Originally Posted by hometheaterman

The motors are decent. They seem to last for quite a while unless you have one that cracks the heads which seems to be fairly common. However, the transmissions do not last, the rear ends don't seem to last if it has the LSD in it. Well, the LSD's don't last, the interior seems to fall apart. Specifically the dash. The front end parts seem to go bad. These trucks just have a ton of issues that it seems like everyone with one of these trucks has to deal with with the exception of a few. Now most of this stuff you can upgrade to be decent but chances are that if buying a used truck it's not going to have this stuff upgraded.

To be honest if I needed a truck to last knowing what I know now I would not buy a Dodge. Seeing the experiences my friends have had I wouldn't buy a Chevy either. The ones I know with Fords have had good luck. The only two with a ton of problems are one friend who has literally beat the **** out of his truck. He will tell you that. It's still running but the transmission doesn't shift right. Like I said he has beat the **** out of it and it's had less problems than my truck. His is also a 97 so 4 years older than mine. To me that's sad.

Another guy has one that a rod went in the motor with like 80k miles or something. He said he had just had Jiffy Lube change the oil that morning before going on a trip so he wondered if something happened there but couldn't prove it.

Other than those two most of the people I know with them have had great luck. I'd say the one that's been beat on has been decent as while stuff has broken it's not honestly had that much break and it's been treated like crap.

I honestly would look for a Toyota or Nissan if I wanted it to last. If I needed a heavier duty truck the Fords are the only ones I'd look at.

Originally Posted by PR1AWRet

86,500 miles when I got it 5 years ago. 89,500 as of today.

Originally Posted by kRoEhM1972

So....so far I've seen engines with anything from 130k up to 400k. Everything else is just usual BS that needs to be done. Apparently, plenum leaks are a factor, from what I've read. Otherwise, u-joints go, and front ends do too, that's just expected. I've owned nothing but Dodge/Chrysler cars since 1989 so the issues with these vehicles is nothing new. I've just been curious as to how many miles you can possibly put on a 1500 since my friend will be selling his and it's got 175,000 miles on it, but I've been with him and the truck since it was new. Only it's a 2002 with a 4.7 liter V8, which is a 3rd gen, I think? It's never had a single issue with anything however it does throw a P0455 code now and the passenger window goes up and down only some of the time, but otherwise it's a solid truck. However, I'm a fan of the 5.2/5.9 and would prefer a truck with either of these engines, so I've been curious to the longevity of these engines....