Vehicle: Mopar fan since 1968, owner since 1977, 2000 ram today.
Location: Just south, of nowhere. (Oklahoma)
Posts: 994
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlabamaRam95
talk about loyalty to your brand...you guys are harsh...lol
Maybe its brand loyalty, or maybe its that some of us are a bit put off when we see faults listed that many of us older guys have noted in other brands.
Personally, I may be a bit jaded. I owned Mopars when owning Mopars wasn't cool. But that was also after owning a Chivy, which was a POS. I have a good many years to absorb and deal with the idiosycnrasies (sp) that MA Mopar put out. I'd also be the first to say there were some real turds among the diamonds...but when one is putting on the blinders, its time to pull em back and look at reality.
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MY NAME IS DOG, AND MY TANK IS EMPTY. GOT ANY SPARE CHANGE? Good vehicles are manufactured, great vehicles are built! Awesome vehicles are built by their owners using LUCK or Laboring Under Correct Knowledge. Ladenblowfish...you are a THIEF, and a COWARD!
Member #20 White truck club, and #29 in the 5.9 club!
Every manufacturer has its issues. I've never owned an import vehicle, but there have been plenty of them in my family over the years. Most were good cars, but none were so overwhelmingly good that it convinced anyone of their superiority. The one and only Chevy I owned (a 1973 Nova hatchback) was a POS. The car sat for 3 months thinking it had a bad tranny. Tranny linkage fell apart inside the pan. Have had nothing but Dodge trucks and Jeeps since 1979. Yeah, some had their issues, but no more than the Fords or Chevys my friends were driving. And lets not forget that Dana/Spicer was building the drivetrains under most of these trucks regardless of the badge on the hood. My current Dodge has been a great truck. It belonged to my best friend who bought it new in 2000, so I know its service history quite well. While there does appear to be some inherent problems with these trucks (plenums, CAD issues, bearing units) I don't see them being any more or less than other brands. Maintenance and abuse appear to be factors, but if you judge them by what you read in here, the view gets a little skewed because the vast majority of people who rarely have issues with their trucks don't hang out in forums like this so most of what you see in here is the minority that do.
I'd say that, for whatever reason, you got a bad truck. Nothing to do with it being a Dodge, just a bad one. Perhaps it was mistreated previously, built on a Monday or made from the first batch of parts in a new production run. Whatever, it happens to all makes and models. Enjoy your new Chevy, but don't fool yourself into thinking it is any better than a Dodge, Ford or Hyundai. It may be better than this one truck you owned, but not better than an entire brand.
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2000 Dodge RAM 2500 Sport SLT+ Quad Cab 4X4, 8.0 V10, 4.10 gears, Borla SS Headers, Edelbrock muffler, K&N CAI, KYB Shocks, Hell Bent 2" Level Kit, 17" American Racing Wheels (Baja), factory camper/towing pkgs, WAAG Sidesteps, member White Truck Club #87
Vehicle: 96 ram ext cab 4x4 that followed me home and drained my bank account
Location: North Tonawanda NY,
Posts: 570
I can say I do agree with that to a point but many of the people I Mention I bought a 96 ram too already know about the issues they are prone to have..... (just like pintos were known to explode in rear end collisions) and thats pretty bad bad....
My brother in law works at a huge dealership (not dodge but they do also own a dodge dealership) and as soon as he seen my truck when I went there to get the tranny parts he ordered for me he said I should open an account since the 2nd gen rams have more tsb's on the front end alone than any other dodge...he also said they have two they use for plow trucks and sees first hand all the required maintenance.....
That being said there are good trucks and lemons of every make and model. There are also design flaws and weaknesses and some years and models have more than others making them less reliable in general....Now I also know we all love are 2nd generation rams but some of us have convinced ourselves its a better designed truck than it is....and shady stuff that dodge pulls like the death flash doesnt help.
