Whats up all, I'm in the market for a new truck. And im thinking about purchasing a new Ram, im looking at either a Rumble Bee 4x4 or just a Quad Cab with hemi, i was wondering if you current owners of an 04 could give me some info about this truck. Your Likes and Dislikes, How your reliability in this truck has been so far. I've owned an 03 Ford F-150 Fx4. was fully loaded, had lost my job and am now stuck in a crappy mustang. winter is going to set in soon and once the snow starts plowing down im going to need some major 4x4 to get through it all, Also how is your gas mileage? in my previous truck i got around 13mpg, These trucks seem to be resonably priced and i have come to really like the style and looks of it. How do you like the Hemi engine? i feel ford has become over priced so most likely i wont be going back to them, just let me know any info you can give me about your trucks. im greatly interested

 

ok nobody likes their truck???

 

give it time lol

 

Ive had mine for about a week and I'm likeing it. it's a 2500 4x4 with the cummins 600. enough power to yank down a house idleing in first, and thats not putting it in 4L

I'm taking it easy and getting just a hair under 20mpg, but I know if I nail it that will drop, also pulling a load would drop it as well, depending on weight.

now while I dont know how the hemi runs, I can tell you that this cummins is a beast of an engine.[8D]

 

hey YZF Rider,

I bought a Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab 4x4 Short Bed with a Hemi in June and have about 7000 miles on it now. I love it!

What I like:
The Hemi engine is very manly. For such a big vehicle it's very quick. Shoot, it's quick for any size vehicle. There's a particular stoplight that I got stuck at frequently. Before the light is 2 lanes; after it goes down to 1 lane. If you're not the lead car, you've got 12 miles of riding at somebody else's pace. While I don't always fly, I hate getting stuck behind someone doing 10 mph below the speed limit. In my new Ram, let's just say I haven't had to ride at somebody else's speed! And the sound is very good though I'm sure it's better with Flowmasters. When I was first taking it for a test drive, the sneaky salesman made sure I was by the exhaust when he started it up. Sweet! It's fun to drive.

The overall height is higher than my brother-in-law's Silverado and my wife's Expedition. In general, I think it's a really tough looking truck.

The quad cab fits my wife and my 4 kids, one of whom is still in a baby seat. While I wouldn't take a long trip like that, we can definitely go out to dinner and stop at home depot on the way home.

The extra storage in the center console and under the rear seats are really useful. There's a space in the dash with a non-skid pad that is great for my cell phone. And there are a bunch of 12 volt sockets for convenience.

Oil changes are a breeze. I can actually sit up straight under the hood, between the bumper and the radiator, to get a better grip on the filter.

What I don't like:
The stock tires on mine are 245/70/17, and they look kind of puny.

Gas mileage is around 13mpg. But that's what any truck is going to get, right? However, if you take it on a long trip you'll do better. I got 17 on a 6 hour road trip (all interstate). If you're really after good mileage you can take it easy on the gas and you'll do better. But it's fun to drive "enthusiastically" ;-)

I know it's been a short time but for what it's worth I've had no problems with the truck.

As for the price of the truck.... in my area (eastern CT) every dealer was running specials of some model of it at invoice price. Plus Dodge gave a large rebate to get me out of my old car which was worth less than my loan on it. If you're not sure what invoice price is, check out http://www.edmunds.com and look up the exact configuration you want. I agree that it was a good deal as compared to Chevy and Ford, especially for the quad cab.

All around, I feel pretty good about it versus any other vehicle.

Good luck with your decision!

Mike

 

Thanks for the info thats been helpful, I Think i may wait for the 05's to come out so i have a bit more time to save up more down payment, Does anyone know what kind of deal i should be able to get for a new 05?? Im leaning towards the 4x4 Rumble Bee right now, But the extra space in a Quad cab is also something i need..... either way im sure the hemi engine will get the job done for me with the power im looking for.....

Reasons for the Rumble Bee: Sportier, a little cheaper, Little faster due to less weight, Looks more like a vehiccle someone my age (21) would drive

Reasons for Quad cab: Space, Space, and Space..... i go on road trips alot with my girlfriend so it would be nice to have a back to put things like Grocerys, and our bags in.

anyone else want to comment? its a tough decision, but im pretty sure a Dodge is what my next purchase will be. i do like the new Ford and ive always been a Ford kind of guy, But IMO they are now over priced....way over priced, Dodge is more for your dollar with what you get

 

If you want to save a little money (ok a whole lot) buy an 04. There are plenty of rumble bees left out there. My local dealership has three and I live in BFE TX. the nearest three dealerships to me all also have at least one.

If you want to save even more try finding a Hemi with the sport package. It is really similar to the rumble bee other than the badging, higlights, the ground effects package and the chrome exhaust tips. It has the same bumpers and a very similar grill. You can get the hood as a dealer add on. If you do that get some dub dueces a spoiler and ground effects you end up with an SRT-10 clone.

If you wait for an 05 you are going to need more down not get as good a deal and get a truck that is identical except for the dodge logos on the back...

As to Rams in general... if you gan get the 3.92 rear end they are very quick. The 3.55 are a little doggy, but I am used to cars that make almost as much power and weigh a thousand pounds less...

Insurance should not be an issue on a regular cab... it is lower on my hemi than it was on my v-6 camaro, the extended cab with the 4.7 would have been higher than the camaro.

the trck ride out real well. You can kinda feel a little flex on the long bed quad cabs, the short beds have the best ride (the one on 20's that I drove rides better than my truck on 17's), and the short bed reg cabs handle the best.

Acceleration is best in the short cab trucks...

Just my 12 cents

 

YZF make sure you get what you want. Once you buy it you are stuck with it for at least 2 1/2 years. Unfortunately dodge is the worst on resale value. I bought my 03 ram in december last year for 34k i went to trade it in this past weekend and was offered 18k for it. Its a fully loaded laramie with the 20's and nerf bars and bed cover and duals.

One thing about the Hemi Sport I have heard if you plan on putting dual exhaust you may have to cut the ground effects since Dodge didnt have the foresite to leave an opening on the other side of the truck.

 

how did you like your dodge? was it a hemi and how did it run for you

 

YZF,

Don't know how close you are to Dallas, but Bankston Dodge is offering the 2004 Ram, QC, Lone Star Package for $17,999 (4.7L). That is a $6669 Dealer Incentive, $750 Lone Star Discount and $3500 Chrysler Financing Rebatet.

I have a 2004, Graphite QC, 4.7L, 3.92, sliding rear glass, Lone Star package, nerf bars, bed liner, metal thingy that unfolds when the back seat is up and the 20 inch rims. Sticker was $32,500 and picked it up for a little North of $20K (Brand Spanking new!!) two and half weeks ago.

Insurance will go down. I had a Mitsubishi 2003 Eclipse GTS and my insurance dropped about $300 a year, hopefully that will make up for the weak gas mileage.

Reorg