, the one that made me fall in love with the sleek, clean lines that only an 80’s Dodge truck has. I can still open the albums and see it shining in the sun right after one of dad’s lovingly wax jobs, or it’s visage memorialized in hundreds of photos with deer, turkey, coyotes, etc. He treated that bare-bones, base-model truck like it was a Cadillac, no eating in it, keep your feet off the dash, don’t scratch it, etc.
    Meanwhile, the family was busy. My dad’s two brothers also jumped on board and bought new 1984 and a 1986 Dodges. His brother-n-law bought a new 1984, and his dad (my grandpa), traded in his Dodge van for a new 1986 D150 slant-6 automatic. Well, as grandpa grew older and could no longer drive, he offered to sell my dad this pristine, 20000 mile 10 year old truck in 1996. Dad, who like me today, was in love with the simple, durable, reliable 80’s Dodges, jumped all over it. So, from 1996 to 2006, dad once again proudly drove his new base model, slant six Dodge like it was the finest of Cadillacs. He may have worked outside in the heat as a welder every day, but he always beamed with pride to drive home in his old Dodge…never minding that it also had no a/c or radio.
    My father is a good man, who passed down to his two sons on how to live right and be good men. He passed down to me a love of the outdoors, a love of nature around me. He passed down to me his honesty, respectfulness, and sense of duty. He also passed down to me his love affair with the 80’s Dodge trucks and the reknown slant six engine. In 2008, he passed down to me his father’s 1986 D150 slant-six. He loves it so much, that he couldn’t bear to see it leave the family. So, as of today…the old truck is lovingly serving the third generation of the Sullivan clan as a daily driver. One day, I hope I am half the man my father is; the man who worked like a dog to provide for us without a single complaint, who taught us how to be good men, who never was anything less than a model father. One day when I too have a son, I can pass on the virtues he bestowed upon me and the old Dodge his father passed to my father, who passed it to me.

  • michaela

    my dad has always been a mopar man! his daily driver is a next to perfect 1985 dodge ram pick up w-350 prospector. its a bad ass truck and it gets a thumbs up every where we go. no one believes its a daily driver, let alone never been garaged. my dad works for our local chrysler dealership and has been known to be a hero with his ram. one time the dealership had ordered a shed and the delivery man was having difficulty positioning the shed. my dad used his ram to push the shed into place, and everyone was amazing at the combination of power and grace that truck possessed. one year during a snow storm, the truck being used to plow out the dealership lot got stuck, and again, my dad and his dodge came to the rescue, pulling the truck out of the snow and slush and finishing off the plowing job on his own. my dad takes wonderful care of his ram, constantly washing it and maintaining the engine, however, his ram is not babied. we use it to plow snow, tow our travel trailer, and haul load of stone, wood, and any other material we might need. i have always joked that mopar is like a second religion to our family, its what we eat, breathe, and sleep, and just last week my dad was driving to work when one of the fuel like sprung a lead spewing fuel right on to the hot exhaust manifold. my dad could have went up in flames in his ram, but the mopar gods were watching and he allowed my dad and his ram to drive on another days, and i know my dad and his ram will be around for a very long time! my dad is a great dad and his ram is a wonderful truck! it most definitely makes the streets prettier to look at! just like my dad has never let me down, his ram has never let him down! truly a match made in mopar heaven!!

  • Nancy

    hi so my dad owns a 1990 dodge power ram with a 318 in it. its a 4 wheel drive. so its in pretty rough shape but the only reason he keeps it, is because it used to be my grampas truck. it was his first brand new truck and my dad bought it for him so now he is in the process of trying to restore it but its not moving to quickly. anyway the important thing is that even though its been sitting for almost 2 years now it always starts with the first turn of the key and rins like a charm

  • marcus brawner

    Dwayne Barker is his name, He isn’t my real dad but, He is my step. He has put up with me an tried an tried to drill life lessons into my head during my rebellious teenage years, and during that Time he had bought a 1997 dodge 4×4 to go along with his 1993 and it was beautiful, During our “peacetime” moments I would kid that one day I would buy that 97′ off of him, few years later, I found myself in iraq in 2007-08, realizing and reflecting on things he use to tell me, and turns out it was all for my own good, came home on leave (by this time he no longer had the 93′ but now a 2002 quad and still had the 97 4×4 and He seen that I had grown up and changed for the better and sold me the 97 for just $2,500 and I’ve been not fixing, but beefing up that 97 and showing him what all ive done an how much care I’ve takin care of that truck ever since. He introduced me to MOPAR, and frankly,you wouldn’t catch me behind the wheel of anything else thanks to that man, my step dad, Dwayne barker.

