im new to the dodge thread, used to have a 91 dodge daktoa and loved it but long story short i got the chance to pickup a

96 dodge ram 2500 5.9L gas 360 magnum engine

Truck has 180 thousand miles on it and previous owner said the transmission is trashed,they were hauling a bobcat and it just kept slipping i checked the trans fluid and its black so needless to say it was never changed and burnt to a crisp.

question 1 - what all should i look for on this truck to see if its a decient enough one to pickup

question 2 - how much to get that trans rebuilt and how hard is it to remove / install it myself and is there any write up on it?

question 3 - also he said it uses a little bit of coolant every now and then but hasnt had any puddles or anything, im thinkin intake gaskets but let me know your thoughts

I am trying to go the cheapest route possible on the trans thanks.


Thanks again

 

welcome to df.
the 2500's are good trucks. i think they all come with the dana 60 rear and front (4wd) which give you lots of gear options.

however, there are some common problems that develop with these trucks, so be aware of them and know that some of them are pretty expensive repairs if you have to pay someone else to do them. if you do the work yourself, most of the parts won't break the bank.

engine - cracked heads, leaking plenum gasket. the good news is this is a really short list. poor gas mileage. as bad as 9-10-11 mpg.
front end - track bar wears out (4wd), front bearings, ujoints, seals, ball joints are kind of expensive. steering can be poor - column, steering box.
body - cracked dash. rust up north.
rear end - stock limited slip is poor, wears out/breaks quick.
transmissions are generally poor. there are 1000's of posts on this forum alone. good news - a top quality rebuild will fix your problem forever. bad news - a poor quality semi rebuild will prolong your agony and empty your pocketbook. cost is $1500-2500 or more. the main thing is someone with reputation, experience, and written warranty.

for your particular truck, if its currently not drivable, i would hope your looking at buying it real cheap. your going to spend a bundle on a transmission, and you need to be very careful of what that truck is worth. check your used car guides for private party sells. its not going to be worth a whole lot.

 

Thanks, maybe i should of added that this one would be a 2wd truck.

As far as the problems i really aint worried about the engine problems, not to hard to fix, i usually do most of my work myself because im young and really dont see the point in paying people to do stuff i can accomplish myself. So i have already done the engine work thing, ball joints , u joints and all that happy horse crap.

The truck only has surface rust on the rockers and one lil hole on the drivers fender and the rest is acually clean suprisinly for the age.

so im glad to hear that it aint going to be too bad of a truck besides the transmission.

i have done everything mainly except transmission work, i have a guy thats willing to sell one to me that was just rebuilt when his truck died and still has warranty and everyhting on it and he said that it has the heavy duty parts in it this time for aorund 8-9oo and was wondering is that a fair price or should i keep looking.

i am still up in the air about droping the trans and everhting myself, its just mainly im worried about when reinstalling making sure everthing goes in right so i aint buying a second trans for it shortly after this one. Thanks again.

I priced used ones around here there are 2 others with bad trans and they want 900 for the one and 1500 for the other, and those are both 1500s not the 2500's , the guys i was looking at he is only asking 500? too much ?