Hi, I haven't yet bought my truck and I am looking at a few 1998+ Ram 1500 and 2500's. Now the 1998's and up come with the plastic side mirrors and I was wondering if you could bolt on the OEM chrome ones for sub '97 Rams.

Found here:
http://www.carpartswholesale.com/cpw/dodge~mirrors.html

Thanks- Mike

 

Welcome to DF!

you probably can bolt them on but I wouldnt. those mirrors have had problems in the past. I test drove a truck a while back that had them and they wouldnt stay adjusted properly.

 

Ok a few more questions.

1) I haven't seen too many 2nd Gen. Rams with leather interior. Street Scene makes a front bench that looks pretty nice, but are there any companies that also make a rear bench replacement? Or, how much do you think it would cost to have it reapolstered?

2) What type of gas milage do the 5.9's and 5.2's each get?

3) How big can you go for tires without having to lift it? I was looking at some 33 inch toyo mt's.

 

I've never had any problems with the mirror adjustments on my truck. I set them when I bought it back in February, and haven't had to adjust them since. I have the power chrome metal ones.

As far as whether or not they'll fit, they should. A lot of diesel guys upgrade to 98+ power mirrors. IIRC, the wirring is a little different though due to the heated mirror option being available on the 2.5 gen Rams.

As for your other questions...

1) I don't know much about the aftermarket leather seating. I know leather wasn't available as an option until 1996.

2) They're actually pretty close in mileage. Around 9-12 city and 13-16 highway depending on how you drive and what you've done to the motor. There is a thread at the top of this forum with MPG ratings in it. It's several pages long. That should give you some idea.

3) The 33s will fit.

 

My truck is a '94 with the chrome power mirrors and I've never had any problems with them staying adjusted unless I snag a tree branch while wheeling some of those narrow trails

 

maybe it was isolated to the one I drove (mirrors). if I recall correctly they were non-powered versions. I did some research at that time and concluded that those mirrors have a problem in the long run...

 

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Mine came with leather seating. Cool, until you have to stop quickly, and everything in the seat goes to the floor.

The 10 +/- sucks in my '98 5.9L 2500, but as long as the wife stays out of the driver's seat, it gets a tad more.

Ours had 35's on it when we bought it. It came with the snow plow prep group, which gives it a little more lift though. Swapped the 35's out for 285's right after buying it. The 35's rubbed the inner plastic wheelwells. The 285's only rub at full stuff over a bump.

Good luck with your truck purchasing. One warning... do a thorough test drive, paying attention to tranny shifting. It's the most common problem with the 2nd Gen trucks. Also, if a truck has any history of having a snow plow in front of it... don't buy it. Even if it only has 53K miles on it as a '98, the tranny will be shot. Learned that one the hard way.

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I have a 97 sport fully loaded...it had the leather seats but its tan with a wood panel...its nice but not my fav. On the subjects of the mirrors, i have the crome ones and i am having a problem with one of them. the driver side wont stay put after 50mph it starts to push back to the window. If i had the time i would replace it. So if u ever see a black ram flying down the highway with an arm out the window pushing the mirror back...thats me

 

I have a 97 and the mirrors won't stay put on either side, they are manual. I was looking on here to see how hard it is to wire in power mirrors from another year or even the correct year.

 

i cant agree with you more never buy a truck that was used as a snow plow you will have nouthing but problems i instal/uninsal them the easyest way to tell on the 2 gen rams is to look ither at the track bar, the bolts will be replaced and possabley bigger than usawell and look at the front of the frame for holes driled into it they will be 1/2 in or bigger

sorry i know its a bit off topic but i just had to say it