My friend got a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.9L in it for free.He does not want the truck and he asked me if I wanted to buy it for like 500-1000 bucks. It seems like a very good deal the truck is in excellent shape with a little rust on the drivers side door that can be fixed, the only thing wrong with it is that you have to let off the gas for it to shift into overdrive, so the tranny may be shot. It also does have high miles with 207,000 on it but runs great and burnshardly any oil. The problem is I already have a 93 dakota that i just got and my parents wont let me keep 2 vehicles let alone i dont have the money for 2. The dakota is very nice too but it has the 3.9,my question is do i keep my dakota or get the ram and sell the dakota? Theres nothing wrong with the dakota and it been a great truck too. So please help me decide.

 

You know the maintenance history on the Dakota.
You know the Ram has trany problems. But you don't know what else is in the can of worms.
If some one gave it away free there is probeley a reason.
I would say stay with hat you know.

 

I know the guy who had the ram too technically it wasnt free my freind worked for him and he got the truck.The guy is the original owner of it and is a good friend, he claims the tranny is the only thing wrong and I kinda know the maintenance history with it too.The thingsthat bother me are the high miles and the tranny problem. Thanks for your opinion too any body else? thanks

 

Stick with wat you got. It's better on gas, and unless you need more power (for towing ect), I think you are better off with the Dakota. Also, Captain Squalus was right in what he said about stay with what you know. That's expecially true if you don't have lots of money (atrany's not cheap and if it's on it's way out, "stick with what you know.") On the other hand, if you want to spend more at the pump, save to buy a new trany, and need a bigger engine, then go with the 1500. I have a 96 and I love it.

 

How manymiles are on the Dakota, and what year is it? But if there is nothing wrong with the Dakota why switch?Sounds like trouble.

 

The dakota has 140,000 on it and it gets bad gas mileage compared to my friends dakota so gas isnt too much of an issue and i only drive about 6,000 miles a year. I also need a bigger truck to pull a bass boat that we got because the dakota just can't handle that much boat at 70 miles an hour. I think i am going to go with the ram, if i also go with the ram i can sell the dakota and maybe make a little cash. I read a little about the 1500's with the 360's but how are they? are they good trucks or are they not that great?