Hello. Im new to the ram and seek advice.

Im looking at buying a monster of a truck.
1995 Dodge Ram 2500, club Cab, Long Bed, 5.9L V8, Auto, 4WD
180-185,000 miles, Daily driver, minor rust, runs good, shifts good..
Owner stated to his knowledge it has the original drivetrain.
I have only seen pictures/emailed him about it. Have not seen the truck in person. He is wanting $1,500 but it books for $4,500.. he needs the money to fix his car. and he said hes tired of watching it sit. was sitting untill his car blew a head. he said he gets 12mpg but lives in the city.

What i would like to know is.
What problems could it have if not taken care of?
what should i look for? I know to check fluids.
What problems are known to a truck like this? i have heard transmissions/fuel pumps.
What parts are prone to failure?

He said everything works.

I work with a guy who has a '01 dodge ram 1500 quad cab long box. baby v8. 2wd. he has no heat, one headlight went dim and we replaced them with no change, but he has has no real drivetrain problems.

Thank you for reading my gibberish.

Thank you in advance for helping me decide.

 

Plenum leaking is a standard issue. (see the stickied thread in the tech section)

You can probably get 10-20,000 miles out of it, with just basic maintenance..... might get more, might blow up tomorrow. It's a used vehicle.

Basically, just give it thorough 'used vehicle' inspection, and have a look down the throttle body, see if there is any oil pooling there. (but, even if there isn't, expect to have to do the plenum anyway.....)

For the money, if everything is as he says it is, not a bad deal.

 

Thank you.
I did read something a little while ago about the plenum gasket.
Aluminum & steel or something expand/contract at different rates cause it to go bad... if i remember right.
You said it might last 10-20,000 miles maybe more.. whats normally going to go? transmission? motor? rust isnt an issue.. I work at a truck wash... hahaha
my plan was to buy it and drive it until summer then start fixing it up and maybe use it to fix up my trailer... fixing it isnt an issue once summer comes.
but if somethings going to go i would like a heads up.

I have heard that they have sloppy steering.. any truth to it?

 

Nah not in the 2500, no steering issues there. Brakes are better too. 1500's have the steering issues. Plenum as HY already said. Trans' in these trucks are very prone to failing, not a very good trans. If its original, make sure it was maintained. The 46re is really made of glass. Dashes like to crack too, crappy plastic dodge used sucks. Uncracked dashes are not very common lol. Motor will run forever though if maintained, Magnums are damn near bullet proof. Seen plenty of rotted out 200-300k mile trucks with motor still runnin strong. Do the water pump and timing chain as well when you do the plenum, those parts also fail in these. Timing chains dont so much fail as they stretch and can cause timing issues. A good double roller timing set will prevent that. They get very crappy gas mileage too, gonna be even worse for you in a 2500 :-P DOnt expect more then 10-11 mpg average. Im very serious, if you need good gas mileage stay away from these trucks. Other than those issues these are solid trucks, I picked these ones over the newer ones because they felt like a much more solid truck.