What Happened to the Extended Cab?
 

Dodge has, apparently, dropped the extended cab in favor of the "smaller
crew cab" model. What was the last year for the ex. cab and the first year
of the "quiet" Cummins.

The last year the ext cab and the 2nd gen were offered was '02. In '03 they went to the crew cab and the common rail.

when the mega cab was announced, i remember reading a press release from d/c that stated that the quad cab was meant for truck owners who wanted and needed an extended cab truck, but with the advantage of having foward swinging rear doors-and the mega cab was intended for the truck owner that needed a real crew cab truck-for the extra room

Thats pretty true, because the QC isn't much better than the ext cab. The mega cab though has a huge amount of room. I'm 6'5" and can sit behind the driver with his seat pushed all the way back and my knees don't hit the front seat. I think the back seat has more room than the front!

I have a 01 ext cab, I just measured the quad cab compared to my 01. The quad cab from the back of the back seat to the glove box is 60". on the my 01 it is 58" measuring it the same way. Not much more room. I am currently looking for a mega cab as mine does not fit 2 car seats in the back, (comfortably anyway)