Considering a 1997

I'm considering selling my current vehicle and buying a 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 extended cab. The truck appears to be in great shape and has 175xxx miles on it. What are some things I should look for that are common with this gen before I buy it? If it is in fact well maintained, the engine/transmission still has pretty good life left on them right? It's lifted 8" with 30" tires as well, so looking to see what average MPG I can expect this beast to get.

I'll summarize my thoughts real quick, bout to hot the sack, so they may seem a little brash.

With those miles it depends on several factors.

1) how much do they want?
2) with that lift and those tires it must be a 4x4. So how much abuse/mud has it seen?
3) how well do you know the person? Are they honest about it's condition and their maintenance upkeep? (A side note... I hear people say all the time that it was babied by an old man.... I've seen plenty of old-timers fail to maintain their vehicles.)

You asked about mpg? My 96 1500 with a 5.2l gets about 13.5 mixed (mostly highway) with stock tires and rims.

These motors are long lasting, the 5.2 anyway. The transmissions are a completely different story. If you take care of them I believe they will last but if you abuse them... Don't expect it. I don't believe that Dodge makes crappy transmissions, I had a 5.9l work truck that used the 46re. 7 days a week it pulled a 18ft trailer behind it from 7am to anywhere between 6pm and 9pm.

I think people just don't take care of them.

That being said, I love my old 96 broken dash rust bucket. It may rattle from the dash but it's better at pulling trailers than my 98 f150 5.4l was.

To hit the major points. It must have a trans cooler and either have been rebuilt or had oil+filter changes every 20-40K miles. If its missing one of those things, except to rebuild that trans at some point. Otherwise, they are great transmissions, they are even great when their trashed and need to be rebuilt. Mines needed a rebuild for over a year, it doesn't like 2nd gear, and its strange to shift from 1st to 3rd in an automatic, but I do it every day, and I have to be careful with the throttle or it'll slip out of gear, but it still gets me where I need to go from 10mph to 80mph. Its pulled 12ft enclosed trailers full of furniture at 60mph without a problem.

The engines are rock solid, they'll outlast the body and frame if you do regular oil changes. The oil pump grenaded in my old engine and it still pulled that trailer I mentioned 30 miles at 60mph back into town without any oil. It was still running the next day when I started pulling it out.

If it's 4wd people beat the **** out of it, its a given. The transfer cases are pretty tough, but the front axle vacuum disconnect isn't. The most common problem is loss of vacuum which means no 4wd, but those actuators like to break at about this age. The rear end is pretty solid, not a lot to worry about there.

The only real electrical issues you'll have with it, is the light switch, those like to burn out, and front lighting issues if you have the sport model and try to put anything but halogen bulbs in.

Also, the lenses like to fog up real bad.

Gas mileage will make you cry, my old 5.2 2wd would get 18mpg highway if I took all my crap out and it was bare truck, 14-15 city. Since I put the 5.9 in it, I get about 14-15 highway and 10 city. 4wd trucks can knock a number or two off those. A lot of 4wd guys with lifts and big tires get 12-13 no matter what they do.

A tune will change the way it drives, won't fix the gas mileage or turn it into a racer, but it'll give it a nice boost.

These aren't Chevys or Fords, they won't get great fuel economy like Chevy, and they won't have the maintenance free lifestyle of a Ford. But man are they reliable trucks, I've yet to see the day my truck doesn't start on the first two cranks, even in the -5 degree weather we get in the winter. Neither Chevy nor Ford can pull as much weight as our dodges down the highway. I fully loaded my truck down with a 7Klbs trailer plus the 5Klbs my truck weighed at the time and I still pulled it with my 5.2 down the highway real easy and got about 11mpg doing it. My buddies Chevy dropped from 18-19 to 8 pulling a similar weight, and his dads ford dropped to 5 pulling slightly less weight.

I love my Dodge, I would never trade it for anything but another Dodge, even then I still wouldn't, not after all the blood i've put into this truck. I love it so much i'll write a small book about them for someone who MIGHT buy one. Thats the kind of trucks these are.

Dudeman2009 forgot to mention, it won't have a maintenance free life style like a ford or a chevy BUT these trucks are extremely cheap to work on compered to a ford or a chevy.

Jgc1986 said:

I'm considering selling my current vehicle and buying a 1997 Dodge Ram 2500 extended cab. The truck appears to be in great shape and has 175xxx miles on it. What are some things I should look for that are common with this gen before I buy it? If it is in fact well maintained, the engine/transmission still has pretty good life left on them right? It's lifted 8" with 30" tires as well, so looking to see what average MPG I can expect this beast to get.

