Gonna go look at a 06 2500 and wondering what I should pay attention to while driving and what I should take a good close look at. It's a mega cab 2500, cummin's w/ 6 speed standard, 4x4. Truck has lot's of miles(279k) on it but engine and tranny supposedly only have about 40K on them.

 

Check suspension and anything that else that would get worn out after almost 300k. If the engine and tranny only have 40k on them does that mean its a new engine or rebuilt? If it's new did they put a 5.9 in or a 6.7?

 

rust around rear-wheel wells. mine are completely rusted out at 170k and no one is selling beds for these beasts. If there is even minor bubbling in that area you dont necessarily need to walk away. But factor in the cost to fix both sides because it will happen. Also check the pinch welds under the cab and cab corners. Listen over bumps for tapping or scraping. That suspension is probably pretty good on a mega cab but still may need ball joints or other minor parts pretty soon. Cummins go for forever which makes me wonder what happened to the original?

 

It is the 5.9 that was put back in it, and was a new engine so they said. Have a call in to talk to the previous owner to just do some general checking with him. I know about the ball joints just didn't know what else to look for specifically on dodge and with that many miles

 

people sell bed parts. there are patch panels for the bed, and complete bed sides. this bed is welded together with a ton of different pannels.

LMCtruck.com has it all and so do some other sites. I just got wheel patches for my 04 hemi for about $120 shipped.

other areas ive see are cab chassis. dodge put holes behind the rocker panels. well you get rust in these locations also.

lastly is the frames, they suck and will rust from inside out. so stick you finger in all the holes of the frame and feel what i mean. Don't pay top dollar, you can easly wrap 4-6 grand back into these trucks by trying to fix some issues

drivers seat like to go, and so do cabin lights.

cummins motors stock pumps are not the best. my buddys trucks motor went because of it. it was rebuild now his body has 450K on it.

people normaly do not take care of autos this is why it is always best to buy new.

check behind all the doors, they are better then 2nd gens but not by much...they will rust inside out also due to poorly designed weather stripping ideas

 

I have to wonder why a 4x4 would have such high mileage...it would have been cheaper to run 2 trucks if they didn't need it daily. I would check to see what it was used for because I wouldn't want a plow or gravel runner with that many miles on it. Your best bet would be to get that truck off the ground and have it checked out properly.
Steve

 

Talked to the original owner last night and went and looked at it this morning. Guy that had it towed bumper hitch trailers with flooring for home depot. Said 80% of time was highway miles, when the new motor and tranny went in they went through the front end and it has had new hub's put on both sides within the last year. Body and frame wise it looks in really good condition, need shocks and you can tell the seats have been used but i've seen 100k mile trucks have more wear and tear than this one does. All in all a very solid truck. The previouse owner is the only owner of the vehicle and everything done to the truck is shown with paper work. Run's and drives good too with the exception of the shocks. Body and frame are really clean and honestly, I think my old 06 had more frame rust that this one has, it's been really well taken care of in general. Got some thinking to do.

 

There's a few million mile cummins out there so with the right maintenance it can run a long time.