Hi all, looking at a pretty good deal on a used 1/2 ton ext. cab Ram.  95k miles and the AC does not work but the rest of the truck is mechanically solid from what I can tell.  Front bumber (plastic) has a corner missing but support bracket and wheel well liner are intact.  The fender on that side is black primer as it has been replaced.  Asking about $3k.
Worst I've heard on these trucks is the transmissions suck - this one has an automatic.  Anything else I should be looking out for?
Just using it for hauling the bikes, home depot runs, boat towing, etc.
I typically lean toward a Ford/Chevy or even a Nissan/Toyota but this seems too good to pass up.
Decent trucks of this vintage/mileage/options easily go for over $5k around here.
Thanks for your feedback!

I have a 97 5.9L 4x4 I love it. It is a gas guzzler but its a great truck, Mine has some mods so it has tons of power. The 2000 has better brakes than my truck plus a much nicer interior.

My transmission is next to new and I have 270,000 kms on it. I tow a 8x10 flatbed once in a while and a camper a few times a year.

Reliability? I did a motor about 3 months ago, however this truck has never let me down, even when I forgot to check the oil on the old motor and found out it ran 3 hours bone dry.

Thanks sangheraent!

Any one else?  Chickenhauler?  Thanks!

I pulled the trigger on this deal and so far I'm pretty happy.
I'm thinking about getting a light weight (somewhat) tube style bumper up front as opposed to replacing with the stock plastic bumper 'cover'.'  So far I'm only finding the big heavy duty ranch hand type bumpers that are made to mount a winch on.  I don't need anythg that heavy duty or spendy.
Any one have a source for the type of bumer I'm looking for?
Thanks

If you're patient and willing to put some time into the search, I'd go boneyarding or prowl craigslist-you're bound to find the stock parts.

If not, maybe it's a good excuse to buy a welder and some tubing and build your own?

your bumper is more expensive then the regular ones. You can find one at a junk yard or you can buy a new one for I think 500 or so. LMCtruck sells them. I dont know anything about heavy duty bumpers. I would kill to have a sport bumper on my truck though.

$500 aint happening.  It looks like most of the non-winch mount bumpers are custom made though so Chickenhauler's idea is probably the best.  I have a lead on a color-matching bumper on craigslist so will follow up on that and then consider the welding/tubing idea a bit down the road.  Always wanted to learn how to weld and something like this seems 'doable'.
Thanks all

dabird, on 07 August 2012 - 06:06 PM, said:

The great part about welding is, if you screw up, just cut and grind and start all over again!  Way more forgiving than working with wood.

Congrats on the truck my last truck was an 01 with the 5.9 gasser. I loved that truck and still miss it. I owned it for a year and a half. Once it hit around 100,000 I had to replace brakes front and back, u-joint (but mine was lifted which puts stress on the front end so not the same situation). At around 110,000 someone stuck a screw driver through my grille and busted my radiator so I had that and the waterpump replaced. Other than regular wear and tear items I didnt have any trouble with the truck. Great bike hauler, I pulled a lot of people out from being stuck with that truck. Only con was the mpg, enjoy the truck.

Thanks all.
My welder friend said to buy any bumper I like that is about the right size and we would cut and weld the brackets back to fit my truck.  The lighter, tube style bumpers are still far and few between though...I must be looking in the wrong place.
If I can get a good enough deal on the CL stocker, I'll do that for now and keep looking for the tube set up.
Glad to be back in a full size!

First tows this wkd.  Waverunner yesterday and deckboat today.  No problems other than I need to adjust the e-brake a bit.  Not sure if these have a trans temp warning light or not but the coolant temp stayed below the half way mark the entire time.

Is the dash cracked? Usually the dodges around here fall down around the drivetrain. Other than aesthetic deterioration issues, to my experience second gen dodges are very good trucks.

dabird, on 12 August 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

Unless it has a trans temp gauge no, they don't have any monitoring other than a PCM fail for the trans which will set off an SES or whatever Chrysler uses (Yellow Lamp). If you have an iphone/smartphone there are PCM/OBDII/CAN scan cables available in a variety of flavors which offer varying degrees of reporting. Additionally you can borrow an obdII from any Autozone or O'Reilly for a hundred and fifty deposit or so to read the codes (if any).

And yes the tranny is the weak spot for Dodge. I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in here, but the autos are soft and don't stand up well to Cummins equipped Trucks AFAIK which is the extreme end of towing so your mileage may vary. The Shop we use refuses to work on them due to the cost of current software mostly, but there are a "few" more complaints.

That being said I'm sure with careful maintenence, its' being a gasser and a half tonner to boot you made a heck of a buy that will serve you well as long as you aren't pulling more than you should and don't attempt to make it a one tonner. As far as welding goes, look at our avatar....someone got mighty handy maybe you can find someone too.

GoneBoggin, on 14 August 2012 - 11:37 PM, said:

Yep mine had the dash problem too.

Yeah, dash is cracked.  It has one of those custom carpet covers on it with pre-cut holes for the vents and such. It looks ok and I guess cuts down the glare a bit.  No plans to change anything there.  Thanks