Hi everyone, I am new to forums so please forgive me if I ask any questions that have already been exhausted. I am currently considering the purchase of a 2004 HEMI Ram and joined this website in hopes of gaining some opinions and insights before I buy. The truck is being sold by a private seller and currently has 64,000 miles on the clock. It is a regular cab, long box, 4X4 SXT with a HEMI and off road package. I emailed Dodge with the VIN number and received the entire build sheet. It has the 3.55 ratio limited slip rear differentials in a 9.25 LD Rear Axle, a 545RFE 5spd automatic, and 35 gallon fuel tank - as seemed to be the features that stood out the most. So, I am asking for any feedback that anyone is willing to offer on this year/configuration. The truck was owned by a private contractor who used it for a back up truck when his 3/4 ton truck was occupied. It was used occasionally to pull his equipment trailer and is outfitted with a trailer brake regulator. I intend to use the truck for transportation mostly and to occasionally haul project materials for furniture/home projects and parts for a vintage muscle car I'm rebuilding. I thank you in advance for your help and insight!

 

Welcome to the site. I will move this thread to the third generation Ram section,
FF

 

Thanks very much! I forgot to mention that the owner is asking $11,900 right now, but I'm confidant that he will negotiate the price. My stepfather is a mechanic and plans to go with me Thursday for a test drive. The truck looks great inside out... and the Atlantic blue pearl paint is very shiny. Here are a couple pics

 

I would say for an 04, 4wd, HEMI and 64k miles that the price isnt too bad although you could and should try to work on it. Check for any leaks (ANY). Hope you can work it out and find yourself in a nice truck.

 

No price isn't to bad at all and they are nice trucks. Of course it never hurts to try to haggle that down.

You may want to upgrade the gearing sometime in the future, Especially if you plan on towing with it. Other than that What kind of mods, if any, would you like to do to it?

 

Seems like you stumbled upon a pretty good truck. The Hemis are good, tho they are not as good as the "old" Hemi :P

You mentioned that it had the off-road package? That must include the front tow hooks, I would just look (out of percaution) at those hooks and check for cracks and the mounts. The hooks are pretty strong, but you can sometimes see how much work they actually do with the truck. Also the same with the hitch. You can tell sometimes with cracked paint too.

It bought my 2007 Laramie, and first I thought about buying one without a hitch, because then I know it has not towed any big weight. I looked at this one examined the hitch, and it looks like it has rarely ever towed! The paint inside the hitch is *******ly untouched. So I gather that there have not been too many times a reciver has been placed in there.

Same would go for yours, and with the tow hooks, lots of paint wear, they used it lots....

Overall nice truck tho...I like that color over my inferno red :P

 

The only thing that would turn me off about that truck is the 3.55 gear ratio, but other than that, as long as everything is in good working order, good find.

 

That motor with that number of miles is almost same as mine (66k) and I've had no issues other than a bad EGR valve. No complaints. I tow a 7k+ pound RV with mine several times a year and have since I bought the truck new. I've towed friends' boats as well as other things and the only issue I've ever had was warping my front rotors a bit when I towed my RV to Disney World and back a couple of years ago. That was probably because I didn't have my brake controller tuned just right. Hemi is a towing machine.

 

Yeah, I agree w pyro. Also I would try to get the price down if I were you. i bought my 2005 Hemi 4x4 with 3.92s, tow package and around that mileage for 10k. I would think you can get him to go cheaper. Mine wasn't even from a private seller. It was from a dealer. BUT, different areas have different price ranges and what not I suppose.

Good luck to you!


Nate-His pic didn't show tow hooks on the front=\

 

you won't regret getting a hemi, tho the 3.55's are a bit sluggish off the line but great on gas