Hi all,
I finally sold my POS dakota and now I need another 4x4 to get me through the winter. I found a '99 Ram that I'm seriously considering buying. It's a Quad Cab 4x4 with the sport package, a towing package, and a 5.9l engine. I test drove it today and there where two things that concerned me. First, when I turn the steering wheel while going around a corner the wheel doesn't center itself. I have to manually turn the wheel back in order to go straight. Is this normal? If not what do you think is wrong? (I'm use to letting the wheel slide through my hand to straighten out when coming out of a corner so when the truck kept turning after I let go of the wheel it scared the crap out of me)
Also, the truck has 109,000 miles on it and still has the original tranny. The owner said that the only work that was done to it was 30,000 miles ago when the fluid was flushed. Should I be concerned about this? It seems that Rams start to dump trannys at around 100K and I'm terrified of having a tranny problem (That's why I sold my Dak). Yes it did shift smooth even when I stomped on the gas but is this thing just a ticking bomb? Is there any way I can tell whether it will hold up or not?
I'm taking the truck to a dealer to get checked out Monday but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask Ram owners too. Any info you can give me is appreciated. Thanks.

 

My wheel centers itself, not sure what would cause it to no center.

I have 109,xxx on my Ram with original tranny... And im not all that worried about it going out. Its hard to tell someone and say for sure when the tranny will go, its just one of those things you gotta be prepared for... and thats with every car, stuffs gonna break. Sometimes they go overnight and other times you can limp them for years before they finally kick the bucket.

Good luck on the buy and I hope it all works out the best for you.

 

mine has 128xxx miles on reg tranny and rip on it all day, just maintain it you will be ok, when you 1st get it ,change fluids, and a tune up .

 

I need to get in here before Jason.W does... LOL

I bought my truck when it had 104K, the both bearing$ went, tran$mi$$ion rebuild, both u-joint$, now my axle $eal i$ leaving huge puddle$, evap core, it$ on it$ $econd $teering gear box, OEM replacement intermediate $haft clunk$ unle$$ you get a borg$en, catalytic converter and o2 $ensor$, brake$ ARE HORRIBLE, trac-bar wear quickly unle$$ you $pend big $$, door rot, and there are other thing$, but they haven't happen to me...yet. like the plenum, cracked head$, and vacuum i$$ue$. I have 114K on it now. I have $pent about $6K in repair$ on le$$ than a year and 10K mile$.

these types of posts can normally cause debates, but just do a forum search for those items

but some people dont seem to have issues, good for them, lucky dodgers.

I can say though, I want a 3rd gen ram, as soon as I can get rid of this. Of course I would really love a 4th gen, but this truck made me too poor to get one.

enjoy your new truck if you get it.

 

well that was encouraging....

 

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen-ram-tech/176524-200-000-mile-club.html

 

1. The steering box is shot.
2. If you're scared of an auto with miles, get a stick.

Make sure the shop checks ALL the front end parts for play. Take off the air hat and look into the TB for oil. Could be from a blown gasket. Get it good and hot and take on hwy and listen for ping. Find some dirt and check the 4wd. Look for cracks on dash. Other than that, these trucks are solid. It all depends who owned it. Some people drive them like cars and don't check or replace anything until it reaches 100k then they just trade 'em off. Others, (yours truly) actually fix and repair as it ages with regular maintenance in order to get over 200k out of it. I'm on 2nd set of hubs, 3rd set ujoints, 3rd set axle seals, 2nd set brakes, 3rd t-stat, new plenum kit, deathflash cure, 3rd track bar, tie rod, 2nd battery, persistent ping issues, bad steering box and 2 small dash cracks at 106k miles. Never had it off-road either except for snow. Will keep it forever.

 

Your results may vary.
like I said, there are people out there with bulletproof rams, and there are others like me that had thiers built on a friday.

here are is some reading material.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen-ram-tech/146034-tranny-failure-year-give-us-your-vote.html
Then do a forum search and see how many responses you get for...
Plenum
evap
death wobble
bearings
axle seal
catalytic


etc.

Now, I must put my disclaimer here or Jason.W will be livid. LOL
All makes have problems, and my results may vary from yours and others.
best of luck.

 

I had to rebuild my tranny at 120k and while talking to a tranny shop about it was informed that the biggest problem is the tranny gets to hot because the flukes in the radiator are to small to properly cool the fluid. The biggest thing to do to fix this is buy an aftermarket tranny cooler and not use the original flukes. I did this and have not had any more problems out of mine as of yet. A friend of mine put one on his at 60k and when he sold it at 250k he had never had a tranny problem out of his.