Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Ram. Longevity?

my current ram is a 1500 2015 4x4, my previous ram was a 2003 2500 CTD 4x4 had almost 200000 miles on it when I sold it with no issues at all, didn't need the heavy duty 3/4 ton so went for a softer riding 1500. expect to drive this for next 10-12 years.

I don't know how the 6.7 Cummins will hold up compared to the 5.9. It came out in late '07 and has all the pollution crap on it.

I have a 2003 3500 SRW 4 door long bed 4x4. I bought it a year old. I have 220,000 miles on the original clutch. You can't beat the 5.9 diesel and six speed combination. I wouldn't trade it for a new one. And definitely not for the payment on a new 50,000 replacement. I fear the day that it dies. But in the 12 glorious years that I have had it, a lot of my buddies have gone through a couple of wives. Our love is strong.

Wish I had the 6 sp in my 98.I had to replace the clutch at 100K, but I was pulling heavy loads

Thanks, guys, for the valuable input.

Yesterday, I put a deposit on a 2016 RAM 2500 "Outdoorsman" Cummins diesel crew cab with 37K miles on it, immaculate and an awfully fair deal at the price. I do like those coil springs on the 2500.

At my age, I figure this truck will last well more than the rest of my life and I believe that it is an excellent choice.

Today I am going downtown in Albuquerque to order a tonneau cover and running bars/steps. It is a bit of a climb to get in. I told Scott, the dealer, that my eight-year old would have trouble and the smart-ass came back with the comment that it looked as though I would be the one having problems!

My local bank branch manager recommended this dealer (she bought 3 cars from them) and I got my splendid GMC Yukon Denali from Scott last year. Unbelievably fair deals.

I had looked at several dealers who all frankly had pretty high prices for RAM diesels. I figure that I would have to buy an older version with no remaining warranties. Finally, since I was downtown already, I dropped in there and told them that I knew they had no short bed 2500 diesels in stock, but to keep me in mind in they came across one. (They just sell used cars, all kinds, and mostly get customers by word of mouth.)

While I told my wife that these guys are not warm and cuddly, they are honest, charge great prices, with no bogus back-end fees, and absolutely go the extra mile to see that customers are satisfied. I told Scott what I was looking for, he got on the computer, instantly found a great 2016 locally on an auction site with all the right features, remaining factory warranty and even better, an Outdoorsman with heavy duty components, he went over to the auction in the AM and got it for a great price. (Quite a story how he did that, which I may tell later. I could never have pulled it off, myself.)

Within 20 hours, he got me exactly what I wanted and way more, at a price that I proposed. Wow. Best dealer I ever saw, aside from my uncle in ND. You folks in NM might keep this in mind.

Dodges are high. I put wheel to wheel nerfs on mine so I'd have something to stand on while looking for stuff in the bed.

I have a 2008 Dodge 2500 6.7 Cummins 4x4 4-door that I pull my 5th wheel camper with. It has 127,000 miles and only had a few issues First; due to smog regs the EGR valve needs to be cleaned about every 65,000 miles or so, not a big deal and easy to do yourself. Second was the steering loosened up after about 100,000 miles, that is your steering wheel will have more play in it. There is a easy fix, about $150 for a brace/bottom bearing. Basically it puts a second bearing on the bottom of the steering box tightening it up and removing the play. I takes about 30 mins to put on.
I plan on keeping my truck until about 180,000 mile and then buying a new one.

That is great to know. I have had the steering problem with some of my Jeeps and never realized that there might be a simple fix.

BTW, the 2500 "Outdoorsman" package includes Bilstein shocks and Scott told me that the package includes an extra strut around the transfer case to limit sway, something I would never have realized was desirable.

It also includes skid plates, A HD tranny oil cooler, trailer brake controller, tow hooks, bigger trailer hitch socket, extra engine cooling fan, fog lights and several other "beef-up" features. I'd think it would be ideal for pulling a fifth wheel camper and a used one like the one I'm getting seemed little more expensive than a base SLT!

Here is a You Tube on that steering box bearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHFRaoXEKA

There are different braces you can get for the steering boxes if you look around. That's the only mod I have done to mine really. Seemed to help right away in tightening up the steering.

I went with the Dodge Off-road brace. The other style of braces I wasn't sure if they interfer with my sway bar disconnect.

I've had my '04 2500 Hemi for 9 years and it's been a great truck, but I don't put many miles on it. Other than the usual stuff (tires, shocks, battery, etc.) the only things I've had to replace are Dodge's typically cheap interior items like visors and window switches. Mechanically it's been solid.

It's no secret in the industry that Rams are the least durable. However, the Cummins engine is nice.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-powertrain/377241-1-7-million-miles-counting-00-ctd.html

http://www.cumminsnewsletters.com/td/brennan_magee.html

Yup, no secret at all..........

I thought you would say longevity relates to the size of the deer!

I hate to think about how many lift pumps and injection pumps those two went through.
There are no warts on the Cummins engine other than the stuff dodge screws up.

Yep,I forgot about those. After the 1st set went south,I put on a FASS unit. The 2nd set went under warranty as the FASS unit went TU's. Then that injector pump they put on under warranty was a rebuild and it went TU's at a very inconvenient time.

That was 200 miles from home in a snow storm with a newly bought mule in the trailer in back. The next bad thing was my buddy drove that distance in a 2003 1T Ram diesel to get me, the trailer, and the mule home. Before we got 50 miles,his injectors went south. $1800 for my injector pump,$6K+ for his injectors. We limped home doing 15MPH up the back side of Vail pass and 10MPH up the back side of Loveland pass in 2nd gear and never got over 40MPH the rest of the way home on flat land

The Dodge's most frequent problems are in the front end. Any one who has experienced the"Death Wobble" knows what I mean.

The local diesel repair shop owner was big Ford man. He quit them and has gone to Chevys now.

I had the fass system too. After losing multiple lift and injection pumps under warranty. It certainly helped but it eventually failed and when it did I lost vp-44's.
My truck had the dreaded death wobble too. A kit from solid steel industries that braced up the from end and a special set of alignment specs cured it. And my truck went through from end parts like candy too. Tried Moog replacement parts with little more longwtivity noted.

Well had my first repair on my Hemi Ram PU. 12 model, just 36,000 miles. All of $17 for an idler pulley on the serpentine belt. Was getting noisy, had not failed.

My 2004 has 160,000. Only put a water pump on it