Little back story for those who don't know me.

About three months ago I bought a 98 1500 off an individual. He seemed like a nice guy, owned his own repair shop. Drove the truck two weeks and started having overheating issues and loss of coolant. Turned out it had a 2 inch crack in the engine that he had sealed up using JB Weld and never mentioned.

So fast forward three months and today I went to a local dealer and test drove a 03 quad cab 1500. Fell in love and she is sitting in the driveway. Not mine yet though, me and the dealer could't agree on a price so he let me drive the truck for the weekend. I have to say I am enjoying every mile I put on this thing and will probably buy it even if he wont settle for my price.

I havn't looked around much in the thread but what are some common fairly easy mods I can do to this thing? Hellas behind the grill looks awesome that def one of the first projects that will be done.

stats are:
2003
Ram 1500
quad cab
120,000 miles
2wd
4.7 ltr magnum V8 (318?)

 

a 318 is a 5.2ltr. the 4.7ltr is a 287.

 

ah thanks for clearing that up! I didnt think that was right. Is the 5.2 the "HEMI"?

 

the last year they used the 5.2ltr in the trucks was 2001. usually the hemi's are 5.7ltr

 

Mods, and ideas for mods are plentiful, just surf around this forum a bit. A couple things to consider though, while you have the truck at home. The 4.7 liters of this vintage are known for head gasket failures. If you have the capability to pressure test, or get one of those tests for combustion gases in the coolant from Napa please do so. Nothing would suck more then to buy a new truck and have the new ownership pride shot down in a few weeks by having to spend more money to have head gaskets/ heads replaced. Also, if you like the truck enough and do plan on buying it, find out if it is an anti spin diff. The sticker in the glove box will tell you. If it is, go ahead and change the diff fluid and check for retaining clip failure (better known here as "C" clips). You can find out more about both of theses issues through a search on this forum. To me, if you like the truck, $100 shouldnt be too much to spend to make sure everything is kosher before you put your ink on paper. If a problem is found, the dealer could either fix it for you or you can walk only $100 poorer and glad it only cost you that. Besides all the normal scouring that should be done prior to purchasing a used vehicle, those are the 2 majors that come to my mind right now to look extra hard for. Good luck, I hope it works out for you and am sure you will enjoy this truck. Be sure to put pics as soon as you can, we like pics (at least I do).

 

120k on a 4.7 ain't too bad IF it's been taken care of and yes, the 4.7 is a newer engine and basically replaced the 5.2 (318) which lasted from the late '60s till 2001. The 5.7 (Hemi) replaced the venerable old 5.9 (360) in 2003.

I'd not buy a vehicle with over 100k miles on it without having compression tested.

This engine is prone to sludge issues and as stated, head/head gasket issues which are avoidable with proper care, but you don't know if it's had the oil changed regularly or if it's ever over-heated.

Also, look over the radiator and cooling system carefully, 120k is about the time the radiators fail in these trucks. Know more than one guy had the radiator fail and cause an over-heat which in turn did the head gasket in.

If the compression check comes out fine, and a good once over doesn't show any issues, you'll prolly have a good truck on your hands. I have a buddy with a 4.7 in a Grand Cherokee with over 200k miles on it and it still runs like a top.

Then it's MOD TIME...