  • micky

    this is not abot my dad, this is about my great grandfather, but its a story that all ram fans will appreciate. back in the 1970’s my poppop and my “big poppop,” as we called him, shared a to car garage. my poppop parked his plymouth gran coupe on the left side and my big poppop parked his dodge ram on the right. one early summer morning, before the sun even rose, a gas fire ignited in the garage. my whole family ran outside and watched as the plymouth became engulfed in flames. there was soo much smoke that you couldnt even see my big poppops ram pick up, but he know he could stand there and watch his dodge burn to the ground, so he took his hankerchief out of his pocket, covered his face, and went in. everyone was yelling at him to get out of there, and he did. all of seconds later my big poppop came screaming out of the smoke filled garage… in his dodge pick up. it was like a scene from a movie, and something that has been talked about in my family ever since. my big poppop has since passed, and his dodge ram is long gone, but it just goes to show the bond a man can have with his dodge!!

  • Kerri Iverson

    So we’re driving down the road, with our living quarters horse trailer, fully LOADED!! When all of a sudden some idiot, with no load hauling experience, thinks its okay to just dart in and out of heavy traffic without looking. When my 8 year old son says to his dad,
    “It’s okay dad. Just RAM it!”

  • Jenn Wolf

    My Dad is a member of the US Veterans MC and volunteers at the Northport, NY Veterans Administration, The Jacobs Light Foundation, The Patriot Guard Riders, American Legion and numerous other Veterans Organizations that I don’t know the names of. His mode of transportation other than his 2003 Harley Motorcycle is an old beat up suv that is kept together by ?????? He sure could use a new truck for his activities, especially in bad weather.

  • Joseph Syman

    My dads had alot of pickups, he buys sells and gets rid of more cars then most people will have in a lifetime, but let me tell you if even mentioned getting rid of his ram there would be a storm. He has gone through more crashes with his rams then a normal man but every time he would never get a scratch. Some people would call it luck some people would say gods watching over him i think its because of that reliable truck and how it was built that saved his life and i thank you for it.

  • Jason Dorsey

    I’m only eight years old and I love ridin in my fathers ram pickup.anytime were on the beach my dad pulls at least six people out of the deep sand.The best time I had in his truck was when me my dad and my three year old brother were drivin up a steep hill in alot of snow and me and my brother were making Noises with our mouths because the truck was bouncing around and we laught for a very long time .

  • Alex

    My dad owned a 1999 2500 extended cab, 8 foot bed, 5.9 gas job. About four years ago, him and my brother decided to go hunting, on Thanksgiving day. Long story short i got a call as soon as the turkey was done, saying come get us. He was stuck in the mud, up to the hood. Him working for Sunbelt Rentals at the time, he went to work, picked up a lull and his 18 wheeler. We got back to the spot were the dodge was stuck and he used the Lull to pull it out. After it was out, we loaded the lull and the truck, on his lowboy trailer, and headed home. You should have seen the looks we got when we jumped on the highway. Lets just say mom wasn’t to happy when we got home and the dinner was cold.

  • Rebecca

    My story starts out with a 1984 white Dodge pickup truck. I know the exact year because that was the year I was born. My father is a wielder and used the truck for his business; including the racks he created to attach to the bed. I’m not sure if I have a funny story as much as I have a lifetime of memories with the truck involved. I remember one time that we went camping in PA. It was raining and storming pretty bad when my father parked the truck outside our tent only to have the brakes fail and it start to roll backwards. I can safely say that it didn’t hurt anybody except for the door that my father propped open to try to get in it to stop it. The truck was fixed to run again over and over. The rust was the culprit of the decline in the truck instead of motor failure. I can remember all the days that I was out there helping to fix it. By helping I mean holding the flashlight because he worked till night. He even went so far as to find another dodge to use to replace the doors and hood; the funny part is that the truck he found was red. Thus the memories included a white truck with red strips. My father loved that truck so much that when it finally died he left it on the hill to our backyard to someday restore it. He believed in that truck so much that I think that a piece of him left with it when he finally had to get rid of it; to the crusher. If I could get anything for my father on father’s day I would gladly get him another Dodge truck that he can strut around in.

  • DuaneK

    My Dad’s Dodge 4×4 Prospector, went every were, muddin, haulin hay, pullin a camper to the mountains, out on frozen lakes, up town, down town, never was damaged, it just got little overspray on it, and the only thing it really ever needed was oil changes and tires. The Best memory i had in that truck short of learnin to shift, in the middle on the bench seat.. lol. We went elk hunting every year, my uncle went and bought the new chevy 6.2 turbo diesel, and of course the contest was on! They were both hooked up to a 8 place horse trailer, with all the gear. We knew were the test would really begin, headin through the pass, the glass packs echoed and kackled, the ‘ol mans pickup never let us down, it just left that shiny new chevy in the dust!! My uncle Was PIzzZed! lol..He still owns this pickup to this day, but it’s my ’09 RAM that takes us on trips now!!

