Compare the2026 Ram 1500VS 2025 Ford F-150

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ram 1500 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Ford F-150 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Ram 1500 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The F-150 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

Both the Ram 1500 and the F-150 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available four-wheel drive, around view monitors and driver alert monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Ram 1500 is safer than the Ford F-150:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Ram’s powertrain warranty covers the 1500 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Ford covers the F-150. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the F-150 ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Ram 1500 has a standard 730-amp battery. The F-150’s 610-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

The Ram 1500 has more powerful engines than the F-150:

As tested in Car and Driver the Ram 1500 is faster than the Ford F-150:

As tested in Motor Trend the Ram 1500 3.0 is faster than the Ford F-150 5.0 DOHC V8:

As tested in Motor Trend the Ram 1500 Longhorn/Limited/Tungsten 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder is faster than the Ford F-150 3.5 turbo V6:

On the EPA test cycle the Ram 1500 gets better mileage than the F-150:

Both the Ram 1500 and the F-150 have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. All Ram 1500s have a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily. The F-150 PowerBoost doesn’t offer a way to disable start/stop.

The Ram 1500 Short Bed’s standard fuel tank has 3 gallons more fuel capacity than the F-150 Regular’s standard fuel tank (26 vs. 23 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

For better stopping power the Ram 1500’s brake rotors are larger than those on the F-150:

The Ram 1500 stops much shorter than the F-150:

For better traction, the Ram 1500 has larger standard tires than the F-150 (275/65R18 vs. 245/70R17). The Ram 1500’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the F-150 (285/45R22 vs. 275/60R20).

The Ram 1500’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 65 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the F-150’s standard 70 series tires. The Ram 1500’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the F-150’s optional 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Ram 1500 has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the F-150.

The Ram 1500 has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The F-150 doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Ram 1500 has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Ram 1500 flat and controlled during cornering. The F-150’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The front and rear suspension of the Ram 1500 uses coil springs for better ride, handling and control than the F-150, which uses leaf springs in the rear. Coil springs compress more progressively and offer more suspension travel for a smoother ride with less bottoming out.

The Ram 1500 has a standard automatic load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The F-150 doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

The Ram 1500 5.5-foot Box Laramie 4x4 handles at .76 G’s, while the F-150 5.5-foot Tremor SuperCrew 4x4 pulls only .70 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Ram 1500 Tungsten executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.5 seconds quicker than the F-150 5.5-foot Tremor SuperCrew 4x4 (27.5 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 29 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Ram 1500’s turning circle is tighter than the F-150’s:

For greater off-road capability the Ram 1500 5.5-foot Box Crew Cab Air Suspension has a 1.3 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the F-150 6.5-foot Regular Cab (10.7 vs. 9.4 inches), allowing the Ram 1500 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Ram 1500 is shorter than the F-150, making the Ram 1500 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces:

The front grille of the Ram 1500 uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The F-150 doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Ram 1500 uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The F-150 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

As tested by Car and Driver while under full throttle, the interior of the Ram 1500 Rebel is quieter than the F-150 5.5-foot Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 (71 vs. 72 dB).

The Ram 1500 Quad Cab has .1 inches more front headroom, .9 inches more front hip room, 1.8 inches more rear legroom and .8 inches more rear hip room than the F-150 SuperCab.

The Ram 1500 Crew Cab has .1 inches more front headroom, .9 inches more front hip room, 1.2 inches more rear legroom and .8 inches more rear hip room than the F-150 SuperCrew.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Ram 1500 Lariat/Limited/Tungsten’s rear seats recline. The F-150’s optional rear seats don’t recline.

The Ram 1500 Crew Cab shortbed has a larger cargo box than the F-150 SuperCrew shortbed (53.8 vs. 52.8 cubic feet).

The Ram 1500’s cargo box is larger than the F-150’s in almost every dimension:

The Ram 1500’s minimum standard towing capacity is much higher than the F-150’s (6340 vs. 5000 pounds).

The Ram 1500 has a higher standard payload capacity than the F-150:

The Ram 1500 has standard Keyless Go that allows you to start the engine without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Intelligent Access costs extra on the F-150 and isn’t available on the F-150 XL/STX.

Optional air conditioned front and rear seats keep the Ram 1500’s passengers comfortable and take the sting out of hot leather in summer. The F-150 doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats in the rear.

The Ram 1500’s optional Autonomous Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling the transmission and speed with the brake pedal. With its available fully controlled system, the driver just activates it and it parks autonomously, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The F-150 (except XL/XLT)’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

Car and Driver performed a comparison test in its November 2024 issue and the Ram 1500 Rebel won out over the Ford F-150 5.5-foot Tremor SuperCrew 4x4.

The Ram 1500 was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2025 and 6 more times in the last 7 years. The F-Series hasn’t been picked since 2018, and the F-Series has only been chosen 5 times.

Motor Trend selected the 1500 as their 2025 Truck of the Year. The F-150 was Truck of the Year in 2018.