ok so here's the deal. i got my truck out of queens, nyabout a month ago and i've had lots of issues with it. costly issues. right when i got it, it had a pretty noticable shimmy in the front end which happened to be the idler arm but the shop couldn't get it in until after the weekend to fix it and they said just take it easy so i did. i'm drivin on a somewhat dirt road and it starts to get narrow and kinda sticky and finally forces me to put it in 4hi and for a while it was doin great and i finally get to a better road and take it out of 4wd and it's making a HORRIBLE clank in the front end... turned out to be a GUTTED half-shaft... so i'm like "ok well that's more money i don't have" and end up paying $520.50 for new idler arm and half shaft including labor... next, i'm leavin tha house one morning and notice i have some kind of leak. getting out of the truck, i'm praying it's just from the a/c and i have nothing to worry about. i got a little closer and saw a bit of color to it and i start to cringe knowing that i'm broke as a joke and i'll have to borrow money to get whatever it is fixed. i brushed my fingers against it and to my suprise, it's tranny fluid. so i think to myself alright, that explains the excessive timeframe when it shifts. turns out it was leaking right behind the transfer case. 3 days later i gotta shovel out another $258 to get the tranny resealed and i have yet to have any issues with the front end or the drivetrain since. next, i started it up leaving my boss's shop on my way home only to hear an obnoxious exhaust leak and when i look under the truck, i also notice a heat shield around my muffler that has come off on one side and after about 5-6 days, it drags the ground in certain places in town. tomorrow i'm going to get the heat shield tac welded so it will hold long enough to wait for an open day at the muffler shop. the exhaust leak, however, is not exactly a leak anymore... it turns out the brackets that secure the right manifold to the y-pipe are completely rusted out and they are completely disassembled from each other(screw the north and their salty roads). i have yet to take it to the shop to asess the full extent of the damage to my wallet and i'm still not sure what options i have to get it repaired or replaced so i'm just gonna assume it's gonna be about $250 just like everything else. however, it could easily be much more than that depending on what has to be done.

all that coupled with me having to buy a new left fog light and pay a body shop to repair my front bumper (big armadillo), and buy and have a new head/fog light switch installed (hasn't worked since i got the truck), brakes need to be replaced or at least the pads, tires on back are dry-rotted and cracking, tires on front have no tread on the outside due to the idler arm problem, and countless other minor things. all that put together makes me want to ask what will go wrong next so i can go ahead and start lookin for replacement parts i won't have to wait as long to have it fixed next time.

background info: 99 slt 4wd 5.2l 318 ~115k miles

i really just don't know what to think about the truck. with the money i'm spending on repairs, i could be making payments on a new vehicle only paying less...

ok i'm done with my rant. thanks in advance for anyone with a positive response or helpful advice.

 

MM:

Sorry to hear you are having such a time with your new ride. Hopefully, once you get all of these things that the previous owner obviously did or could not keep up, you will have a nice ride.

At 115K, your D has not had the pants run off of it at 9 years old, but things do wear out andyou are now having to catch back up with that curve.

BTW, at 115k your D should be on its 4th set of spark plugs, and you will want to change your spark plugs,tranny fluid/filter, transfer case fluid and axle fluids every 30k. Cooling system should be flushed/refilled every 40k unless you go with some of the newer long life antifreeze. Also, if your plug wires look old or oem, I would replace them also.

If there is any doubt whether or not these items are up to date, do them as you can afford to get ahead of the curve.

You will benefit greatly buy using this website when you have issues. I have used this one and a couple others with great results.

Don

 

Most of those things should be covered under the new york state lemon law warranty (I believe it's 30 days for that many miles on the truck). Assuming you bought it from a dealer, they should fix it for free. Did you bring it to a mechanic for inspection before you bought it?

I can scan a copy of the lemon law warranty and all of the things that are covered if you would like.

 

thanks n8ech and ne1! and yeah, i would be much appreciative of a copy of the warranty. it was actually sold by someone in new jersey but located in queens though so i'm not surewhat the technicalities of it are. i'm pretty sure my 30 days are up tho. but any knowledge of the like will help tremendously!

 

Marsh, bless your heart. I think that faint whimpering noise I hear off in the background is the sound of your wallet crying. Unfortunately all too often when you purchase something used you are buying someone else's problem. I think this D has been rode hard and put up wet. Dodges tend to be good vehicles and that's not a lot of miles. I hope things look up for you.

Ang

 

well little did i know, my tires were a lot more worn than i thought... the outsides of my front 2 are almost smooth because of the idler arm situation and my driver's rear has small grooves due to spinning on rocks in mud and is also dry rottingand my passenger's rear is almost smooth down the middle but still has small chunks taken out where it's smooth and is showing wire at the deepest point of the chunks... also beginning to dry rot...

so my question is.... what tires should i get to replace the ones i have now? i want some good tires for mud/off-road grip and some quiet on-road grip... preferably 31's if that will fit without any rubbing...