So I am really tired of driving a car and I want an older truck. I drive 40 miles round trip to work every day and would drive my car to work and back on a daily basis. The truck I want for hunting and just as something else to drive. The truck will spend a lot of trips on the highway, since there is a 4 hour drive to where I hunt. So with this in mind, should I go with diesel or gas, standard or auto? Are there certain years or things that I should watch out for?

 

if iwas you i would go with a gas-auto if ur gona get a 2nd gen iv herd they have problems with the trannys and thats about all i knwo sorry

 

How old are you talking ? You can find good deals on 2gen ram's like mine, great trucks just make sure the tranny is mechanically sound. 2 Gen dakota's are great trucks too. Do you haul/tow much ??

 

The 4xRE has a reputation of failing. For long trips I'd highly recommend a diesel manual. You'll get twice the mileage as a gas auto.

 

There will not be a lot of towing or hauling done with this truck, but there will be some off road driving, mostly on ranch roads with the occasional trip through the pasture as a shortcut, but no serious mudding. The reason I am looking at the first gen is that I like the body better, to me it looks more like a heavy duty truck that you can drive through a brick wall and still come out running. The second gen trucks seem to be more concerned with looks and I am a function before fashion guy. I was thinking diesel manual also because that seems like the simpliest most durable combo, but at this point I am not ruleing anything out.

Last but not least, what is a 4xRE?

 

The 4xRE is the tranny used in 2nd gen rams and 2nd gen 318 dakotas. They were pretty unreliable untill they are rebuilt, usually the shift seals will go bad causing it to not shift out of 2nd gear. Once they are rebuilt with aftermarket seals, they are alot better, I know my father has a 1998 ram 1500 and the tranny was rebuilt before he bought it and since then he has put 150,000 miles on it, and it still shifts great. Now my uncle, he bought a 96 new, and he has had numberous problems with it, but the tranny didnt go bad until about 90000 miles, and then he was about to break down and have them rebuild it, when I got him a bottle of Lucas stop-slip. He put half a bottle of that in and it has shifted fine, and he has put about 20000 on since then. If I were you, I would go with a 96-00 ram 1500 with the 318 manual. The 318 is bullet proof, they last forever. And with the stick, you will get better gas mileage and more reliability. The only reason I say go with a 2nd gen, is because If you go any older, you are looking at less reliability for the highway trips you are going to be making and they are old enough to really start getting serious problems; you dont really see too many of those on the road anymore. Good luck!!