All that being said I've owned all the american makes from amc jeep cj to my 84 vette and 5 fords in between..(company vans) and I have to say a lot of it hgas to do with use and the way it was taken care of....the last ford van I had needed a torque converter at 175k besides that it was just brakes tires and tuneups...it has 250k+ on it now and the 5th owner still drives it....my newest van has 120k and no issues but basic maint and a power steering pump. my vette has 120k and i've only replaced the battery twice and an alternator and starter in ten years...still has same brakes for the last 50k with no issues. why? I believe because of the way I maintaine and drive them....the fords have **** brakes...its a design thing they put garbage brakes on them from the factory.
My dads 2005 f150 needed $650 in brake work yesterday and it only have 38k on it....only 5k since he bought it from the ford dealership. the mechnic showed his a 2008 150 on the lift whos rotors were toast even though the factory pads were still good? he told my dad they dont build the newer trucks to hold up like the old ones. My last jeep literally rotted apart everywhere but ran like a top..crysler version Jeeps use **** steel. So all manufacturers skimp on things.... its just funny that its always the same list of things failing by the titles of the threads on here...to say thats just luck and not have a good deal to do with the result of poor design of certain components is just wrong. Maybe the PO of his truck was like mine and neglected or beat on maybe not it who knows?....
What I love about my dodge sets it apart from other trucks in my mind and I love it....but after just three months with mine I'm smart enough to respect someone elses decision to buy something else when he finally hits the breaking point with his...there are many here who had multiple 2nd gen dodges who could say the same thing so...
just my 2 cents and sorry for the rambling but I had a lot to say...
__________________ 96 money pit.....
Last edited by Augiedoggy; 11-06-2009 at 01:47 PM.
Have fun with your Shapeless, boring looking truck.
__________________ I am PILOT error, I am FETAL distress, I am the RANDOM chromosome, I am complete and TOTAL MADNESS. Best place to find parts. 55th HEAVY LIFT the difficult we do imediatly, the imposible, takes a little longer.
i agree on how people treat their vehicles has a lot to do as to how well it holds up, believe me, my truck has its share of issues, but i've seen a lot less than some people, why? because i take good care of it, and so did the guy i bought it from (ironiclly, my dad bought his first truck from the same family, same color too) but his was a chebby, and frankly, i am a little jelous of that truck he bought (400 SB, that could spin all 4, yea that would have been fun lol)
Well that's one less persons whining I have to listen too. I think there was another guy or
two on here that were b****ing about their dodge and wanted to go to chevy, hope they
fallow this one out the door.
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01 Ext Cab 5.9 Off Road
Yeah, its modded
See 'My Garage' for details
sorry bout the language, but im a die hard Ram fan.
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95 DODGE RAM 1500 5.9 4X4 SLT Shortbed, New Tranny, Suspension, 4.10 Rear End. Straight Piped, New Rims. Hughes Plenum. Sony Xplode 1000w, with 10in. Kicker L5
5.9L Club Forum Member #39
These are the vehicles I've owned since I was old enough to drive:
(in order)
1970 Dodge Coronet 440 station wagon
1973 VW Beetle (owned less than a year)
1973 Chevy Nova 2-dr hatchback
1974 Plymouth Roadrunner
1975 Dodge Ramcharger 4X4
1973 Plymouth Barracuda (concurrent with above)
1979 Dodge Power Wagon 4X4
1986 Jeep CJ7 Laredo 4X4
1989 Jeep Cherokee Laredo 4X4
1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4X4
2000 Dodge RAM 2500 4X4
With the excpetion of the CJ7 that I bought brand-spanking new, all were bought used and in good condition. The Chevy was the only one that gave me fits. I'm either a fool who buys a POS product from a POS company one after the other or my Mopars have been very good to me over the years. The Ramcharger was the only one that gave me any real trouble, but it was my 1st 4X4 and I beat the piss out of it. The fact that I bought it from the Border Patrol with close to 60k miles on it probably didn't help, either.
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2000 Dodge RAM 2500 Sport SLT+ Quad Cab 4X4, 8.0 V10, 4.10 gears, Borla SS Headers, Edelbrock muffler, K&N CAI, KYB Shocks, Hell Bent 2" Level Kit, 17" American Racing Wheels (Baja), factory camper/towing pkgs, WAAG Sidesteps, member White Truck Club #87