  • Garrett M.

    My dad has a 91′ dodge 250 cummins turbo diesel 4×4. It has over 300,000 miles and the original clutch. My dad later bought a 99′ dodge ram 2500 with a cummins and 4×4 witch he traded for a 2002 1 ton ford 7.3L powerstroke. Now he regrets trading the 99′ dodge off for a ford. But the funny thing is that that 91′ 3/4 ton dodge can still keep up or maybe sometimes beat that 1 ton powerstroke ford which has all the problems these days.

  • Trevor F.

    My dad bought a 1987 D250 Ram in 2000. It is of course a 3/4 ton one legged wonder that has the famous hillside hemi. It has been passed through every child learning how to drive in our family. One time we were on our way home from a cross country trip when about 3 miles from home, we ran out of gas. But, funny thing is, that giant truck had enough momentum to get us back home, PAYLOAD AND ALL! My dad just started laughing when we actually rounded into our driveway, because he said he was gonna make ME push the sucker had we not!

  • Pete S.

    My dad had a 1978 dodge sno commander and one of the things i remeber most about that truck was that in 1993 (yes it was still running strong then) we had a major blizzard. One of my dads friends had a snow removal business and his two trucks which were fords were both broke and he had to call my dad to come plow for him, I went with my dad and we were out plowing for over 36 hours straight and the dodge didn’t skip a beat, i loved that truck so much that in 1998 i bought a 1977 ramcharger with a 440 big block in it. i still have the ramcharger and plan to do a restoration on it hopefully with my son when he gets a little older!

  • Danielle S.

    hello! my dad had built a dodge powerwagon with a 440 in it, between the years 1976 to 1978. he took parts from different trucks to make it his way! he painted in international harvestor red and it is a sweet truck! it took him a few years to build it, it was a hobbie truck, and it is my fav truck! it has a loud exhaust that you can hear for at least half a mile! my dad is on of my best friends, he was told about 3 years ago that he has farmers lung aka black lung, and that he was givin only 5 years to live. so far hes doing good, hes on oxygen most days though. he has been a farmer for most of his life and a truck driver for many years too. his father past away when he was 12 and his one brother raised him in place of his father. my dad had a boy when he was young and he was killed when he was 17 by his “friend”. my mom had brain surgery to remove a tumer about 5 years ago and she is doing good so far too. so need less to say my dad and family have been through alot! my dad is my hero and i love him very much!

  • Jackie Hart

    The true love of a Ram is what my dad has. My dad got his first Ram in 1994 the new desgin the new look , It fit him he soon moved on to a 2000 red Ram. He never left them just standard he always tricked them out. graphic details, inside and out the best sound system, the best lighting the best of everything. People stopped and waited for his trucks. He moved on to a 2003 Ram Quad cab and it was love at first site. I think he had all the plans for the improved Ram before the ink dried on the contract. He made all the up grades to the Ram she was a looker. Unfortunatly my dad traded it in for a foreign car that got better gas mileage when gas was over $4.00 a gallon. I know my dad regrets the choice he made. He cried when he traded the truck in he even took pictures of it too. He went back to the dealership the next day to cancel the sale but, the truck was sold. He is still crying today. He was offered a quad cab ford at a unbelieveable price that he should not have passed up. No Thanks I am a Ram Man is what he said. He now will be driving a 2010 Dodge Ram and he can finally stop crying.

  • cody murphy

    My dad had 2002 dodge ram 1500 quad cab 4.8L 2wd and he would use it like was four wheel drive well and I got my 2003 dodge ram 1500 quad cab 5.9L 4×4 and 1 weekend we borrowed the town halls BBQ pit and it was 2 ton pit with a single axle poor design and I couldn’t pull it in four wheel drive low cause it was jerking my truck so bad daddy hooked 2 it with his truck and pulled that monster BBQ pit 33 miles over bridges,sharp turns and dirt roads to my grandparents house and went up this giant overpass over bridges,sharp turns interstate and dirt roads that was scary he was the best drive I knew but daddy had a stroke in January and now he’s paralyzed on his right side he still loves the “iron clad” that’s the trucks name I take him home on the weekends from the rehab place and I’ll drive his truck wash it and wax every weekend for him it keeps his spirit up

  • Johnathan

    My dad had a 2000 dodge sport 4×4 regular cab 1500 with the 5.9L magnum v8 while i was in high school. he had dual exhaust installed and man would that thing rumble the pavement! I always loved that truck, even drove it to prom both years (after a lot of begging, and polishing on it). Well before too long i was graduating and at my graduation party he handed me a little box and smiled. I opened it up and there sit the keys to his dodge. my jaw dropped, i didn’t know what to say. He just said congrats, you deserve it. To this day that truck still sits in my driveway next to my cummins diesel and my wife’s dodge truck. My dad and I have shared alot of blood sweat and cuss words underneith the hoods of our dodges, but in the end we both would rather push our dodges than drive anything else.

