Thoughts on mid 90s Rams

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I have a 97 ram for about 10 years now.....same 5.9 (360) engine....has 197,000 now and have had no problems except needing the throttle body taken apart and cleaned out once....I will say the gas mileage sucks! Just so you know....They get about 11 or 12 MPG....that is it! So be ready to splurge for gas because it sucks it up....Also, they are known for transmission trouble so check the tranny out real good....I have had no problems with mine , but I did not tow or plow snow with my truck at all in its life.....
 
I love my 98 with a 5.9. That said a few things to to look out for is, plenum gasket, death flash(a software update that was to fix symptoms of a blown plenum gasket that ended up reducing power instead), and if the transmission has been serviced properly.
That seems to be a fair price to me.
 
I have owned Two.

95 gasser 5.9 . dad burnt up the transmission @ 75K and it had a recall early on for the front axle 4wd fork. Other than that all it ever needed was general maintenance. We sold it @ 175K and it was still running strong.

98.5 Diesel. Had the dreaded VP 44 failure due to a crappy lift pump. I just tradded it in @ 207K. I would still be driving it I didn't need the room for kids.
 
Well it fits my budget and has low miles still. This one is only 2wd which is ok with me since in the 10 years ived owned my explorer ive only needed 4wd once.
 
They are noted for tranny issues as stated above. I have bought about 30 of them with bad trannys to fix and resell. Good used ones aren't easy to find around here and they aren't usually cheap when you do score a good one. I have seen them run 200K miles too so it is just the luck of the draw and if/how it was serviced.

If you are in the rust belt in Iowa or it is possible the truck came from the rust belt you might want the frame real well too.
 
Well this one is coming out of Minnesota. As clean as it is for a 97 it is a good indicator the PO took care of it. Very little rust and interior clean.
 
96 ram 2500 with the v10 and a 5 speed..... Perfect towing truck gas mileage sucks but the dependability of them is phenomenal I put about 8000 miles on it a year for the past 3 years and as long as u do general maintenance and don't be hard on it it'll last a good long but ( 177,000 miles and going)

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................My truck is an 01 ram 2500 4x4 quad cab ctd............its an awesome truck, has 397,000 kilometers on it, still going strong...I bought a 97 2wd b/n and not 1 lick of trouble from it...my buddies have the 94 to 01 gas jobbies and the have been pretty good trucks for the most part............kim..............
 
Everyone has already stated the common problems. Plenum gasket, transmissions, etc. They are great trucks, know several friends who have them and love them.

I wouldn't buy it from a used car dealership. My personal experiences with them have been lackluster to say the least. Most of them buy their inventory at local vehicle auctions which are normally impound/no-pay customer/abandons then do the bare minimum to fix them, if they even do. Some cars are trade-ins. Maybe that truck is. Who knows. I'd rather just buy from a private seller. It's easier to read a regular person than it is to read someone who's job it is to sell you something and are highly motivated to do so. Just my 2 cents.
 
Your on the right track Josh,sounds like the PO took car of it.Look for signs of repaint.Usually signs of bodywork(bondo),check wheelwells for previous work.:-D
 
Personally I would go back a little farther... 1981 - 1993 first gen Ram trucks. Or, my favorite, the D series from 1972 - 1980...
 
Personally I would go back a little farther... 1981 - 1993 first gen Ram trucks. Or, my favorite, the D series from 1972 - 1980...
I was gonna say this too, but I'm pretty sure he is looking for something with overdrive. I love my D100
 
My uncle bought this 2000 V10 3/4 ton brand new, its been taken care of and only serviced by the same mechanic at out local Dodge dealer since new...getting close to 100K now and not many major issues....here in MN it has now started to surface rust near one rear wheel and at the door bottoms, still a very nice truck and hope to maybe buy it someday but with 2 kids a newer 4-door version would be better, those quad cabs are very tight in the back
 

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I love mine! I bought it from a guy that suffered from damensia. His family needed to get rid of it because he kept taking off in it. I had problems in the beginning because for some reason he filled the radiator with stop leak. Never found the reason he did it but he also took the chain saw and cut all the trees in his yard before his wife got him stopped! It was sad and he died shortly after I bought his truck. It just keeps on going. Here I am bringing home the dart.
 

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After working the front counter of the local Dodge dealer for 4+years what I seen a TON of for the BE/BR Rams were:
Front Hubs
Track bar
Trans lines(esp for Diesels)
Intake Gasket
In dash cupholder(that large fold down gets broken at the hinge ALOT!)


That is off the top of my head from about 9 years ago
 
I have a 1998 Ram with a 360. It is rusty and trusty. I wanted a Dodge and I wanted a long bed to haul my ATV. I bought it for $1300 because it had a misfire, warped rotors and the 4WD didn't work. I plugged in the vacuum line to the actuator and the 4WD worked. I put on new pads and rotors. The misfire I was so sure was an ignition miss was actually a bad valve. I got a reman head and head set all for $400. I have less than $2000 into this truck and it goes anywhere. I use it for hunting, hauling my boat and ATV and when the weather sucks ... like the 15 inches of snow we got two days ago. I love it.
 
got a 99 ram with a 5.2 and love it. never had any major trouble with it until I started modding it. trans held up great until I droped a 390 stroker in it, now I need to find a 5spd manual to convert it
 
If it matters: the green 97 (from the heated leather seats, I suspect an SLT Laramie) is Mexican-built. :(
 
I had a 98 ram w 5.9 tranny blew @ 90K had to replace both front wheel bearing assemblys, alway replacing front end parts, and was starting to rust out, got tired of dumping gas through it. 11-12 mpg @ best. Dumped it and hate to even say it but, bought a 5.3 GMC. A lot more power and i get 18 mpg. I am actually ISO another ram though, but w/ a cummins.
 
mine: "95 1 t, 2 wd 12 valve cummins bought new. yep' like he says, for those years at 100,000 mi the bearrngs in front hub go out, built in Mexico, cup hold is crap, trans line is CRAPPPPP!!!!! mine broke twice. last time, it did fry some of the trs=anny before it new it. wish i could tell Ma MOPAR what i think about that!!!!!! mine is auto cause the NOw X, had trouble shifting gears, got 175,ooo on it now, at 150,000 thought trany was going out, it was problem with computer, tranny was actually in very good shape!?? GO figure, bad rep on trany in diesel for sure and probably deserved>>>! pulled gooseneck horse trailer 95% of miles on it too. 4;10 gear, 13 and 18 pullin and empty road mileage. i've had several of the 85-92 trucks, not a s solid of bodies as 94-up, but were good for me with 360 or cummins, ( i rub head haired people every chance i get for luck!????) like he said, buy from a private owner and try to read his honesty, or ( sometimes work for me), tell seller if ya find out later he lied, ya will come back with big stick and small gun!???? and kind of give a crazy look at same time!???? ( works for me)
 
haven't had to replace front hubs on mine yet, but have done ball joints. was getting rusty (and I hit a sign with the left rear of bed) so I replaced the doors and bed with rust free texas parts. now I just need front fenders but going with fiberglass Baja fenders. front bumpers are cheesy, I took out two of the factory ones before I built one
 
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