Hey guys,

I need some advice before cash trades hands on this dodge ram that I am looking at. The truck is a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4. Now here are my concerns. The truck doesn't want to go in reverse at all... If you place the truck in 4low then it will go in reverse but it hesitates. in drive the truck goes through all the gears very easy with the exception of overdrive and again with the hesitation. So with that being said I can only assume the truck is going to need a transmission? Now I have a couple other concerns. The truck is white on the firewall but the rest of the truck is blue. I am assuming that the truck was repainted by someone. the body doesn't have any visible rust that I can see. The one issues that bothers me the most is that someone wired a trailer brake controller up in the truck and instead of doing it properly then run it through door and underneath the dash and it looks just nasty. If I buy the truck that will be the first thing I fix. So I guess my big question is $2000 to much to pay for this truck? The selling points to me are the body looks to be in good shape, The truck does have a roll bar and lights as well as it is a quad cab with all 4 doors. From what I see trucks like this in my area are still going for $5-6 thousand dollars I was thinking even if I put a couple thousand into the truck I might still be okay. what do you guys think?

 

carefully inspect the bodywork. See how much bondo is in it.

No reverse may simply be a band strut fell out. Of course, that usually means the band is about shot..... (rebuild time is coming soon.)

How's the plenum?

 

I'm not detecting much body work maybe a skim coat of bondo in a couple places. as far as the plenum goes I am not sure because I have not been able to get really detailed into the truck inspection. The truck runs really good with the exception that it hesitates in reverse and overdrive.

 

Well, look around, see what else is out there.... and then consider this one is going to need about 2 grand worth of work right off the bat. If the price still seems reasonable. Go for it.

 

Is the current owner the original owner of this truck? Go over the truck with a magnet to check for bondo. Check under the truck - are the frame rails in good shape and free of rust? Ask if the plenum gasket has been replaced in the intake. Ask what type of work/maintenance has been done to the transmission, if any? How is the bed of the truck - any rust and is it in decent shape?


Will the current owner take any less cash for the truck, given that you are going to have to work on it to get it in good operating condition?

 

I am thinking on it real hard but I wanted to see what the general consensus is. The wife is giving me $2000 to go out and get a truck so I am trying to stay around that budget. I wish I had the 4000-5000 to buy one that is already fully ready to go but I don't. The plus side to it is I can build the truck the way I want I guess.

 

The Original asking price of the truck is $2500. He said the lowest he could go was $2000 he is not the original owner and he doesn't know what kind of maintenance was done to the truck. I will have to take a closer look at the truck before I make a decision because I was unable to inspect the truck thoroughly the day I looked at it. I am suppose to go make the deal with him on Feb 6th so I will be inspecting it more thoroughly then.

 

I bought my '96 Ram 2500 4x4 a few years ago, but I ended up doing quite a bit of work to it to make it reliable and fun to drive. I did all of the labor, so my cost was in parts. Common items I had to replace were timing chain set, intake plenum gasket, radiator, water pump, thermostat, rebuild of the entire front end (upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, steering box and shaft, aftermarket track bar + steering stabilizer, tie rod ends, outer U-joints, front + rear shocks, etc.), rebuilt transmission, new tires, new brake lines, new brake pads and rotors (front), new brake shoes (rear), etc.. The parts were not cheap, but the work was done in phases over time.


If you get this truck, try to get it at the lowest price possible, since you will likely have to fix items you didn't expect, which will cost more money, time and labor.

 

My question is if you cant afford $4000 for a vehicle, where you gonna get the other $2000 to do a transmission?

Dave

 

Glad you asked. My plans were to allow my uncle who is a ASE certified mechanic rebuild the one that is in it. He actually suggested two things. either I get a junkyard replacement unit and use that until I have built the funds up to put a new transmission in it or I buy a rebuild kit and he will rebuild the one that is in it. He has been busy working at is shop and working on his home so I was unable to get up with him prior to posting this. I actually just got to talk to him about this about an hour ago.