Sorry this may seem like a duplicate question, but i am going to buy a 1996 BE ram 1500 with 136,000 miles on it. I am asking is this too many miles, and i have to drive 8 hrs to get it and then drive it back 8hrs, whats your opinion?? thanks Tim

 

also need to know how many gallons you will get per tank, because the gas gauge dosent work. 5.2 engine. @wd and ext cab auto

 

Your main concerns should be the health of the automatic transmission and the pinion bearing in the differential...those are the toughest and most costly to get fixed.

On the engine, many of the 5.2 and 5.9 go well past that mileage, but the plenum chamber gasket at the bottom of the intake manifold is prone to blowing out at the rear corners and ought to be checked.

A checklist:

http://dodgeram.org/buying_info/Inspect.htm

all the technical service bulletins for that year

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1996-index.htm

fill up every 200 miles to be safe on a gas tank with a non-working gauge.

The gauge problem is probably a fuel sender inside the tank that has been 'poisoned' by excessive sulfur in gasoline. To fix the tank must be dropped or the bed lifted to get at the top flange of the tank to pull out the unit. the sender is about $45, but at that mileage you should replace the whole pump/sender unit which is about $300

 

nothing wrong with the mileage, about right for the year, just crossed that threshold a while back but around this time stuff will start to loosen up and may go if the tranny is good then u should be fine everything else is realatively easy if the water pump hasn't gone already it probably will, should do the plenum upgrade from hugues engine my suspension is just starting to go so be weary of that. I think the tank is 32 gals alteast that's the size of mine i think the other one is 28gal

 

if the motor has been kept up with its oil changes it will be fine,my ram has 142k on it with oil change every 4k miles or less,my dakota was the same way an the motors ran fine,both had 318's in them

 

my 01 has 130k miles and runs good. currently needs a water pump and brakes. i recently replaced tps, iac, belt. motor should be good for a long time. transmission is probably your biggest concern/risk, but low mileage doesn't lower the risk, they can fail whenever they feel like it. check your front end, it can also be an expensive group of repairs. gas tank in my 01 is 26 gal, i get 300+ miles out of tank

 

I just bought a 95 ram w/the 5.9.....150K on it and it drives GREAT! Dosent act like an ol truck at all. These trucks have a good track record of lasting long. Dodge did a good job in the making of the motors in these trucks. Unlike some of the other brands, dodge's block castings are beefy and have a good track record for stroker motors with longetivity. Now the trans... just bite the bullit when it happens. Not a complaint here!

 

my 99 ram with the 5.9 just crossed 170k. so far i replaced the water pump and the plenum gasket. i had to replace the output speed sensor in the tranny but it wasnt a big deal($30 at napa)