Hello all. I'm new here so if im violating anything or posting in the wrong area please feel free to fix it or correct me.

I've got an opertunity to buy a 2nd Gen Ram. The photos will say vastly more than i can about the truck. it is a 4x2. I've never owned a ram, as im primarily a camaro guy, but dodge / mopar has always had a place in my life as as a kid i had many pentastar vehicles. That being said, here's the basics of the truck.

According to the door frame tag it was built in 12/95. It would make it a 1996 Dodge Ram SLT Laramie Standard Cab short bed 4x2. Red / grey 2 tone, with tristar rims. Grey interior. Needs a good bit of TLC. No known rust i can speak of. Has the 5.2 ltr magnum motor, and is an automatic.

Known Issues :

Dash cap needs replaced. badly. Carpet badly stained, may need replaced. Driver side seat ripped, foam compressed / needs replaced as well. all seats actually have ciggaret stains, and other stains, as well as burn holes. Missing ash tray, may need dash bezel as its cracked. factory radio, volume *** not great. Over head console, broke off ceiling, but glued back to its screw mounts so can be removed, but needs replaced with un-craked one. The back window is split sliding, but the latch is broke off, needs replaced. AC works, but under driving and throttle would go to dash defrost only instead of front vents (from what i read while lurking its the "wild vents" situation) Also the one time i drove it, the passenger window was sticky at first trying to put it down, but it did go down without issue afterwards. Probably from non-usage.

Exterior. Front grille, held on with wire ties. looks that all mounts were broken. Passenger side marker lamp / headlamp cracked broken. All headlights yellowed. Front bumper / passenger side slooks like it took a small hit and bent it back. Paint is not great, obviously. Mostly good, but cracking / clearcoat flaking...

Drivetrain issues arenot known to have any at this time. All workwell, heat, air, motor is strong, accellerates well, no slippage from tranny no issues known as i said. Exhaust may be the one issue, as it is aftermarket and very loud, and almost sounds like its failing but i cant be sure till i get under it and inspect it. Truck has 136,xxx miles on it.

so my basic questions are 1, what would you pay for this truck? private party. My co-worker is the owner, and he's wanting to sell it to me, and states he'll even finance it with no interest per month.. (dont have a lot of money here lol)

2.) How hard is it to put later model seats in it? if i were to swap it with say 02-12 seats? what all is different from 2nd to 3rd to 4th gens seat mount wise? I have read some of the threads here, but none are full write ups, with photos, of mounts, and brackets being reused / remade or side by side write ups.

3.) Dash cover, how hard are they to replace, and how much should i be expecting to spend on a new cover?

4.) What major things should i look for before i were to buy? what could be a big issue? what could be a costly repair with these trucks?

5.) also any other things you care to suggest/ comment on?


Here's the pics, i look forward to hearing what you all think / have to say. I've lurked the Pic page (entire thread) and ya'll seem to be a great group here. Thanks.

-Steve

 

$1500-$2000 max, its a 2wd its a 95. Body looks to be ok. Heads, tranys, rear lsd's, plenum gasket, cat con, and 02's are trouble areas for these trucks. 95 is OBD1 not to mod friendly.

 

Welcome to DF! Read the plenum sticky. Trans is also a weak point. Dash is a pia to replace. Just cover it with a dash pad, thats what I did.

 

I'd say $1500-2500. Looks pretty good, just needs some paint and interior work. I got my replacement dash for $110 and a dashmat for $55. Common issues with these trucks are the plenum gaskets and trannys, other than that they are great trucks. Personally, I would just throw on a seat cover and call the seats done.

 

Man that thing is beat. $500 max. Only halfway decent looking thing on it are the wheels. That silver lower doesn't look factory either...

 

Beat? It just has all the usual dodge issues. I don't see a non-standard failure anywhere.

If it runs good, drives decent, and doesn't ride too bad.... make any rude/untoward noises... 1500 is a good place to start. Maybe a grand.

 

How does it look beat? Paint, a dashmat, and a little interior cleaning and it would look great. If that truck is considered beat, I wonder what mine is.

 

I'd say around 1500 myself, maybe talk him down to a grand. Your dash, while it's cracked and looks like it's missing a couple pieces, could be capped or dash-matted to cover up the ugliness if you will. Hell, I believe I'm going to have to replace my dash because it looks like the damn grand canyon in there with all the missing chunks lol

 

You say paint like it's some trivial repair when buying a car. That's a huge undertaking/expense if you want anything even halfway decent to come out. A car always looks far better in photos than it does in person, and this one looks subpar in the photos, I can only imagine how it looks in person. It's got bondo all over at least one door, who knows how much is hiding under that repainted lower half. IMO it doesn't look like it's been well maintained.

The OP sounds like a picky dude, as he's pointing out every small detail that's wrong with it. If he isn't OCD and just wants a beater it might not be a bad truck for $500. I see a lot of time and $$ to restore it to its former glory

 

Is it bondo? Or is it just peeling paint? The rest of the truck doesn't look that bad for the door bottom to have required that kind of work.