I was looking at purchasing a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab. It looks to be in good condition with 90k miles. They are asking $4100. Has anyone had any experience with these trucks? I'm going to mainly use it to pull my camper that weighs about 5800 lbs loaded.

 

Manual or automatic? Bed length? Engine size?? And where are ya at.

They are good trucks, with a few known issues. Intake plenum being one, (belly pan on underside of intake manifold, check the stickied plenum thread for tons of information, and how to check if it is a problem.) Unfortunately, the auto trannies on the gasses are also a weak point...... If you plan on doing a lot of towing, might just as well plan on rebuilding the trans as well. You could probably delay it some with an aux cooler, check valve delete, etc.... (lots of good ideas for this on this site.)

Take it for a drive, and drive it kinda hard. Make sure it runs good, shifts nice, and everything works the way it is supposed to.....

 

To Elaborate a bit on what HeyYou said...

To Check for Plenum leak: Remove air cleaner box (pain in the ***) , pull throttle plates wide open, look down into TB with flashlight, check for large amount of oil pooled inside. if yes = blown plenum, which is about a $500-600 fix at at mechanic, or a whole day of DIY time, and about $30 for the repair kit. If the plenums blown you can have a number of side issues...Fouled Spark plugs, loss of vacuum which = loss of power, clogged catalytic converter...etc.

My Truck has never pulled a camper a day in its life, and has 250,000km's (150,000miles) , and my tranny runs pretty much brand new. I cant really speak much for towing, but properly cared for the transmissions can last the life of the truck.

 

318 cu/in, 5-speed manual with an 8 foot bed

 

Not bad. The NV3500, and 318 might struggle a bit with that kind of weight, but, just drop a gear, and you should be good to go. Not having the auto eliminates a lot of the concerns.

 

I'm gonna look at it tonight, so I'll check for the plenum gasket leak. I just watched teh You Tube link and its not terrible to replace, but defintely not fun. I'll keep you posted. As far as towing, what is the suggested weight limit?

 

4X2 is 7500

4X4 is 7200

 

IIRC the stick shift has a much lower tow rating somewhere around 4500lbs. Something you might want to check the owners manual for or call a dealer about.

But the truck will handle the weight without a problem just might come down to legality

 

Actually its a six foot bed. I checked the bottom of the intake manifold and it was dry.

 

I have loved my 98 since it rolled off the the assembly line right into my driveway LOL!! In all the years I have owned it only problems have been one fuel pump, brake line corroded back by the gas tank and wouldn't start about a year ago was an electrical connection. Other than that normal wear and tear brakes, tires and one muffler. I've towed trailers hauled all kinds of crap and she keeps going. Love this truck!!!