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an 8" lift with 30" tires???? holy crap, skip leg day much lol, my truck with a 5/12 drop has 28" tires

Yeah I don't know why the owner put 30" tires on but they say the tires are brand new. Asking price is $4k.

Haha i would never consider a ford to have a maintenance free life. Idk about the 90s trucks but the newer ones are poopy.

4k seems a little high for that truck, sight unseen of course but i paid half that for mine at 124k miles but no lift. Youre gonna want bigger tires so factor that in too. Also with that kind of lift definitely ran bigger tires at some point so make sure it has the hd package with a dana 60 front end. Even in jeeps the dana 44 doesnt like 37s or bigger at least long term. The 5.9 magnum is a venerable engine but not without issues. Check to make sure that no8 spark plug isnt horribly oil fouled as that indicates the dreaded plenum leak. Not a big deal to fix from what i read on here but its more expense on you from the get go.

I do have to say i never thought id own a second gen ram but im really starting to love this thing and im gonna be keeping it for a very long time. I live in western ny and people around here always talk **** about how bad dodges rust (they do around here) but living in a chevy and ford town it dawns on me that there are way more 2nd gen rams running around still than probably 90s chevys and fords combined. In fact i probably see as many 2nd gens puttering around as early and mid 2000s chevys and fords and i think that says a lot about the longevity these trucks are capable of.

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Here is the truck that's being sold, it looks to be in really good shape from pictures, I have not seen it in person yet.



Here is a picture of the shocks



And interior which also looks very clean for a 20 year old vehicle.

That looks like a well priced truck. 35" tires not 30"

goodtodoo said:

That looks like a well priced truck. 35" tires not 30"

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Man i was scared with a 30" tire lol, was worried id see something like this posted

LOL Yeah the ad says 30" tires, I am hoping these are not just old pictures.

Well based on those pictures i retract my previous statement, thats is a very clean truck and assuming its in mechanically good order, is an excellent price.

If you want to get that truck i would say be prepared for single digit mpgs in the city and be surprised if it does better. God knows if its been regeared too which you may want to inquire about.

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Can a car seat fit in the back of these trucks?

I've gotten a car seat and booster in the back of mine, i've got the suicide doors to make it easier.

Someone mentioned the plenum. Personally that isn't even a talking point, its maintenance as far as i'm concerned. It costs less to fix than getting a new battery. If you do it yourself, and its one of the first things you've ever done on a vehicle, you can expect it to take 5 or so hours. But if you've got some miles under your belt, it can be done in less than 2.

Shadow Death makes a good point. I recently had to replace my front wheel hub. I was going in thinking it was going to be an all day project like on the Chevys or Fords. Nope, $60 (My dads suburban was $165) and 35 minutes is all it took from breaking the lug nuts loose to torquing them down. I replaced the AC compressor, dryer/receiver and liquid orifice in about 20 minutes. I've done it so many times now I can pull the whole dash apart in about 40. Aside from being cheap, they are EASY to work on. The only gripe I have, is the damn bolts on the front of the leaf springs, those are a pain.

Yeah this one's the "club cab" with those same doors I believe. I'm really leaning towards getting this beast, I just have to sell my current vehicle, an 07 Jeep Liberty, first, and before the guy sells this truck to someone else. I think for the amount of miles and upgrades it's a pretty decent deal.

How pricy is it to get geared correctly if that's not done?

Depends on if you do it yourself. I have priced out getting a detroit locker in the back of mine with 4.10 gears for about $750 total. I'm doing the work though.

You're probably looking at around a grand, just based on some of the rear end repairs i've done to Chevys and Fords at work. Someone else who's had it done would know better than me.

regularcab2500 said:

Haha i would never consider a ford to have a maintenance free life. Idk about the 90s trucks but the newer ones are poopy.

4k seems a little high for that truck, sight unseen of course but i paid half that for mine at 124k miles but no lift. Youre gonna want bigger tires so factor that in too. Also with that kind of lift definitely ran bigger tires at some point so make sure it has the hd package with a dana 60 front end. Even in jeeps the dana 44 doesnt like 37s or bigger at least long term. The 5.9 magnum is a venerable engine but not without issues. Check to make sure that no8 spark plug isnt horribly oil fouled as that indicates the dreaded plenum leak. Not a big deal to fix from what i read on here but its more expense on you from the get go.

