For most people, the initials “HD” have everything to do with the fidelity of their television sets, and nothing to do with automobiles. But to any Texas rancher—and a huge portion of full-size pickup buyers elsewhere in the country—those two letters represent a term that separates the men from the boys in the pickup world: Heavy Duty. The HD pickup game has stepped up in might and intensity during the last decade, with a three-way race between the Dodge Ram HD and its only rivals, the Ford F-Series Super Duty and the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra HD twins. Fittingly, Dodge lured us into the heart of the Lone Star State—San Antonio, specifically—to sample its new Ram 2500 and 3500 HD trucks where they’re appreciated most.

Talk about making a fuel of yourself. The Dodge Dakota midsized pickup is a heavy duty beast that for 2008 is capable of driving right past the gas pump – and straight to the ethanol one.