  • Patrick

    My dad’s last new truck was a 1986 Dodge Ram, bright red. He helped me move from NY to Atlanta and we loaded the truck down so much that 5 miles into the trip, a rear spring broke. We still made the trip and couldn’t even tell the spring was broken. Our inline 6cyl didn’t even notice the load!

  • Justin

    Dodges and Mopars rule our family. It goes back to my Great Grandfather owning Dodge Brothers trucks on the farm. We’ve had so many over the years. We don’t farm anymore, but we still have Dodges. I can remember as a young boy my dad had a 52 Dodge truck that was his daily driver and we would haul wood in it all the time….and that was in the mid 80’s. I inhereited a few dodges when my father passed away a few years back. so now in my stable are as follows…a 1942 dodge 1 1/2ton flatbed truck, 1967 Dodge500 dump truck, 1969 dodge half ton pickup that has been modified into a street rod with a total wooden body,1976 dodge 600 2 1/2 ton flatbed, 1978 half ton short bed”jean machine” a 79 four door crew cab “camper special” an 86 half ton a 90 half ton, and my daily driver 95 half ton…..thats just the dodge trucks…….throw in a few Chrysler 300’s old and new and a 73 cuda and a minivan to get all of the mopars that we have.

  • Nick B.

    My dad grew up on a farm and he has owned every mopar imaginable in his life. He still owns a 70′ challenger and a 70 roadrunner. Now to his ram. He has a 1994 dodge ram 4×4 regular cab 8′ box with the 318. He’s had it about 12 years now and it has over 180k miles. Because he runs a farm, this truck has taken unimaginable punishment. It regularly tows 10k lb loads of hay and various equipment. It also has hauled incredible loads. This February I watched him drop about 5k pounds worth of logs out of a bucket loader and right into the bed of the truck. The bumper was dragging on the ground but the Ram hauled it right up a muddy hill and right out of the woods. This truck can taken incredible punishment and it just keeps ticking. One day a draw pin sheared and an 8,000 lb load of hay rolled down a hill for about 200 ft and it smacked the ram and spun it around 270 degrees. My dad pounded the fender back out and it keeps going. It is dented everywhere and it has a broken back window from logging. This truck just keeps taking an amazing beating but it just won’t quit and it has never let my dad down which is very important because he relies on it every single day.

  • ramzone

    Hey guys –

    Thanks for all of these GREAT responses! Be sure to carefully read the instructions before sharing your story, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for the winners to be announced on Sunday, June 20th!

    Best of luck & happy truckin’
    RamZone Editors

  • Mark Conley

    My Dad has a Dodge Dakota that he loves. He bought it new and drove it for several years before “selling” it to my brother for a nominal fee. After a year he realized he couldn’t live without it and wanted it back. So, he traded my brother his new small SUV. When he got his Dodge back, he realized it had some abuse done to it. Rust had started to develop in a few places, the cab had lost that familiar “Dad” smell (due to leaving his hockey bag in the cab once, and once, in this case, is always enough) and it also had an expletive carved in the paint on the driver’s door.

    He happily took it back, brought back the smell and was even proud of the new “name” given him carved on the door. He christened her Loretta, after his first Dodge truck, a 1967. Now, he carries crushed rock, mulch, lumber, garden equipment and us around in it. He reminds me frequently how cool trucks are and how his truck is “made of metal…and AWESOME”.

    He loves that truck!

  • cody stageman

    My dad has a 1998 dodge 2500 with a 5.9L magnum and thats truck has been through hell. we have droven it off our drive way and our drive way is like a 5 foot drop and my dad just said well we haft to get it back up some how so we drove it back up the ledge no problem. i love that truck its taken such a beeten and its never had any engine proublems. we also have droven in the winter strait into a stomp covered by snow and the truck had no damage at all. Also one of the biggest test the truck has ever came apon was when we had to pull a 16,000 pound bulldozer 4 hours their and then back and the truck had no proublem at all and on the manual it said it was suppost to only haul up to 14,000 pounds. that shows how manly dodge ram trucks are!