There is a pattern on our lot that repeats itself almost every month. Somebody comes in looking at a Tradesman because it is the number they saw first, spends twenty minutes in one, and then walks over to the Big Horn beside it and does not really go back. It is not a sales trick. It is that the Big Horn is the trim where a Ram 2500 stops feeling like a fleet unit and starts feeling like a truck you will be sitting in for six hours on a Saturday. If you want to see how the ones on the ground right now are built, our new Ram 2500 inventory lists the trim, cab, box and engine on every unit.

The confusing part is that Big Horn means something different on a heavy duty truck than it does on a half ton. Plenty of people have read up on the 1500 version and assume it carries across. It does not, quite. Here is what Big Horn actually covers on a Ram 2500, which options are worth your money if you are pulling something real down a gravel road, and the honest point where stepping up to a Laramie starts to make sense.

Key Takeaways

• Big Horn is the second rung on the 2500 ladder, sitting directly above Tradesman. Ram Canada lists its key enhancements as 18 inch polished aluminum wheels, a chrome surround grille with a black insert, chrome bumpers and chrome headlamp bezels. It is the trim that adds daily comfort and appearance without pushing you into leather money.
• The engine is the bigger decision than the trim. Every 2026 Ram 2500 comes standard with the 6.4 litre HEMI V8 at 405 horsepower and 429 lb ft. The available High Output 6.7 litre Cummins turbo diesel makes 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb ft, and it is standard on Mega Cab and available on Crew Cab models other than the Power Wagon.
• The capability gap between them is real. Properly equipped, the gas 6.4 litre HEMI tows up to 17,440 lb (7,910 kg) and carries up to 4,580 lb (2,077 kg) of payload. The High Output Cummins tows up to 20,000 lb (9,071 kg) but carries up to 3,590 lb (1,627 kg), because the diesel itself weighs more. More towing, less payload. That trade catches people out.
• Fuel capacity runs roughly 117 to 121 litres depending on how the truck is configured, which is a genuinely useful thing on a long haul out here where the next station might be an hour off your route.
• Where Laramie starts to earn it: if you spend real seat time in the truck, the interior materials and the comfort content are what you are paying for, not capability. A Big Horn and a Laramie with the same engine and the same axle pull the same trailer.

What Big Horn Actually Adds on a 2500

Tradesman is a genuinely good work truck and we sell plenty of them. It is built to be washed out with a hose and put back to work, and if the truck is a tool that lives at a yard, it is the right call.

Big Horn is the answer for the buyer who is that same truck's driver and its owner. Ram Canada's own trim content for the 2026 Big Horn calls out the 18 inch polished aluminum wheels, the chrome surround grille with the black insert, the chrome bumpers and the chrome headlamp bezels. That reads like appearance content on paper, and some of it is. The part that does not read on paper is what the trim opens up. Big Horn is where the option and package sheet genuinely widens, so the truck you can actually build gets a lot more interesting than the one you can build on the rung below.

The step from Tradesman to Big Horn is also the smallest step in the whole lineup. After Big Horn the jumps get large in a hurry as you move into the four door appearance and luxury trims. That is a big reason Big Horn ends up being the volume trim rather than a compromise nobody wanted.

The Engine Choice Matters More Than the Badge

This is the part people get backwards. They agonize over trim and then take whatever engine is on the truck that is available. On a heavy duty truck it should be the other way around.

The standard 6.4 litre HEMI V8 makes 405 horsepower and 429 lb ft, and it is standard across Regular Cab and Crew Cab models. Properly equipped it tows up to 17,440 lb (7,910 kg) with up to 4,580 lb (2,077 kg) of payload. For a lot of what actually happens around here, that is the whole job. A big enclosed trailer, a couple of round bales on a deck, a skid steer on a tandem. The gas truck does it, it costs less to buy, and it costs less to service.

The available High Output 6.7 litre Cummins turbo diesel makes 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb ft, paired to the TorqueFlite HD eight speed transmission, and Ram calls it best in class base diesel torque. Properly equipped it tows up to 20,000 lb (9,071 kg). It is standard on Mega Cab and available on Crew Cab models other than the Power Wagon.

Here is the honest catch. The Cummins gains you towing and loses you payload. Max payload on the High Output diesel is up to 3,590 lb (1,627 kg) against up to 4,580 lb (2,077 kg) on the gas truck, because the engine itself is heavy and it comes off your payload before you put anything in the box. If your load lives in the bed rather than behind the hitch, the gas truck may genuinely be the more capable truck for you. We have talked more than one person out of a diesel on exactly that math, and we would rather do that than sell you a truck that runs out of payload the first time you put a slide in camper on it.

We went through the full gas versus diesel comparison in more detail in our Ram 2500 gas versus diesel breakdown, and the heavy duty towing capacity answer sheet has the numbers laid out by configuration if you want to check your trailer against them.