I do have to say i never thought id own a second gen ram but im really starting to love this thing and im gonna be keeping it for a very long time. I live in western ny and people around here always talk **** about how bad dodges rust (they do around here) but living in a chevy and ford town it dawns on me that there are way more 2nd gen rams running around still than probably 90s chevys and fords combined. In fact i probably see as many 2nd gens puttering around as early and mid 2000s chevys and fords and i think that says a lot about the longevity these trucks are capable of.

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I paid 2k for my 96 with 100k on it. Mine has rust on it but only where the city had stuff mounted and didn't take proper care. Mostly cosmetic rust.

dudeman2009 said:

I've gotten a car seat and booster in the back of mine, i've got the suicide doors to make it easier.

Someone mentioned the plenum. Personally that isn't even a talking point, its maintenance as far as i'm concerned. It costs less to fix than getting a new battery. If you do it yourself, and its one of the first things you've ever done on a vehicle, you can expect it to take 5 or so hours. But if you've got some miles under your belt, it can be done in less than 2.

Shadow Death makes a good point. I recently had to replace my front wheel hub. I was going in thinking it was going to be an all day project like on the Chevys or Fords. Nope, $60 (My dads suburban was $165) and 35 minutes is all it took from breaking the lug nuts loose to torquing them down. I replaced the AC compressor, dryer/receiver and liquid orifice in about 20 minutes. I've done it so many times now I can pull the whole dash apart in about 40. Aside from being cheap, they are EASY to work on. The only gripe I have, is the damn bolts on the front of the leaf springs, those are a pain.

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Yup, Plenum took me probably 6 hours from start to finish but about 3 of actual work. I had to run to the store multiple times and stop for lunch as well as rain when I did mine. Tune-ups on my old 4 cylinder ranger took longer. My next project this weekend is going to be the oil sensor, then in the future I'm going to replace the fuel pump.

Shadow_Death said:

I paid 2k for my 96 with 100k on it. Mine has rust on it but only where the city had stuff mounted and didn't take proper care. Mostly cosmetic rust.

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Yeah thats a good buy. At this point in my life i realized im capable of doing most anythikng i need to to repair a vehicle so why should i be making payments? I do still have my g37 but id give it up anyday for the right price. I may never buy another vehicle from a dealership again lol. Idk where you live but in wny the salt really takes it toll on vehicles but when you buy something 20-30 years old for cheap you come to expect that.

As for the op you will love this truck compared to your liberty and as dudeman said they are EASY to work on.

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Shadow_Death said:

I paid 2k for my 96 with 100k on it. Mine has rust on it but only where the city had stuff mounted and didn't take proper care. Mostly cosmetic rust.




Yup, Plenum took me probably 6 hours from start to finish but about 3 of actual work. I had to run to the store multiple times and stop for lunch as well as rain when I did mine. Tune-ups on my old 4 cylinder ranger took longer. My next project this weekend is going to be the oil sensor, then in the future I'm going to replace the fuel pump.

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Its kind of hijacking OPs thread, but if you're going to do the oil sensor, you might as well pull the intake and do the cap and rotor while you're at it. The oil sensor is right behind and hugging the intake about an inch to the passenger side with 3 more inches of space behind the sensor before you hit the firewall.

As for the fuel pump, unless its giving you problems, I wouldn't bother, but you'll want to run it out of gas (if you're tossing the old one anyway it doesn't matter) to make it real easy to drop the tank. Pulling the bed is harder without an overhead lift.

dudeman2009 said:

Its kind of hijacking OPs thread, but if you're going to do the oil sensor, you might as well pull the intake and do the cap and rotor while you're at it. The oil sensor is right behind and hugging the intake about an inch to the passenger side with 3 more inches of space behind the sensor before you hit the firewall.

As for the fuel pump, unless its giving you problems, I wouldn't bother, but you'll want to run it out of gas (if you're tossing the old one anyway it doesn't matter) to make it real easy to drop the tank. Pulling the bed is harder without an overhead lift.

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Already did the cap, rotors, wires, and plugs back when I did the plenum. I suspect I may have smacked the sensor then and broke it as it began to act up around that same time. As for the fuel pump, I suspect it's actually the regulator. There are times when I go to start the truck that it requires a few turns before it will crank. Sometimes it bogs on take off and sometimes it acts like it's getting starved for fuel.

I figured it was the Oil pressure sensor due to some funky things it does. Such as instead of the oil pressure dropping when I take turns it goes up. If I move the sensor it seems to fluctuate more.

So I guess OP could use this post as some things to look for when he looks at the truck.