Hey Everyone,

My name is George, and I'm looking for a used 2004-2007 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad cab.

I've found some great deals mostly in the range of 6K to 13K dollars. I'm looking at both the V6 models and V8 models. My daily work commute is exactly 2 miles. Lucky me, but i refuse to use public transportation or ride a bike to work.

What should I be looking for when test driving these trucks? What should I be listening too also?

Don't get me wrong I've bought a couple of cars before, but never a Dodge.

What tends to go bad on a Dodge with 50K miles to 80K miles. I know it all depends on the dude that first bought it and how he maintained it.

Please give me some advice. Any issues with trannys, fuses, pumps, filters, gaskets. pistons, exhaust, AC compressors?

Thanks fellas. Great site.

 

The 4.7s are known to blow head gaskets-they are aluminum heads. I experienced this first hand lol=[

Only other thing I can think of to watch for off the top of my head is the death wobble



Like you said a lot of it is about the previous owner(s) and how they treated it and maintained it...My first Ram was gorgeous and well maintained...Second one not so much (that's also the one that blew the gasket, imagine that), it was a work truck and obv not taken care of, gasket aside. The one I have now was babied and still is lol.

Welcome to dodge forum and good luck on your purchase. You'll love the truck though, regardless of what you choose. I would go with a hemi if I were you-if I could go back I would have gotten one as my first truck, and the gas mileage is about the same anyway. Your commute isn't far and the bigger engine is always fun:P

 

1) With the 4.7's, watch out for overheating. Symptom of cracked/warped heads.

2) Does she have an LSD? If so, read up on this forum about the dreaded clutch pack retaining clip problems. This is also an expensive fix, approx $2-3000, if no warranty is given/transfered.

3) Make SURE all the functions of the heater directional controls are working 100%. Flip between heat or cold air, to the floor, to defrost, to the vents and do this several times on all the settings. Check the flows work well on both sides of the cabin.
This is to make sure, that the blend door actuators are working. This is a VERY expensive fix due to all the dash having to come out and the AC bled off etc.

4) Death wobble, have a good drive at all kinds of speeds and road conditions if you can. Also, do Brake checks to see if there is any shimmying or steering wheel vibration or brake pedal pulsation etc etc. The death wobble will be evident by the whole of the front of the truck vibrating and moving from side to side.

I know that all this sems like I'm putting you off but as requested, these are some of the more common and very expensive fixes that Dodges suffer from.

Hope this helps? and good luck.
Al.

 

I would scratch the 4.7 all together. 5.7 Hemi All the way!!!!

 

I'd check these out
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...ed-advice.html
http://https://dodgeforum.com/forum/...ed-advice.html
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...or-advice.html

There are more if you use the Search function. Lots of random info that can be had right away.