The Options That Actually Matter on Gravel

Once you are on the Big Horn option sheet, this is where we would spend the money, in this order.

The integrated trailer brake controller and the trailer tech. If you tow anything with electric brakes, factory integration beats an aftermarket box every time for setup, for consistency and for how it behaves when the trailer starts to push you on a wet grade. The centre console trailer controls and the camera setup are the difference between backing a gooseneck alone and needing somebody to stand behind you waving.

Tires you can actually live with. A lot of gravel around here is not gentle. All terrain tires and the right load rating do more for your winter and your spring than any appearance package will. This is also the cheapest thing on this list to get wrong, because a set of tires that is not up to the job is a full replacement, not an upgrade.

A block heater and the cold weather content. In a Manitoba January this is not a nice to have. Nobody in Portage regrets having a heater cord hanging out of the grille in February, and plenty of people regret not having one.

Seating and the cab you pick. Crew Cab is the default for a reason, but if the back seat is genuinely a storage shelf and you would rather have the longer box, say so before you order. That is a decision you cannot change later.

Where the Step to Laramie Starts to Earn Its Money

Every rung above Big Horn is real, and none of it makes the truck pull harder. That is the sentence worth remembering when you are looking at the sheet.

A Big Horn and a Laramie built with the same engine, the same cab, the same box and the same axle tow the same trailer and carry the same load. What Laramie buys you is the interior. Better materials, more comfort and convenience content, a nicer place to spend the hours.

So the question is honestly just how much time you live in it. If the truck does four hours a week and mostly sits at a yard, the Big Horn money is better spent on tires, a hitch setup and fuel. If you are running to Winnipeg and back twice a week, or you are in the seat all day for work, the Laramie interior stops being vanity and starts being a working condition. The trucks that hold their appeal best on trade tend to be the ones that were specified for how they were actually used, in either direction.

If you want the appearance and off road end of the range instead, that is a different conversation, and we covered it in the Ram 2500 Rebel writeup. And if you are still deciding whether a heavy duty truck is even the right answer, the Ram 1500 Big Horn is a genuinely different truck under the same trim name and worth reading before you commit.

What It Costs

Heavy duty pricing moves with configuration more than almost anything else we sell. Cab, box, engine, axle ratio and package content can swing the same trim by a lot, and the manufacturer programs on top of it turn over monthly. We are not going to print a number here that is stale by the time you read it.

What we will do is give you the real one on the exact build you want. Check our current pricing here for the most up to date pricing information on the trucks we have on the ground, less any applicable incentives. If you are stepping up out of something, start with an instant cash offer on your trade so you are working from a real number rather than a guess, and you can get the financing side started with our finance application whenever you are ready.

FAQs

What does Big Horn mean on a Ram 2500?

Big Horn is the trim directly above Tradesman in the Ram 2500 lineup. Ram Canada lists its key enhancements as 18 inch polished aluminum wheels, a chrome surround grille with a black insert, chrome bumpers and chrome headlamp bezels. Beyond the appearance content, it is the trim where the option and package sheet meaningfully widens, which is why it ends up being the one most buyers order.

Is the Ram 2500 Big Horn available with the Cummins diesel?

The High Output 6.7 litre Cummins turbo diesel is available on Crew Cab models other than the Power Wagon, and it is standard on Mega Cab. The 6.4 litre HEMI V8 is the standard engine. Ask us to confirm the engine on a specific unit or on a build you want to order, because availability moves with allocation.

How much can a Ram 2500 Big Horn tow?

It depends on the engine and the configuration, not the trim. Properly equipped, the 6.4 litre HEMI V8 tows up to 17,440 lb (7,910 kg) and the High Output 6.7 litre Cummins turbo diesel tows up to 20,000 lb (9,071 kg). Always match the number to the exact cab, box, axle and drivetrain on the truck you are looking at.

Big Horn or Laramie on a Ram 2500?

They pull the same trailer when they are built the same way. Laramie buys you interior materials and comfort content, not capability. If you spend a lot of hours in the seat it is worth it. If the truck mostly works and sits, put the money into tires, a proper hitch setup and fuel instead.

What is the fuel tank size on a Ram 2500?

Ram Canada lists roughly 117 to 121 litres depending on configuration. Confirm the figure against the exact build, because cab and box combinations change it.

The Bottom Line

Big Horn is the volume trim on the Ram 2500 for a reason that is not marketing. It is the smallest step in the lineup, it is where the truck stops feeling like a bare fleet unit, and it opens the option sheet that actually decides how the truck works for you. Get the engine right first, spend the option money on the trailer tech and the tires, and then decide whether the hours you put in the seat justify the trim above it.

Come look at what is on the ground in our new Ram 2500 inventory, or if the job has outgrown a 2500 entirely, the new Ram 3500 is the next honest conversation. When it comes due, you can book service with us and we will keep it running through the cold.

Tyler Dunn, Dunn Ram Trucks, Portage la Prairie