Just looked. Seems spirit was available here. Haven't owned a Chrysler since 1985....until I picked up this Ram last year. Wasn't familiar with spirit or its piston knock. I suspect they had the japanese aluminum engine?

 

which makes no sense... you either get more power or better gas mileage...there hasnt been any break through to get both from an outdated engine design.... just saying...

 

yup... a friend had a spirit...which actually got stolen when we went to canada since we were under 21 and the drinking age is 19 there...they were basically the same as an acclaim or a sunbeam just marketed under another name.

 

newer trucks are totally different and have modern v8 engines which can get over 20mpg... our trucks are pretty basic as far as technology...2nd gen rams are obsolete when it comes to technology....thats why they mostly owned as first vehicles / beaters for kids or low mileage/ pleasure vehicles... those that use it for work do so only because they have no choice or dont know how inefficient they are compared to newer trucks..(sorry I dont mean to offend anyone but the fact are the facts) I have mine mainly because I cant afford to justify a newer one or the payments but I dont play dumb and ignore what out there like some.... and I do like the body style or the 2nd generation rams.... A lot has changed since then and few of us even understand who makes the new "Ram Trucks".... it certainly isnt the dodge many grew up with...or even dodge at all these days...

I fear the way things are going soon it wont matter whether we buy a dodge, chevy toyota or ford.... they will all be the same product, just from a different distributor...

 

I wonder how great the mileage is in newer trucks. I know its better, for sure, but the sticker on a new Z71 says 15 to 21 mpg. The sticker on my 98 360 pig said 12 to 17 mpg. So I wonder if the new truck would only get 3 or 4 mpg better than mine. If so, that's not all that impressive. I'm getting 12-13 now, so it would stand to reason I'd only get 16-17 driving like I do now with a new truck. And that's still not as good as GD said he got with the 99. Kinda makes my head hurt. Guess I'll keep the pig. Its paid for. I say drill, baby, drill! If gas was cheap, we wouldn't even care.

 

I came by my Ram as a coincidence...brother in law in a bind and helped keep him from having a repo. He now realizes that the cost of operting this thing was a greater burden than he realized after he was able to quit feeding it gas. A Ram never was one of my choices, as I have bought numerous new vehicles over the years, and spent some time as an engineer for Nissan. I have enjoyed the challenges of fixing this one up and making it better for an occasional driver. But as I have grown fond of NOT making payments and have always liked the reliability of older vehicles, I do not personally own or drive anything newer than 99 (wife does, but that's what she wants).

I dread the day when they may all become the same thing through different distributors.......like so many other things have become.

 

I work the hell out of my truck because it's never broke down on me and if I have to spend $1000 a year, it still saves tens of thousands of $ over a new truck. My registration is $50 a year and insurance is $33 a month for full coverage. Now let's look at new: Say I buy a QC Hemi that they have been advertising at Tucson Dodge for $24k-which I have been very tempted to jump on. $5000 down-minimum 5 years of maintenance on my 98 Ram. $19k over 5 years at 8% interest=$385.25 per month. Full coverage insurance from Progressive=$112 per month. $497.25 per month. Now, I am building a home, free and clear over 3 years that will be worth $250k when done. I am buying a house for the cost of a new truck and my mileage isn't going to be more than 2-3 mpg better-so around $400 a year savings. Now, is it cheap to run my dead-reliable rig and pay for a house that I own and am not renting from a bank for 30 years or am I actually paying myself not to be indebted for a new truck and house?

 

That's why I hate monthly payments! Bankers make money.....I pay them money. Not fiscally beneficial for me! Good luck on the house building. I know it is lots of work, but worth it in the end.

 

i always loved the look of the gen two ram. i like the 01 dash set up better than the gen three, no offence to the gen three guys. the best part is no payments and more cash for upgrades.

 

I'd argue that the more outdated and skimped upon a particular design is the more likely that it could receive the benefit of better efficiency by retrofitting newer or better technology. It's not as if these trucks were considered state of the art or top of the line when they were new and also technology has evolved a lot since '95 when mine was new. For example: things like retrofitting and tuning in better spray pattern injectors could potentially give improvements in efficiency yielding more power and mileage. Other mods talked about every day on this forum as well improve power and mileage at the same time. It also may very well be logically argued that this type of retrofitting is cost prohibitive in most cases, I'd say, but it's not impossible. However, many times, it's the mere existence of a few easy to install, and low cost user implementable efficiency (or whatever) retrofits which gives a lot of perceived value to a platform like a 2nd gen which could arguably be considered a fairly solid baseline if the thing is otherwise clean enough. Fuel injectors is something I'd totally try if I thought it was a no brainer. Unfortunately, my impression is that getting better fuel injector performance from my particular truck seems way more than a no brainer to me.