The box question almost never arrives as a box question. It arrives as a specific object. A sheet of plywood, a quad, a deep freeze, a pallet of sod, four rolls of page wire. Somebody has a thing and wants to know whether the thing goes in the truck, and the brochure answers with an overall length that helps nobody. Our new Ram 1500 inventory in Portage la Prairie lists what is on the ground, and this page has the numbers you actually need to decide.

Below are the published Ram Canada cargo box dimensions for the Ram 1500, then the practical answers people ask us for once they have them.

Key Takeaways

• Two box lengths: a 5 foot 7 box and a 6 foot 4 box. Quad Cab pairs with the 6 foot 4. Crew Cab can be had either way.
• Width between the wheel wells is 51.0 inches (1295 mm) on both boxes. That number is the one that decides most of the awkward loads, and it does not change with box length.
• Depth is 21.4 inches on the 5 foot 7 and 21.5 inches on the 6 foot 4. Cargo width at the top is 66.4 inches on both, tailgate opening 60.0 inches.
• Yes, a sheet of plywood lays flat between the wheel wells. 48 inches of sheet inside 51.0 inches of gap. It will not fit lengthwise with the tailgate up in either box, so plan on the gate down.
• RamBox costs you usable box width. It is a genuinely good system and it is a real tradeoff. Measure your load against the actual truck before you order.

The published numbers

These come straight off Ram Canada's cargo box dimensions for the Ram 1500. Stacked rather than tabled, because most of you are reading this on a phone in a parking lot.

5 foot 7 box

Length at the floor with the tailgate closed: 1711 mm (67.4 inches). Cargo width: 1687 mm (66.4 inches). Distance between the wheelhouses: 1295 mm (51.0 inches). Depth: 543 mm (21.4 inches). Tailgate opening width: 1525 mm (60.0 inches). SAE cargo volume: 1.5 cubic metres (53.0 cubic feet).

6 foot 4 box

Length at the floor with the tailgate closed: 1937 mm (76.3 inches). Cargo width: 1687 mm (66.4 inches). Distance between the wheelhouses: 1295 mm (51.0 inches). Depth: 545 mm (21.5 inches). Tailgate opening width: 1525 mm (60.0 inches). SAE cargo volume: 1.7 cubic metres (61.5 cubic feet).

Two things jump out of those lists.

The first is that the extra nine inches of box length is the only meaningful difference between them. Width, depth and tailgate opening are identical. You are buying length, nothing else.

The second is that 51.0 inch figure. It is the same on both boxes, and it is the number that quietly decides more loads than the box length does.

Does plywood lay flat

Yes, and this is the single most common version of the question, so here is the arithmetic in full.

A standard sheet is 48 inches wide by 96 inches long. The gap between the wheel wells is 51.0 inches. So the sheet drops flat between the wells with about three inches to spare, on either box. You do not need to angle it, prop it on the wells, or buy the longer box to make it work.

Length is where it bites. Ninety six inches of plywood against a box that measures 67.4 or 76.3 inches at the floor means the sheet hangs out the back in both cases. Tailgate down, load secured properly, flag it if it overhangs far enough to need one. That is not a Ram limitation, it is the arithmetic of a half ton, and anybody who tells you their half ton swallows a full sheet with the gate closed is measuring something other than plywood.

Which cab gets which box

This is where a lot of online spec sheets mislead, so keep it simple.

Quad Cab comes with the 6 foot 4 box. If you want a Quad Cab, the box length is decided for you.

Crew Cab is offered with either the 5 foot 7 or the 6 foot 4.

That means the real decision is not "which box" in isolation. It is a cab and box decision made together, because a Crew Cab with the long box is a considerably longer truck overall, and that shows up every time you park it downtown or try to turn it around in a yard. We wrote the cab side of this out separately in Ram 1500 Crew Cab versus Quad Cab, and the overall exterior dimensions that follow from the combination live on the Ram 1500 weight and dimensions page. This page owns the box. That one owns the truck.

The RamBox tradeoff

RamBox is the lockable, drainable storage built into the box sides, and it is genuinely one of the better ideas in the segment. It is also not free, and the cost is not only money.

Those bins occupy space in the bedsides, which means the usable width across the box is reduced compared to a truck without them. If your loads are the awkward wide kind, that matters, and it matters most on exactly the loads where 51.0 inches was already the deciding number.

We are not going to print a specific RamBox width figure here, because the honest answer is that we would rather measure the actual truck with you than quote you a number off the internet and have you find out in a lumber yard. Come by, bring a tape, and we will put it across the box of a RamBox truck and a standard one back to back. That takes four minutes and it settles the question permanently. Our parts department can also talk through bed liners and racks if the load is a recurring one.

The Manitoba part

A few things worth saying out loud from a lot in Portage la Prairie.

Most people out here who think they need the long box need the short box and a decent trailer. The 6 foot 4 is genuinely useful if you are hauling long material weekly. If you are hauling it four times a year, the extra nine inches costs you turning circle and parking every single day of the year in exchange for four days of convenience.

The wheel well number is the one that catches people with quads and sleds. Measure the machine, not the box, and measure it at its widest point rather than at the track. That is the measurement that decides whether it goes in flat or goes on a trailer.

And in winter, depth matters more than people expect. Twenty one and a half inches of box fills with snow like anything else, and a load that sat fine in September sits differently in February on top of six inches of packed snow you did not shovel out. A bed liner and a habit of clearing it out are worth more than the extra box length.

FAQs

What are the Ram 1500 bed sizes?

Two box lengths are offered: a 5 foot 7 box and a 6 foot 4 box. Ram Canada lists the floor length with the tailgate closed as 1711 mm (67.4 inches) and 1937 mm (76.3 inches) respectively.

How wide is a Ram 1500 bed between the wheel wells?

1295 mm, or 51.0 inches, and it is the same on both box lengths. Cargo width at the top of the box is 1687 mm (66.4 inches) and the tailgate opening is 1525 mm (60.0 inches).

Will a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood fit in a Ram 1500?

It lays flat between the wheel wells, because a 48 inch sheet fits inside the 51.0 inch gap. It will not fit lengthwise with the tailgate closed on either box, so you carry it with the gate down and the load secured.

How deep is the Ram 1500 box?

543 mm (21.4 inches) on the 5 foot 7 box and 545 mm (21.5 inches) on the 6 foot 4 box.

Which cab gets which box?

Quad Cab comes with the 6 foot 4 box. Crew Cab is offered with either the 5 foot 7 or the 6 foot 4.

Does RamBox reduce the bed space?

Yes. The bins occupy space in the bedsides, so usable width across the box is reduced compared with a standard box. We would rather measure it with you on the actual truck than have you rely on a number off the internet.

The Honest Close

Box length is the specification people shop and box width is the specification that decides things. Fifty one inches between the wheel wells is why plywood works, and it is identical whether you order the short box or the long one.

So pick the cab first, be honest with yourself about how often you actually haul long material, and remember that a trailer solves the four times a year problem better than nine inches of box ever will.

If you want to be certain, bring the thing. Genuinely. People have driven in here with a quad in a trailer to see whether it would sit in a box instead, and that is a completely reasonable way to spend twenty minutes before spending real money. Current offers on the half ton are on the Ram 1500 Eh Plus page, and the instant cash offer tool will price whatever you are moving on from.