Howdy everyone.

I don't currently own a truck but I am on the market for one and looking to purchase by the end of this month.

I found two trucks locally, one of which is a '98 Ram.

These are the specs on the Ram- 4x4 Quad cab, short box, 12V cummins, 5 speed, most options, 142K on the ticker.

I was told this is a fairly "rare" truck being that it's a quad cab with the 12V.

Anyway, it's at a dealer who has it listed for $14,995, but I e-mailed the guy and told him I'd give him $12,000 cash for it and he said "cash? call me!" although I have not called him yet. Sound like a decent price?

The truck is 2 hours away so I'm hoping to get to where it is sometime soon and check it out.

Now, the 12V cummins is very appealing to me in its simplicity, and I definitely want the 5 speed. I've read a few things here and there about the 5th gear problems with the NV4500, and the KDP on the 12V.

However, I want to know what some other common problems with these trucks are (non-powertrain). Now, I am a Ford guy, and I'm not really too biased, but I do not hear too many good things about Dodge trucks. How do you guys' trucks hold up? What are some common problems to look for? I've heard about the trackbar problems, and that the Rams tend to go through ball joints and brakes like crazy, which isn't something I'd care to have to deal with all the time.

Any other advice you guys could give would be much appreciated BTW, the truck would mostly be used for commuting, occasional hauling, probably very little if any towing. I just love diesels and have wanted one for years.

For what it's worth, the other truck I found is a '97 F250 extended cab, short box, 4x4, Powerstroke with a 5 speed with almost identical options to the Dodge and I could probably get it for about the same price or lower (both trucks have been sitting on their respective lots for about 2 months). It's 3 hours away in the opposite direction of the Dodge. At the moment I'm still considering both and I can't decide!

Sorry for the long rambling post!

 

well ill be honest the price is a little high i bought a 99 ram sport 5.2 quadcab and it had no problems at all runs like new with 130k for 5k and here it is 6mths later ive replaced a water pump and added new perf.parts and soon to replace bushings and balljoints but no mechanical problems at all i mean yes the 2nd gen dodges all have cracked dashes but thats easily repairable....as for fords ive got a friend who has had all kinds a problems with his f250 from a new computer to a new fuse box its just a peice.... and hes been fighting ford a while now....as far as i know ford has a least circled the problem....good luck man

 

you might want to repost in the cummins subforum. the diesel guys hang out over there. you might also want to visit here. http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/

i don't know if it was 12valve or 24, but i used to hear about the dreaded tendency for the block to crack on the '53 block', whatever that is. good luck.

 

I will move this over to the CTD forum... 12k for a '98 with 148k... barely broke in... if he'll take 12k off the lot, and the body/interior check out ok, book it out and see what it books for kbb.com the 12v motors are an awesome motor and will run along time...

 

Retail book value on the truck is right around $13K.

 

If he'll go for 12K I'd take him up on it if the truck checks out. A '98 12V with the five speed is very hard to find. I wish I had one instead of my '00.

 

I just ran a carfax on the truck and apparently it was registered as a fleet vehicle for the first 9 years of its life (but it was apparently also moved around a few times).

Should that change anything?

Seems kinda odd to me that a red & black quad cab with a 5 speed would be a fleet vehicle...

 

i don't think there is anything wrong with fleet. it just means its used in a business rather than by average joe. on the bright side - fleet vehicles sometimes get better maintenance than private owners. 142k is very low mileage for a 98. diesels tend to spend a lot of time on the road and roll up a lot of miles.

i'd guess that the 5 speed was a cheaper purchase price than the auto, and more reliable. its probably also more basic trim package ?

sounds like a good find. watch for the usual crap - cracked dash, worn out front end and steering.

 

I've read about the track bar & ball joint problems so I plan to run the truck by an alignment shop when I test drive it.

Dash looks good from the pics, what part is it that cracks? The dash pad?

As far as trim goes, it doesn't look too basic to me...I mean it has power everything, A/C, cloth interior, carpeted floors (I saw another online that had some kind of rubber or vinyl mat on the floor instead of carpet), hell it even has chrome (stock steelie) wheels and appears to have some kind of aftermarket grille...

 

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