2010 Dodge Ram 1500 Regular Cab Owner Manual - Page 340

338 STARTING AND OPERATING (ORV) trails or recreation areas. You should always tread lightly and only use established roads, trails or ORV recreational areas. The National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management or local Department of Natural Resources are a wealth of information and usually have maps with marked trails. Skid Plates And Underbody Protection Steel skid plates protect the major driveline components of the truck including the fuel tank, transfer case and steering damper. In addition, this vehicle is equipped with boxed cross members and fore/aft rails. This additional protection allows the vehicle to be utilized in severe off-road situations that would be considered impassable by a normal truck. Ramp Travel Index (RTI) The ramp travel index is the distance, in inches, that you can drive your vehicle with one wheel on a 20-degree ramp without lifting any other wheel off the ground. This distance up the ramp divided by the wheelbase of the vehicle and multiplied by 1,000 is the RTI. This vehicle has an RTI of 655, which means you can articulate one front wheel 32 inches in the air while the other three wheels remain in contact with the ground. Water Fording Characteristics Water fording characteristic is the vehicle's ability to cross a body of still water, where the powertrain and drivetrain are safe from water ingestion. This vehicle has high water fording characteristics with the ability to cross a pool of water, without stopping, 24 inches deep at a maximum speed of 10 mph (16 km/h) and a pool of water 30 inches deep at a maximum speed of 5 mph (8 km/h), both with an entrance ramp angle of 1.3 degrees.