I'm looking for a good old 3/4 ton pickup to pull a fifth wheel camper that my wife's parents are going to give to us. I found a 2001 dodge ram 2500 quad cab 4 wheel drive with the v10 engine. within the last 6 months it has had new plugs and wires , a tune up, new brakes all the way around , and a new radiator. it's in really good shape for its age and miles. this is a private sale and he told me that it runs great, shifts great, and it drives down the road straight as an arrow. it has 220,000 miles on it , he started at 5000 dollars and I have him down to 3600 bucks. so what do you guys think would it be a bad idea to buy 1 with 220,000 miles on it. It won't see hardly any miles if i would buy it. I am a truck driver so I'll only use it to run around town when I'm home on the weekends plus a little camping. I just sold my durango and in the 6 months I owned it I put less than 1000 miles on it. so what do you guys think , is there any high mileage V10's out there that might make me feel better about this . Thanks.

 

Like any high-mileage used vehicle, a lot is going to depend on how well it was taken care of. If it's still the original engine/trans/t-case, I would be rather hesitant to put a heavy trailer behind it, and cruising the countryside......

 

Ya I would never go touring the country with it. We just go camping at 3 or 4 different campgrounds that are within 100 miles from home. the engine and transmission are original , for 3600 bucks It's a toss up. I've found a few others in the 150,000 mile range but there all double the price of this one.

 

Yeah, prices can vary DRAMATICALLY just by where you are.....

For the price..... probably not bad, IF it is in good condition, both cosmetically, and mechanically. Take it for a test drive, drive it hard for 15 minutes or more, see what ya think.

Bear in mind, it will barely make it into double digit gas mileage, regardless of load.

 

I hear ya there. the guy told me 11 or 12 miles a gallon and if you're pulling something 8 or 9 miles a gallon. I'm honestly not worried about gas mileage , I only put 20 to 30 miles a week on my personal vehicle, years ago I had a dodge ram with a 5.9 and at the best I got only 15 miles per gallon with that. and I don't think I would want to try and pull that 28 foot fifth wheel camper with the half ton

 

It could do it!! Be a believer

 

If it's in good shape, and you are willing to take the risk, I think it's a good deal. The 47re in the truck is a much better transmission than the 46re in your half ton and Durango. If it has been taken care of, and continues to be, it should serve you well for many more miles. Especially since you don't put barely any miles on your vehicles....



Oh, and from personal experience, those v10's are FUN!!!

 

if its in good shape, well maintained, runs smooth and you don't mind the gas mileage. why not?

cheap price...

if you want one with an engine that will last longer than the dodge truck around it, get one with a cummins engine. fuel economy even while towing is in the double digits.

depending on gearing and tire size the economy range is 14-24MPG. again greatly dependent on setup...turned up to over 500hp like mine and running towing gears and big tires: 14mpg, highway gears and stock tires with a mild programmer (or adjusted timing screw if its the 12v engine) 24MPG and both 12v and 24v engines have bullet proof bottom ends up to 800hp, and the engines if kept near stock and maintained will easily go 800k - 1 million miles without needing a rebuild.

in fact theres a vp44 24v truck out there that was in one of the diesel magazines that has towed heavy every day of its life and it has over 850k miles on the odometer and its still going strong. never rebuilt, minimal work done to the motor. (head gasket, lift pump and injection pump replaced after failures)

 

drive it and see how it handles on the freeway, do some WOT runs and see how the transmission acts... Dont buy anything based on the owners word... If it drives down the freeway at 60-80mph for like 20-30 miles without any issues then i say go for it.

I dont know how well the 47re holds up, but i know the 46re's tend to last if your lucky in the 180-220k range.. Others not so much.. So having 220k on it i would say the transmission is very aged.. I dunno how it would handle pulling 5k or more pounds.

 

same transmission is in the diesels. do a torque converter and valve body and they will take quite a bit of abuse.

stock v10 shouldn't be able to hurt it. give it a fresh oil and filter change with ATF +4 and overfill by a quart. should do what you want.