Just want to put in a positive comment on the truck. Me and my Ram are getting old together, nothing kink here so don't go there. I bought it new back in 1997 but it's a 1998 model one of the first handful, I swear, that came off of the assembly line..unfortunately at that time it was in mexico..say no more. After a few door adjustments as they figured out the quad cab thing and a leaky tail light and noisy steerng colum they seemed to work the bugs out. The first year I had the truck I got three owners manuals, the first that came with the truck which said 1998 on the cover but all the pictures inside were of a 1997 or earlier. The notable change in documentation was mopar's position on octane. The earlier manual said 87 or higher but the 98 manuals said 87. Mine knocked using 87 so I ran 92 or higher to not have to hear that. Eventually I swapped out the throttle body for a fastman tb and that fixed the octaine problem as promised. I only use overdrive on the highway and have had zero transmission problems in the sixteen plus years of ownership. I do all of the maintenance and it runs great. I used to off road with it some when I was younger don't do that some much now. To me it's still the coolest looking truck out there..has to be a 4x4 though. The Ram started the styling thing with the trucks and had it right at the beginning. I don't care for the newer versions, not into trucks that have four doors like cars. The one thing Dodge did that I like with the Ram is that they didn't make an suv out of it or anything like that, so when you see the front of the Ram coming at you, you know it's a truck.

 

Great to hear.


I'm happy with my '96 Ram 2500 4x4, once I did all of the repairs, maintenance and upgrades it needed. My only wish is that it would pass a gas station!

 

I think the 1994-'01 Rams are still the best looking trucks out there. Perfect combination of modern and classic.

 

2nd gen Rams are my favorite. Unfortunately a few pieces are starting to get rusty on mine I didn't catch when I painted the underneath. Up here in PA you can barely help that though in winters like this one. Salt stays under there for weeks until you can get it sprayed off.

 

Yours is still in a hell of a lot better shape than mine. Drivers rocker, inner and out, are pretty much gone. I have already replaced the drivers door once, passenger door is starting to get bad. (I have another set of doors in the barn though.) If I want to keep this truck for a few more years, gonna have to address some of those issues, or the cab will rot right off the frame.

 

Amen to that...this winter has been brutal for my truck. It's not even my daily driver! I did take it out a couple times when there was some crap on the roads but it seems that just being outside near the road has been enough. My rusty door bottoms are starting to come back through my bed-lining on the sides I'm gonna have to get it to the body shop to have some new skins put on eventually. Luckily, my undercoating has held up well on the frame and body underneath.

To the OP: I've found that if the routine maintenance is performed properly and on time and the faulty plenum is repaired, these trucks will last as long as anything else on the road. I love my 01 offroad...I love it even more now that it's not my daily driver and I dont have to pay 90 bucks every week to fill it up!

 

very cool truck man. i want to lift my truck but haven't decided on how much lift. dang that's a nice truck. wheels/rims too. mine are stock. i have too many cars in my life that need money. just recently got my 73 Charger done the way i wanted mopar to build it from the factory and i have an 05 hemi magnum that i've made a few mods too. i agree with you about 2nd gen. dodge put the right amount of lines and curves etc to make it a nice looking truck without over doing it like they did in the years afterwards.

 

Yep my truck is getting old too. I have an 01 so some of you older models will cry foul but I have more miles on my truck then a lot of guys on here. Of course there's still some that have me beat

I feel like these weeds the last truck made that still feel like trucks, old school trucks. New trucks have more chrome then a caddy and ride better too boot