I'm looking at possibly getting my first truck and a lot of the cheaper ones I'm seeing are mid 90's Ram 1500's. Must haves would be extended or crew cab, 4x4, no 8 ft bed, less than 150,000 miles (lower the better obviously). Now a lot of people say that for this time period Ford had better bodies and GM had better drivetrains, and Dodge was decent but not great and had more frequent problems.

I'm looking to get input on that statement, from people that actually have owned them.

Another issue I'm having with these years is the power output. To me it seems like the power is lacking quite a bit. I mean 5.9L V8 only 230hp and 340 ft lbs? Just seems low.

School me on this

PS: Wrong section, please move

 

Well, the magnum engines in these rams are pretty tough, not much for throw you in the seat power but they get the job done. The blocks are bullet proof. There are certain things that need fixed and likely if you buy one they may already be fixed. Read the plenum sticky as a start. The transmissions...nothing but horror stories. Personally I've had good luck with my factory tranny so far at 146xxx. If you want a list of a bunch of little things that go wrong the list may go on and on, but for the most part they are easy fixes, plus the guys on here are awesome at helping. Every brand is going to have their issues. The 90's rams look is so much better than gm and ford back then Basically, plenum and tranny are the big issues. Take good care of it and it will take care of you.

 

They do have their issues but so do the other makers. Simple are you ready for 13-16 mpg outa what you are going to drive, trucks are trucks none of them (gas) get great mpg.

 

+1 here...the fords from the same era are BUTT ugly if you ask me and the chevys aren't much better. The magnum engines will go through hell and keep running. Performance parts for these motors are readily available and they are easy to work on. All the issues with these trucks are minor outside of the failed transmissions, although there are things that can be done to prevent that as well.

 

Yup he said it all everyone has their own issues, it's just which ones you wanna take.

But avoid the Coil over 4wd Chevys like the plague. I've seen a guy corner with them to fast and the front axle fly off the truck...

Edit: I should say pre 2000 coil overs.

 

Everything everyone else has said +1

Don't even think about getting anything with that runt little V6 "magnum"

Everything else is peachy and if you find a manual you won't have catastrophic tranny problems

Maybe a 360 should have a little more power, and aftermarket parts are readily available that will DRASTICALLY increase power but the dam thing is nigh unkillable

 

When these trucks were current, they had the MOST powerful V8s and MOST powerful gas engine (V10). Check the numbers on a 90s 350 and you'll see the Magnum blows it away (even the 5.2!). Only trucks with solid front axles, four doors, cab forward, most headroom, most legroom, most payload, etc. You can't compare what you see today with these. Go back 15 years in your De Lorean and see for yourself. Also only brand to offer sticks across the entire lineup. If you find a stick and fix the plenum, you'll have the best truck from that era. Oh, and I see 13-17mpg just like the sticker says.

 

One of those facts is incorrect and the other one needs some explaining.

First one about the axle, Ford had solid front 4wd and 2wd axles, although they did offer IFS as well until the late 90s. So Dodge wasn't the only one with a solid front axle.

Secondly, as far as four door cab goes, it wasn't a full four door cab, and the four door, AKA quad cab was only available starting in 1998. However, for extended cabs Dodge had the roomiest extended cab of anyone. But both Ford and Chevy had genuine full four door crew cabs/super cabs even back in the late 70s.

But it's hard to beat these dodges, they'll run forever.

 

I seem to only remember the TTB front axle on those F150s, but I'm not an F150 expert, so I don't know. But I do know that in 1998 when Ford re-designed the F150 it was exclusively over to an IFS setup.

The Ram was introduced in 1994 as a single cab only, followed in 1995 by the Club Cab. The Club Cab had two full doors, and a solid extended cab with back seat. This was a throwback to the 1972 D/W series when they started the Club Cab, an extended cab was something no one else had back then. Soon thereafter, Ford made it's own version called the Super Cab and GM didn't have an extended cab until they came out with the crew cab. Dodge also had a crew cab officially until 1979-ish. Some later trucks had older cabs swapped onto them in the 1st generation.

In 1998, Dodge came out with the Quad Cab. Which had two full doors and two half doors. So technically not a true four door truck. Dodge has had the Quad Cab since 1998 and in 2002 enlarged the cab to almost the size of a crew cab. So since it was a tad smaller than a regular crew cab, they couldn't call it a crew cab. But Dodge's extended cab was still the largest extended cab out there. Dodge didn't have a proper crew cab until 2009 with the 4th gen Ram. And the Mega Cab technically isn't a crew cab as it was much larger than a standard crew.



/rant

 

Up until 1997 Ford F150s could have a solid front axle optionally.

/backontopic.