Need help from the 2ng genners

---Best dilemma ever. What truck should i buy!!!!. Heres the deal. My current truck will be paid off by the end of january. Thats a extra $320 a month. My wife and i have 1, 3 year old daughter and a son due in march. We only have one vehicle. ( my 04) Shes got 84k on the clock, no major problems other then 1 electrical, and ive done all maintenance by the book since i bought her with 15k. My wife loves it. now. Our original plan was she wanted another ram like mine, So start all over again with a $300+ payment and have a newer reliable truck or get a beater for me to drive to work. ( i stand 48hr duty and 68 hr duty). when im at work she barley leaves the house anyway. and when im off its normally walk to the beach or take the boat out. My other option came upon me yester day. One of the guys i work with last year bought for $6500 a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with the 5.9l Body had 100k, guy he bought it off off said the tranny is new with less then 500 miles on it. Engine was replaced 60k ago. its has an 8" suspension lift and a 3' bodylift.........Yeah..........and is on 38" **** cepek's that need to be replaced. As it sits after my buddy bought it the guy told him the torque converter was goin, and it did a month later, front drive shaft was never put back on, but he has it, and the tires are almost gone (right rear has a slow leak. Truck has been sitting for almost 8 months. I was talking to him yesterday about helping him fix it and he said for 3500 i can have it, Im fairly mechanicly inclined, but i know nothing about
2nd gens, their drive trains, or their common problems. what should i do. And ive never heard off a Torque converter goin? is their a way to tell, Replacing 37" tires will hurt but driving 7 miles to work and the occasional beach ride, the new ones should last a wile. How bout the 5.9l goods bads. or am i in a work of hurt with this monster. body looks clean and my buddy started it about a mont ago and put a new battery in it. Please help. pics to follow i need to get them off of face book.

I dont know crap about the 360 other than from what I hear it was a gas hog...My 96 with the 5.2 literally rolled over to 73,000 miles on the way home tonight and I a getting like 16MPG...trans probs are common with every second gen though..Jay and I were talking today and he was telling me how his friend's second gen torque converter blew in his trans..

You could get those **** Crapeks off there and get you a set of Wild Country M/T's...they are not as expensive and wear pretty well...tey have an A/T version too if you want a less aggressive tire...

Yeah i do little to no offroading, so i dont need an aggressive tire, and as stated i only drive a few miles to work and back, and thats all id use this truck for. i was lookign at the 37" hummer tires on ebay $400 for all 4, cant beat that. And gas milage dont bother me, diddnt realy expect it w/ this. And he said the tranny only had 500 miles on it, but the converter is shot? Is there a way i can tell if its the converter and not the tranny? And over all do u think its a good deal for 3500, down the line id proble get rid of the 3" body lift. a- i dont need 11" of lift, and B- lowerd i can put more reasonable tires on it with out looking retarted.

I wouldn't do it, sound like too much trouble to begin with. Prolly has more problems that you don't even know of yet.

badfish888 said:

Yeah i do little to no offroading, so i dont need an aggressive tire, and as stated i only drive a few miles to work and back, and thats all id use this truck for. i was lookign at the 37" hummer tires on ebay $400 for all 4, cant beat that. And gas milage dont bother me, diddnt realy expect it w/ this. And he said the tranny only had 500 miles on it, but the converter is shot? Is there a way i can tell if its the converter and not the tranny? And over all do u think its a good deal for 3500, down the line id proble get rid of the 3" body lift. a- i dont need 11" of lift, and B- lowerd i can put more reasonable tires on it with out looking retarted.

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Well, in the long run it could be the better deal due to it being paid off. But IMHO it sounds like your just buying your buddies problem...

The only problem with the 37" military tires is you'd have to get a set of 16.5" wheels. And I don't know of any way to check the torque converter or trans unless you take it to a shop and have someone check it out...

