Been looking for one in my price range for a long time and think I might have found it.

I'm going soon to take a look at it and a test drive. Wondering if anyone has any advice before I leave. It's a '96 SLT V8 with 130,000 miles on it. The condition of the truck looks perfect. I talked him down to $3,800 which I think is reasonable if it all checks out good.

Should I worry about the high mileage? When do these trucks start to become a problem? I want to use it as my daily driver driving my Stealth here and there. Do you think it will be reliable enough to use as a DD? And if anyone has anything that I should look or hear for when I'm looking at it and driving it that would be great. Thanks.

 

The only thing that I can tell you to do is check it out good. Carefully inspect the engine compartment. Make sure that u don't have any fluid leaks anywhere. Also pay close attention to the tranny listen for any noises and feel for slipping. I took my truck into the shop yesterday for a slight whine in reverse and now it is being torn apart to find the internal prob. At $300 now and will know how much more monday when the get it dismantled. Other than that I love my truck and I use it as a dd. I will drive it anywhere without a fear. Have 113k and this is the first problem with it.

 

thats basically my truck and mine runs like a champ rite now so im just gonna say check everything out take it for a spin get on it make sure it can perform the way it should

 

https://dodgeforum.com/m_769426/tm.htm

 

I have a 96 with 112k, and the only major problem was a $2500 transmission rebuild. The a/c doesn`t work, but they never last in southeast Tx.

 

It is worth reading all the TSB for the 1996 Rams
before buying.

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1996-index.htm

Personally, I would not write the check to buy one
without dropping the trans pan and seeing for myself
what is on the magnet
and what non-magnetics has settled to the bottom.

To help organize your thoughts
print out this check list
and use it during inspections:

http://dodgeram.org/buying_info/Inspect.htm

 

If it's an automatic make sure to check the tranny, as foar as everything else take someone who knows what there doing (like a mechanic friend) and have them inspect it. Also don't forget to beat the **** out of it during the test drive. If something breaks it's not yours yet. Changes are it would of broke in a month or two anyway but then you would have to fix it.