This is a 2015 Ram 5500 Pickup that has been significantly modified for safari and hunting use, the most significant of these mods is the top drive system – allowing the vehicle to be driven from a rooftop platform.
This top drive layout allows the driver and their companions to maintain excellent visibility while underway, though it’s typically only used in off-road settings as many jurisdictions limit the road-use of vehicles like this.
This is a 2015 Ram 5500 Pickup that has been significantly modified for safari and hunting use, the most significant of these mods is the top drive system – allowing the vehicle to be driven from the rooftop platform.
History Speedrun: The Ram 5500
When Chrysler separated Dodge’s truck line into the standalone Ram brand in 2010, it created a clear identity for its pickups – Dodge would focus on cars and crossovers, while Ram would lean into the work truck market.
The 5500 sits at the very top of the lineup, a chassis cab intended for fleets, municipalities, and upfitters rather than personal buyers. It’s a truck designed to carry, tow, and haul loads that ordinary pickups simply can’t handle.
Dodge had long offered 2500 and 3500 heavy-duty pickups, but by the mid-2000s Ford’s F-450 and F-550 Super Duty models were dominating the heavy duty vocational market. Contractors, emergency services, and utilities wanted more capability than a 3500 could provide without stepping into full medium-duty territory.
Dodge answered in 2008 with the 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs – essentially reinforced versions of the 3500 with stronger frames, axles, and suspension systems.
When Ram became its own brand, the 4500 and 5500 continued, carrying the company into direct competition with Ford and, later, GM’s reborn Silverado and Sierra 4500/5500 models. By 2019, with the launch of the fifth-generation Ram Heavy Duty, the 5500 had matured into a fully modern chassis cab, built in Saltillo, Mexico, and sharing cab architecture with the Ram 2500 and 3500 but engineered beneath the skin for an entirely different role.
The vehicle has two seats on the extended front end, along with cupholders, and rifle/gun racks.
The Ram 5500 is sold strictly as a chassis cab, in Regular or Crew Cab layouts, with 4×2 or 4×4 drivetrains and wheelbases ranging from 144 to 204 inches. The two powertrains included the 6.4 liter HEMI V8 producing 370 bhp and 429 lb ft of torque, and the 6.7 liter Cummins Turbo Diesel inline-six with up to 360 bhp and a breathtaking 800 lb ft.
Both are paired with 6-speed automatics. Earlier models offered the G56 6-speed manual but this was discontinued after 2018, this also marked the end of manual gearboxes in North American heavy-duty pickups.
The maximum GVWR of the Ram 5500 reaches 19,500 lbs, while combined weight ratings climb as high as 43,000 lbs. Properly configured, towing capacity exceeds 35,000 lbs with a gooseneck or fifth-wheel setup. Payload varies with cab and wheelbase but typically falls between 10,000 and 12,000 lbs. These numbers are all largely thanks to a 50,000 psi steel frame with fully boxed rear rails, heavy-duty axles, and commercial-grade brakes.
The Ram 5500’s flexibility has made it popular with municipalities, who order them for fire and rescue units, also with contractors who mount utility or dump bodies, and tow operators that fit rollback beds. In recent years, the platform has also gained in popularity with specialty builders creating expedition campers and motorhomes.
The Safari-Modified Ram 5500 Pickup Shown Here
The Ram 5500 pickup you see here has been significantly modified, it can now be driven from the roof – also known as “top drive” configuration. It also has two seats on the extended front end, along with cupholders, and rifle/gun racks.
This 5500 is powered by the much-loved Cummins turbo diesel 6.7 liter inline-six, mated to an automatic transmission, and it’s a four-wheel drive version rather than the rear-wheel drive only version.
This 5500 is powered by the much-loved Cummins turbo diesel 6.7 liter inline-six, mated to an automatic transmission, and it’s a four-wheel drive version rather than the rear-wheel drive only version.
It now has a water-repellant Sunbrella bimini top, a winch and other recovery gear, dog kennels and dog water containers on the rear, shell boxes, a Wet Sounds stereo system, and off-road lights.
It’s now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum on the 1st of November and it’s being offered with no reserve. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
