I purchased my 2001 dodge ram 1500 Offroad/sport back in december...I read everyday on here about problems people are having with their trucks...this is my first dodge usually I buy forign. But I have not experienced the problems that most have talked about yet, but are dodge trucks built that porly??? I see things from transmissions to engines to ball joints, rear ends, etc... Even some of trucks don't seem to have that many miles on them. Are Dodge trucks really that much garbage? should I sell it already before something happens?

 

Well it's a help forum man. Alot of people only post here when they have problems, so someone can help them fix it. That's why you don't see alot of posts like "Hey my dodge started and ran great today".

I've had mine for over a year with no real problems. So far the only thing I've had to replace was the fuel pump and the water pump, and they both went around 101,000 miles which is normal for any vehicle. If you treat it good it will treat you good back.

 

Not necessarily. Sometimes it depends on the people who owned the trucks before we got our hands on them. Some people just have no clue how to take care of a vehicle and treat them like crap. If you treat one like crap, its going to eventually be crap.

The most common problem that I have heard of with our pickups is the tranny going out. The Chrysler transmissions in the trucks, especially prior to 1999 model year, are supposed to be pretty poor quality. It seems that I see fewer 2000 and 2001 Rams with tranny problems than the earlier years. However, that being said, there are some guys here who have over 100k miles on their trucks on the original transmission, no problems. Then there are some showing problems at 50k-60k. I'm guessing it boils down to how the original owners treated the truck, if (and what) they towed, and at least a bit of random chance.

I bought my truck last September, just short of 60k miles. No transmission problems, no mechanical problems whatsoever. That was one of the reasons I traded off my 1995 Dodge Dakota for this, it was perfectly fine except for the transmission (and the fact I was itching for a full size pickup). Mine had the 5.2, and therefore the 46RH transmission, same one you find in Rams with the 5.2 and 5.9 of that year, and cousin (if not almost twin brother) to the 46REs you find in the years past 1996, I believe (someone correct me if I am wrong).

Every vehicle is going to have its problems, every engine is going to have its problems. Some are more minor than others, some are terrible. 2nd Generation Dodge Rams aren't bad at all, in my opinion, compared to other pickups of the same years. Even the brand new pickups, regardless of make, have their own sets of problems, all the way from the newest Rams and other "domestics" to the "foreign" Tundras and Titans.

 

If you look hard enough, you will find that all automakers have problems with their vehicles. Sure Dodge vehicles have their problems, but to say that ALL dodges are garbage is not fair. I have a 1992 Dakota with over 344,xxx miles with no problems. The only things that were changed under the hood was the thermostat, radiator (due to a wreck and not failure) and a new clutch at 290.000 miles. I have owned Chevys, Fords, Toyotas, Dodges, Mazdas, Olds, and they have all had issues.

 

I guess you guys are right, it is a help forum...i just hate seeing such negativity =) I was kinda worried about having problems with it. I already have a leaky gear box and my thermostat went out which is no big deal...but I was just hoping my truck was not going to be lemon it's only got 89000 but it looks great and drives great. Thanks for your input.

 

I'm having problems with my truck because it appears it was a cement hauler and nothing else. so as long as the truck moved forward, doesn't seem like much maintenence was done to it, and once things started gettin bad they sold it to a dealer (which i've had a badddddd expierence with) and I bought it (very cheap, 3k) and left to do the repairs. After my tranny overhaul, I'll be at a little over 1700 in extras. New tires, ball joints (did the repair myself ... eventually, lol), Tranny, Idler/Pitman arms, IAC, pre-cat o2 sensor, spark plugs, oil change. Stuff I'd have to do to any vehicle. But Dodges/Chrysler have a running issue with their stock transmissions, but people report having success with aftermarket/rebuilt trannies. Oh and no one is satisifed with stock exhaust. Search any word pertaining to exhaust and you'll see massive articles of mufflers, cat's, headers, etc.

 

That's mostly due to the abundance of teenagers who think sound equals power. There's really nothing wrong with the stock exhaust, other than being stock

 

I'm a teenager, sound equals being seen. And such we have such nice trucks we want people to turn their heads. That's my excuse anyways.

 

Hey, nothing wrong with that. I love the way my truck sounds with a flowmaster 40 on it

 

Yeah if you lookon anyford or chevy forums youwillsee plenty of problems people have there as well. No vehicles are built perfectly. Maybe one day they will be.