And another thing, 97 was a terrible year for Dodge and their transmissions. $3500 isn't that good of a deal imo. It needs way to much work for the money. We built a truck for my uncle and got 2 trucks and used one for parts. After everything, he's got about $400 bucks in it. Yeah it's not to pretty right now but it runs great. If you want a truck, I would go on craigslist and find one. Give me a little while and I'll find you a few if you want.

I'm not sure about the shape of the engine as it stands as far as maint. and what all was done. Yes the 360 is a gas hog not gonna lie. But it does have good power numbers if it is well maintained. The thing that is gonna hurt you the most on the transmission is those big tires. the 2nd gen tranny isn't the greatest unless it is maintained regularly. My truck is all original as far as I know at 120k Still feels the same as when I bought it at 96k But I have the trans serviced every year. The big tires are gonna wear through the trans faster unless you do some mods for the trans. IMO I would only get it if I were going to take the tires down to a manageable size. On top of that the repair bills may end up costing more than a new truck after a couple years. But it is up to you what you get. I love my 360 I have done some great things with it and it has been well taken care of.

This truck could be a quick fix or a money pit so I would say pass on it and find something in better condition for similar price

DAMN, lol kinda hoped id be talked into this one...................o well. guess ill keep lookn

it's your money man, do what YOU want to do...I but if it's not a bad TC and the trans needs to be rebuilt, I just got a quote this morning of $1800 + tax for my 46RE...

the trans only has 500 miles on a rebuilt...........its the converter thats shot. and are the 1998's just as bad or did they change something. cause hes 50/50 on if its a 97 or 98.

....................... and how hard is a converter change on a second gen 4x4

badfish888 said:

the trans only has 500 miles on a rebuilt...........its the converter thats shot. and are the 1998's just as bad or did they change something. cause hes 50/50 on if its a 97 or 98.

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I dont think they got any better til 2000, but could be wrong...they just need serviced VERY ofter to kepp them going good.

badfish888 said:

....................... and how hard is a converter change on a second gen 4x4

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Same as any other 4x4 really...gonna have to drop the trans ...whats wierd to me is if the trans only has 500 miles on it, unless the guy who had it before did it himself and reused the old TC, why wasnt there a warranty to get it fixed...500 miles is only like a months worth of driving in most cases...

In 98 its still similar to a 98 with some minor tweaks. Trust me been on that horse a long time. In 98 they changed the interior mainly. The motor and trans is about the same some sensor changes but nothing major. As I said if its well taken car of you will have no worries aside fromt he normal 2nd gen traits. A rebuilt trans is a good place to start. The motor swap isn't gonna be a big issue. The thing that you can hope is that it is just a bad TC. As for changing it. Well I wouldn't do it in my driveway because I don't have the tools to be removing the crossmembers and dropping the trans. But with the 2nd gens being a SFA you won't have to worry about torsion bars and what not int he way of the trans. Mainly remove the shafts and the transfer case and the crossmembers and the trans can lower out of the way. Problem is getting to some of the bolts on the back of the motor because of how the engine is positioned. So I agree it could be a money pit or a cheap fix. But that is up to you to decide. I love the 2nd gens to death but some of the less taken care of ones are more of a hassel than a blessing. Buddy of mine has a 96 1500 6" lift with 35"s it does great doesn't seem to have much of an issue with trans or engine. Only a 318 but still. I could talk you into it or out of it. But I will leave the choice to you. I can just provide you with info from what I have experienced in my 98.

^^^ would u buy it?

2000 dodge ram 1500 custom

I thought this one looked pretty awesome!

I wouldn't mess with it, i think you would be buying someone elses problems, and as for the trans issue if he got a new trans for it then it came with a new t/c and if he is now having issues with the t/c then they probobly put the wrong on in, the 5.9 takes a special t/c it is balanced for the 5.9 and if you don't use it, it will take out the front pump so i say leave it

ok, i still want to buy a second gen.......was there a good year for them?? or did they all have problems, i want one with under 80k miles. w/ the 5.9 and 4x4. i dont want a monster truck. just a reliable 4x4. like u guys said, i dont wanna deal with someone elses problems

it all depends on how they were maintained...they're everywhere down here...