FiatChrysler’s Ram 1500 pickup doesn’t top the fullsize-pickup sales charts (never mind the Detroit Three automakers still insist on obfuscating what to everyone else should be clear delineation between light- and medium-duty pickup sales) and seems to be perpetually scrounging for a share of the market’s adoration of the Ford F-150. But in some respects, the light-duty Ram has in recent years emerged as the thinking-person’s choice—you know, the one you buy because it does things differently, the one you buy if you don’t want to follow the crowd.

That notion just got amplified with the all-new 2019 Ram 1500. Buckle up, Ford and GM, because the latest Ram is working another big dose of “we’ll zig when you zag.”

Frame game

Ram engineers cite a 225-lb (102-kg) weight savings for the all-new 2019 Ram 1500 versus a comparable outgoing model, although the company did not provide curb weights in its initial press information. But one of the most vital takeaways pertains to the frame, where 98% of the all-new design is comprised of high-strength steel—saving 100 lb (45.3 kg). The new design also features unique “splayed” rails that enhance energy absorption in all frontal-crash impact modes.

Special frame-mounted tire blockers also are placed behind the front tires to force wheels outward in an impact. More strength comes to the frame from side rails that are taller and fully boxed. Rear cross members “are double sheer-welded to the inside and outside of the frame for improved durability and roll stiffness,” FCA said.

Other weight-saving measures include a special one-piece D-pillar at the bed edge that cuts 9 lb (4 kg). An acoustic-glass windshield and front side windows cut 5.5 lb (2.5 kg). The tailgate now is aluminum, but the bed resolutely remains steel, said chief engineer Mike Raymond.

Or how’s this for a weight reduction: a new electronic parking brake cuts a remarkable 20 lb (9 kg), helping to offset newly enlarged front brake rotors of 14.9 in (378 mm) that Ram claims are the segment’s largest.