yup, i sold it, it was really accualy sad to see it go. still a little sad. but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. at least i got my price for it which is nice. the reason i had to let my baby go though is becuase 10mpg was killing me. didnt have money for nothing ever penny i had went into the gas tank. now i just gotta find something a little more effcient and 4x4(like around 15mpg) im thinking an xj. but anyways thanks everyone on here, this has to be one of my favorite web sites, i will stop by sometimes and keep an eye on this forum.

 

I hear ya. I'm really missing olyelr right now... bad, but some times ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I hate to say it, but if you are looking for a full size 4x4 that gets decent mileage, check out a chevy . My brother in law and father in law both have full size four door chevys (one is a 2005 and one is a 2010), and they both get anywhere from 16-18 MPG (and my father in laws has a 6" lift with 34's). Thats is with the smaller motor offered (not the 5.3, but the next one smaller). And my wifes GMC denali (AWD with a 6 liter) gets a solid 16 mpg's around town, and we have got as high as 19 just cruising. I am a dodge man, but its impossible to beat chevy's MPG... especially with a dodge.

Jeeps and mid size trucks are decent on mileage to, but almost not as good as a full size chevy.

 

i know what you mean about chevys and good mileage. before i bought my ram i had an s10 but before that i had a 96' silverado ext 4x4 with a vortec 350 and an auto and i was getting about 15mpg and if i drove nice i could get 20mpg on the highway.
the problem is i only got about a $3000 budget to find something.
as far as jeeps go my buddys got one with a 4.0L and an auto but his has a 5.5inch lift and 33s km2s plus an 8000lb winch hangin off the front end and hes getting 12mpg, ya its not good but for a lifted truck outfitted like that i think its decent.
im trying to find a 5speed my old s10 was a 5speed 4 cyl 2 wheel drive though, but i drove that for about 5 months and i really miss shifting my own gears.
Honestly my dodge was my favorite truck, ive owned about 14 cars in the past 3.5 years but this is the only one that i didnt wanna sell and that was really sad watching it drive away. my old show truck wasnt even this hard, it was a 1978 K5 Blazer from the California desert i bought from my uncle had a 350 crate engine with 350ftlbs of torque, ugraded turbo350 4.56gears and a locker out back, had a brush guard on it 33s it was a one of a kind truck. im might have some picture floating around some where of it.

 

i couldnt let go of my RAM....i have way to much blood sweat and tears into that thing. When i get my next truck (CTD megacab ) im still going to keep my current RAM and build it as my custom mud truck.

But i understand whats going on....i almost sold mine earlier this year due to hard times......but i just parked the truck and ran the maxima for about 6 months....drove the truck like 150 miles in 6 months.

Get a cheap car....i got my Maxima with custom tail lights, CAI, all four struts (KYB's and i had to put them in) it had 181K.......ive had it almost 2 years now, and all ive done to it is 1 brake line, front brakes, 02 sensor, Alternator and Serp. belt......and i beat the **** out of it.....has just about 200K now, and still runs strong. only paid $1000 for it and i get like 25 mpg in it, and it has a V6...


i guess my point is, you should just buy a beater car, and shoulda kept the truck....but i guess its just me, i love my dodge.

 

that was my plan but the way stuff is going i couldnt afford insurance on both. trust me i looked into that option hard so i wouldnt have to sell it, but unfortantly id had to go. maybe in a year or 2 when stuff gets better i will pick up another 2nd gen ram.

 

If you were saying that you dont need a truck and were getting rid of it for a 35mph compact car or something I could understand. But to bother to sell your truck to get something that only gets 5mpg more is not going to impact your budget like you think it is. You were better off keeping the truck, and actually using it to make you money. In addition to my regular job, in my spare time I sell firewood all winter. Chop it in the spring, sell it in the winter. Makes me an extra 5k-7k each year.
There are plenty of ways to make your truck pay for itself.

 

Actually going from 10mpg to 15mpg is quite a bit of savings. If he can find a truck that gets 15mpg, instead of the 10 he is getting, he'll cut his fuel bill by a third. I'm not sure how much he drives a month, but if he drives 1500 miles for example, he'll go from using 150 gallons x $3 per g = $450 to $100 gallons x $3 per = $300. Saving $150 per month.

Diminishing returns changes that 5mpg as you go though.
Changing mileage over the same 1500 miles
10mpg - 15mpg = $150 savings
15mpg - 20mpg = $75 savings
20mpg - 25mpg = $45 savings
25mpg - 30mpg = $30 savings
30mpg - 35mpg = $21 savings

Even going from 10mpg to 11mpg will save $41 over 1500 miles.

 

No argument there, what I am trying to say, is that there are plenty of ways to make the truck pay for itself and make up the difference. I dont think an extra $37 per week is going to change anyones lifestyle all that much. If you have an old Ram, and are using it as a commuter car, or grocery getter, then its not worth having. Any pickup is a potential money maker. I see a lot of people that buy trucks thinking its "cool" to drive, but never use them for what they are meant for. Then thats when the complaints about gas consumption etc. start rolling in. I'm pretty sure everyone buying an older full size pickup truck knows that they arent going to get good mileage.

 

It's too bad that you only have $3000 to play with. You could get a 2nd Gen oil burner and get 6-10mpg better.

 

Have you looked into a TOYOTA? They arent bad and the older 22r motors seem decent.