I'm looking at a fully loaded Laramie Sport 04 1500 with the Hemi. Is there anything in particular I should look at on this model? Any known issues with this model year?

 

i have a 04 hemi (not a sport) with 63,000 miles on it bought it a few months ago for $14,750. i havent had any problems with it yet besides the brakes being replaced and fluids. how much do they want for it and miles?

 

Your going to want to take a look at the steering system, especially things like leaky racks and hoses. Ive replaced 2 racks, a hose and a power steering switch already.

 

depends on miles. i'm up to about 100k, and all sorts of stuff knocking on the front suspension. tie rod, ball joint. this is just normal wear, but just know it will happen. make sure the vents all work like they are supposed to, hot/cold, on/off. check the brakes real good to make sure wear is even. you don't want to get one that warps brake rotors.

 

Same truck I have. The only issue that has popped up on my truck is the leaking power steering hose. But it is a simple fix with a band clamp. Other than that, never an issue.

 

I've got an '04, IMO the best ones out there are the '04s and '05s. I'm not a huge fan of MDS which is in the 06+ 1500s. I also prefer the torsion bar front ends compared to the coil overs found in the '06+ 4x4 trucks.
Mostly just MY personal preferences, I'm just more comfortable working on the torsion fronts. They also don't seem to have the "death wobble" issues commonly found in the coil over front ends, especially when lifted or leveled.

I've never had an issue with my '04, although I've modded most of the traditionally troublesome parts out such as the LSD and many front end parts were replaced with larger, beefier components when my lift kit went in.
Also I've got relatively low miles (42k) so I've not experienced the normal wear components, yet!!!

 

x2!

 

+3 to the 04's and 05's....I have an 04' Laramie 4x4, with 70k on it and the only things ive had to do to it is replace the EGR valve and the band clamp fix on the power steering hose. It seems like the biggest issue most people have in relation to these trucks are the front end steering components.

 

50k and ball joints and rack went

 

05 here 04's are tight i suppose other then they cant keep up hahahaha just kidding... my 05 has been through 6 pwr sterring pump two rack and pinions and a collaboration of hoses... needless to say I have been manhandling with no power steering for about 6 months now other then it sucking for parking and a good work out thats all ive found wrong