Are Ram and Dodge parts the same? Ram part lookup by VIN

When the Dodge Ram became a Ram

Chrysler set up Ram Trucks as its own division in 2009, a spin-off from Dodge named after the Dodge Ram pickups. The trucks were marketed as Dodge Rams until 2010. From then on, pickups and cargo vans carried the Ram name, and Dodge kept the cars and SUVs.

For parts, the generation matters more than the badge. The fourth-generation pickup, code DS, arrived for the 2009 model year and stayed in production until 2024, in its last years as the Ram 1500 Classic. A 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 and a 2015 Ram 1500 are the same generation of truck.

Ram and Dodge models that share parts

These pairings hold up when you check them generation by generation.

• Dodge Ram and Ram pickups: BR/BE (1994 to 2002), DR/DH (2002 to 2008 for the 1500, to 2009 for the 2500 and 3500), DS (from 2009) and DT (from 2019). Work from the generation code, not the name on the tailgate.
• Dodge Dakota and Ram Dakota: the third-generation Dakota was marketed as the Ram Dakota for its final two years, and the last one left the line on 23 August 2011.
• Dodge Durango and Dakota: the first two Durangos, DN (1998 to 2003) and HB (2004 to 2009), were based on the Dakota. The WD Durango, sold since 2011, shares its platform with the Jeep Grand Cherokee instead.
• Dodge Grand Caravan and Ram C/V: the 2012 to 2015 C/V Tradesman was a Grand Caravan with metal panels in place of the rear windows and a flat load floor, powered by the 3.6 Pentastar V6. It replaced the Dodge Grand Caravan C/V and gave way to the ProMaster City.

What crosses today: the Hemi, and not all of it

Once the Durango moved to the Grand Cherokee platform, the link between a current Ram and a current Dodge ran through the engine. The 5.7-liter Hemi V8 powers both the Ram 1500 and the Durango.

Service bulletin 09-019-23, from October 2023, shows how far that goes. It covers a ticking noise from the exhaust manifolds on cold 5.7 Hemi engines, sales codes EZH and EZC, in the 2019 to 2022 DS Ram 1500 (the truck sold as the Classic), the 2019 to 2022 Durango and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The left manifold kit, 68591586AA, fits all of them. The right one splits: 68591585AA for the Ram and 68591591AA for the Durango and the Grand Cherokee.

The labor splits as well. The left manifold is rated at 1.6 hours on the Ram and 2.9 on a Durango, the right one at 1.3 against 3.5.

Same engine, same fault, and one manifold in two changes with the vehicle. Treat a shared engine as a lead and confirm the part.

What stays with the vehicle

Bodies, lamps, grilles, interiors and the electronics behind the dash belong to the vehicle. A WD Durango and a Ram 1500 sit on different platforms, so expect their suspension and brake parts to differ even where the engine matches.

Inside the Ram family the trap is the model year. From 2019 to 2024 a Ram 1500 can be a DT or a DS Classic, and our Mopar parts guide explains how little those two trucks share.

Ram part lookup by VIN in Mopar

Ram and Dodge use one numbering system. A current Mopar number is eight digits and a two-letter suffix, like 68591586AA, and the same number on a Ram and a Durango means the same part.

Enter the 17-character VIN in the Ram catalog. The catalog decodes the build, sales codes included, and filters the diagrams to that truck. Open the assembly and read the number with its current suffix.

To see whether a Dodge part fits, run the Dodge VIN in the Dodge catalog and compare all ten characters. Ten matching characters mean one part. Any difference means two parts, however alike the pictures look.