buying an older used dodge diesel....advice?

[KFhunter]

those 1st gens are nice trucks, my dad has one since new in like 91

gets great fuel economy too

[lewy]

sooo, all in all, whats the best year to buy? Im in the market as well, dont want a 1st gen tho. looking for a newer crew cab?

[Special T]

I currently have an 03 that i caught the lift pump going out before it blew up my injector pump. 03 have a an external lift pump POS IMO... Put the in the tank pump in so now it is just like my 05... I did take it to Kar-mart and no i'm not happy with them... I wouldn't let them change my oil! My folks take their Durango, Cruser and Sprinter Mini Winni up to Bellingham... They have been happy so far. I take my stuff to Dynomite Diesel in Monroe.. Its right behind the AM PM.. Chit ain't cheep but they don't throw parts at it like when i was corn holed by Kar mart and Motor trucks.... The "Suposed" Cumming dealership in Mt Vernon. 

[jeepster]

yeah im on the hunt for a 12valve...

 i love my jeep, but its more of a toy and at the price i pay a month for it... well its not the best use of my money. i wasnt thinking when i bought it.

im going to do what i should have just done in the first place and get a truck.

 the reasons why im after the dodge is no 1) cummins power, better fuel economy than most trucks,  and i want something i can work on easilly.  i have a boat, even though it in itself is not justification for a big truck, my little 20 footer maxes out my jeep for towing, and i have plans for a larger boat....

i understand that the dodge is a serious towing vehicle, and a gas 1/2 ton might work out just as well, but i dont know many engine lasting as long as the cummins.

  2nd choice is a Flipped Over Reservation Decortion   f250 crewcab

[KFhunter]

Those 12v are getting spendy
I took mine to the dealer and they offered 7500 bucks trade in value, and the truck ain't no show queen
its a 1995 with 240k miles, auto x cab long bed 4x4
I did put in a billet TQ, upgraded VB and stainless steel clutch basket in the tranny

the engine is bone stock, and its a turd for power..but easy to fix I just hadn't done it. She really needs a 3k gov spring and #10 fuel plate and someone work some magic on the afe

needs a new exhaust, tailgate brackets, and front main seal.

the front DL yoke needs retorqued from the xfer case and the auto shop keeps telling me it needs a new U joint in the front axle
the KDP hasn't been done to my knowledge, for all I know it fell out and thats why it leaks oil, I sure hope it didn't punch a hole in my timing case cover (8+ hour job)
the injectors need pulled/cleaned or replaced

and I think I may have an air leak in the fuel preheater, its smokin pretty good on a cold start. I'll be deleting that but I'll leave the filter screen in place.

you get an older high mileage truck and you'll be having a story like that too, so seriously you'll need to do your own wrenching or you'll be pizzed off an broke.

[Boss .300 winmag]

im gonna trade my 07 wrangler rubicon in for an older dodge 3/4ton with the cummins diesel. im looking at years 98-04... ive heard some of them had tranny issues.... what advice can you guys give when it comes to finding a dodge?

What do you owe on the Ruby?

[jeepster]

too much... i bought it this time last year

[gonehuntin68]

on 24v look out for the 53 block, i hear they crack but ive got one with just over 100,000 and its fine

[Cylvertip]

those 1st gens are nice trucks, my dad has one since new in like 91

gets great fuel economy too

My brother in law bought one of the first ones out - I think it was HD 3/4 ton cause that's all they offered - he really wanted a 1 ton, but it was not offered - they wouldn't even do extended cab when they first came out cause the motor would rattle the frame in half.  Anyway his truck was a big red 4x4 he used for work.  He has a garage door business, so there was a nice matching canopy on the truck with racks on top.  There was always about a thousand pounds of tools and parts in the bed for doing service work, and we generally had a bunch of doors and hardware on the rack too.  Milage was great compared to the 460 he had been driving - 16 miles to gallon - no complaints on that.   It got 16 going up hill or down, loaded or empty, didn't matter.  Even towed a 6K lb forklift from Oregon to Rainier with it and guess what - 16 MPG.  The motor was strong and steady.  That's where the good ends.

