Experience talking here. Nope, not enough power. If buying used, shop the Cummins. Hemi is minimum requirement. The 4.6 will do the work, but 7 mpg topping out at about 65 mph SUCKS.

I had a '97 with the 360 and it was haus. I pulled double car trailers, one loaded with my circle track car, for 340 miles one trip. Got 12 mpg and ran 70 mph the whole way. It might be an option if budgets are tight.

 

Jobhater, don't quote me but I remember that someone said. The 5.7 comes from the factory tuned for more power then the 5.9. And the 5.9 with some mods can be more powerful or as powerful than the hemi's. The problem then lies with the after market parts for a 5.9.

Just my .02 cents. Hope you find the truck you're looking for.

 

I think if youfind an 02' with the 5.9 that would suit your needs. If you wanna get a similar equipped truck with the 5.7 your going to have to pay more, and as far as towing goes they are both going to perform about the same. There is a FULLY LOADED dark blue 2002 Dodge Ram Laramie QC 4x4 with the 5.9 and towing package at the local dealership here with 70k for 14,xxx to give you an idea what they might run. A similiar nicely equipped SLT will be acouple grand less, you should be able to pickup a nicequad cab with less then 100k for around $12k.