This kinda goes along the lines of why I was so interested in the truck, I know the owner maintained it well So maybe I might pay alittle more, but it wont be a rusted out pile of problems like lower priced trucks.
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if you get it, look to see if sonnax makes any upgrades for that trans. most of the stuff the bean counters butchered, sonnax makes a fix for.
brakes… a friend of mine had great success with ebc 6000 truck van and suv pads on his full size bronco. maybe they make them for the ram. i dunno if they are still made though. tirerack used to have them.
BTW if you wanted performance, ive seen the 318 make ~415hp with flat top pistons, stock smogger heads with a larger intake valve and minor cleanup and a cam. you need someway to do a retune too. i think sct might offer something for those ecu’s but i dunno. youll prolly wanna leave it stock though lol.
Dodge FTL… I wouldn’t touch anything from them except the srt 4 but that would be with a 10ft pole. My dad’s steamfitter company used a few for work trucks… 95 98 99 01 03. The got rid of all of them but 1 because they costed more to keep than any other of their 30+ fleet put together. The 1 95 they still have has gone through 1 engine, balljoints gallour, transmissions, 2 heater cores, 3 driveshafts, 1 rear axle and is back in the shop for another tranny. This truck doesn’t even have 100k yet. My dad’s normal 01 2500 chevy has 200k on it and just got its first brake job this spring, oil changes and tuneups are the only thing’s its needed.
Seems like pretty inexpensive stuff, for all that have said to avoid them do you care to elaborate why exactly?
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No, come on now, people like to just spout off crap with no facts to back them up with, internet parrots. I have a 94 318 auto Ram, 2wd long bed. Drove it to Jersey towing a trailor to pick up an Audi. The truck has about 85K miles on it and the tranny is fine. Me and my father picked it up cheap and did the balljoints, tie rod ends, idler arm, front shocks, sway bar end links, and threw some tires on it. After all the front end work we did, and after an alignment, it still feels a bit “loose” in the front end, I dunno, every wear item has been replaced, maybe I’m just not used to how a truck feels/tracks. On the trip to dirty Jersey, both there and back, the engine was working it’s butt off pulling the U-Haul car trailor, constantly downshifting if there was even a shadow of an incline in the road. Gas wise, the thing is BRUTAL, did a full tune up and that made no difference. When my sister was home from school and didn’t have her Corolla yet, my dad took the truck to work downtown. Basically, it was $20 a day to drive it and he only jumps on the 219 in Boston to the William street exit and he drives it like an old man. I only use it for when I need to go to Len-Co or home Depot or do some other thing for my house that requires a truck. I would not listen to all the idiots who have no experience with them, if you can get it for a good price, why not?
Thanks krant for some real info. I liked the idea of having an inexpensive truck around that could tow if I wanted to use it. Sounds like this thing doesnt tow that great though. Im going to drive it at lunch and see if I like it. Gas isnt a huge concern, my audi gets about 18 in the city. I would guess the ram would get around 13. 5 mpg would not really make much difference in my wallet driving my 5 miles to work each day.
On the trip to dirty Jersey, both there and back, the engine was working it’s butt off pulling the U-Haul car trailor, constantly downshifting if there was even a shadow of an incline in the road. Gas wise, the thing is BRUTAL, did a full tune up and that made no difference.
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The hyper-active down shifting occurs with cruise on and can be avoided by taking it out of O/D before an incline (push button).
Even though it is rated for 6000-6500 it is fussy with a 3500 load, although I am slightly heavier than a truck.
High top conversions are even less aero dynamic :bloated: 14.5 hwy unloaded, 11.5 hwy loaded.
Thanks krant for some real info. I liked the idea of having an inexpensive truck around that could tow if I wanted to use it. Sounds like this thing doesnt tow that great though. Im going to drive it at lunch and see if I like it. Gas isnt a huge concern, my audi gets about 18 in the city. I would guess the ram would get around 13. 5 mpg would not really make much difference in my wallet driving my 5 miles to work each day.
my friend has a 01 ram with the 360 and 4:10 gears…its also lifted ~10" and he runs 39" Boggers on it. has around 70k on it, still running great on the original tranny, i know he’s had the u-joints done a couple times (go to fleetpride, get lifetime warranty=problem solved), and i am pretty sure he has done the front hub bearings once if not twice in the 5 years he has had it. He also off-roads it frequently, doesnt really “beat on it” but makes it work once and a while. He also tows with it (with the lift and the tires) and has not had any problems at all with the tranny.
Dodge FTL… I wouldn’t touch anything from them except the srt 4 but that would be with a 10ft pole. My dad’s steamfitter company used a few for work trucks… 95 98 99 01 03. The got rid of all of them but 1 because they costed more to keep than any other of their 30+ fleet put together. The 1 95 they still have has gone through 1 engine, balljoints gallour, transmissions, 2 heater cores, 3 driveshafts, 1 rear axle and is back in the shop for another tranny. This truck doesn’t even have 100k yet. My dad’s normal 01 2500 chevy has 200k on it and just got its first brake job this spring, oil changes and tuneups are the only thing’s its needed.
I would go chevy then ford.
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interesting… i dont doubt that they had problems but a company down the road from where i worked in PA had a crapload of dodge workvans. 318’s-360’s mostly autos. they ran conklin lubricants in all of them and bypass filtration and all they ever replaced were belts and hoses. most of the vans had 300k+ with many over 500k. one of their employees got fired for speeding all the time and his van had 475k on it and got the crap beat out of it daily.