1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab
#1
1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab
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.
#2
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.....
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.....
#3
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.
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.
Last edited by talthyren; 06-20-2011 at 04:22 PM.
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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!!!