It was loud.  We made insulated covers for the transfer case shifter it rattled so bad.  You litterally had to yell inside the cab while cruising down the road to have a conversation.  It was freaking like an oven in the cab too - very little if any insulation to keep the heat out. The thing would not get out of it's own way - 72 mph was top end, even loaded going down hill.  It had plenty of power, but that was all that anybody could get it to do - it went to several shops trying to get it to move, but to no avail.  The truck started rattling apart at 17K miles - that's when the front drivers side leaf spring fell off.  Front brakes were shot at 25K, truck bed started collapsing at about that same time along it splitting down the back end from the weight of the tail gate.  The truck was in the shop over 30 times the first year he had it.  Never seemed to be the same thing twice. Dodge would fix stuff, but something else would be wrong when he got it back.  By the time the truck was three years old it had been in close to 60 times.  Our guess was that Dodge had just slapped this motor in one of their gas truck bodies instead of developing one specifically for the Cummins, that's why it litterally fell apart. He tried to get it taken back under the lemon law but Chrysler weaseled out of it.  The last straw was when the rear main started leaking at 99,977 miles.  The truck had the 100K warranty on the running gear, so we headed for the dealer.  It was 26 miles to the dealer - we got there with 100,003 miles on the truck  - they wouldn't warranty it.  Tim was pissed to say the least. 

So, he did what he could do to fight back. 1) he ordered a GMC diesel and set it up the same way, and 2) he added 4 accessories to his big red truck.  It was a matching red Gemtop canopy on the truck -  a really beautiful truck that really stood out - it was a metal canopy. He had 4 yellow 18 inch magnetic lemons made and put two on each side of the canopy.  Tim has been in business since 77' and had ( and still does) a pretty good clientele at that time.  We ran all over Western Washington from Seattle South to Vancouver and from Packwood to Forks putting in doors and doing repairs.  A typical day would be 10 different jobs - a combination of new installs and service calls, and 100 to 150 miles on the rig per day.  Every where he went, if someone asked him what the lemons were for, he would take the 20 to 30 minutes to tell them the story of his truck.  His final thought on the truck that he would leave who ever it was with was about the add Dodge had done for those trucks - "Do you remember the add where they had that truck hanging from that crane in the gravel pit?  You know, where they dropped the truck and it landed and bounced and they told you it was Ram tough?  Well, they painted that F*cker red and they sold it to me!"  I know of at least 12 contractors that we worked with that were all going to by new trucks that year and most were leaning towards dodge until getting the run down - all but one bought Ford or GMC.  The one that bought Dodge ( again doesn't dodge mean "to avoid"?) bought the V-10 -  that's a whole nother story though.

The Lemon truck finally got t-boned at about 160K  - still was getting about 16 MPG.    That GMC had issues, but nothing like the dodge, not even close.  It finally gave up the ghost at like 220K. 

After how Chrysler treated the whole thing, he swore he would never buy another.  I agree and will hold that line as well - they and GMC put nails in the coffin in my book with the government bailout - I wont buy either 

[Special T]

Jeepster my little brother is working on a F250 logging road rollover... The cab and bed are shot.. So he is putting a 78 highboy cab on and making a flat bed... He said he gets to use all 78' cab stuff cause the ford's diesel is all mechanical, no computer.. Should be pretty sweet when he's done.

[jackelope]

Jeepster my little brother is working on a F250 logging road rollover... The cab and bed are shot.. So he is putting a 78 highboy cab on and making a flat bed... He said he gets to use all 78' cab stuff cause the ford's diesel is all mechanical, no computer.. Should be pretty sweet when he's done.

It must be an older truck(the rollover)...
 

That sounds cool as hell

[Special T]

ya got it for $300  It was a logging crew bus so its has seen some hard miles. Its a runner tho. I think its a 90's 7.3??? mostly gona use it for towing the boat and car trailer... So he doesn't have to keep borrowing my Dodge.  He was a Ford dealer Mech for several years so if its not a Ford....

[Special T]

In response to Cylvertip's post...
"When the pleasure of low prices fades, the anger of poor service remains."
EVERY business has problems, its how they are dealt with that matters...

[6x6in6]

on 24v look out for the 53 block, i hear they crack but ive got one with just over 100,000 and its fine

Some 97 and 98 12v's had 53's also.
It's not really much of an issue if they remain, or close to, stock hp levels.  When you start throwing hp at them is when they crack. They don't do so well when boost pressures get over 45-50 psi.  Twin turbo's are the devil of the 53 block.   
It's actually quite impressive when one lets go during a sled pull.  Put's an all new meaning to windowing the block. 

[sisu]

A couple years ago I almost went to work for a place in Snohomish...I think it was Dynamic Diesel maybe?
Seemed like nice people, I couldn't speak for the quality of their work.

I wondered if Special T took his truck to Rairdons up there...I think they're in Bellingham.

Rairdons...when I was searching for my truck I inquired up that way and found them. When I saw that they offered a Russian web site for their vehicles I wrote them off. This is United States, we speak American. Not the Queen's English, not Swedish, not French, not Spanish etc., so they lost any businessi would of brought there.