New to ram/diesel ownership, what should I do?

Truck in question: imgur: the simple image sharer 1994 Dodge Ram 2500 turbo diesel 12 valve cummins, 272k miles, manual transmission, 2wd

I come from the world of imports, my daily driver is a fairly modified 95 miata that doubles as a track car. I picked up this truck off craigslist because it was super cheap and I always wanted a diesel, plus it could tow and haul stuff when I needed it. It has some body damage to the bed, but no where important. It's also completely stock besides the stupid wheels.

I picked it up for $2000, inspected it for rust and everything I could think of. It drove great, shifted perfect..seemed to run really well. All the locks and power windows worked, the only issue is that the tires are rubbing. The PO included the original set of wheels which I can hopefully mount back on to get rid of the rubbing, I don't know if you really roll the fenders with all this thick steel.

So now that it's in my possession, I should change the oil and what else? I really don't know much about diesels at all.

that is one nasty dent!!

someone from the diesel world will chime in soon for you!

Just start checking stuff: engine oil, transmission fluid, gear oil, all the fluids is a good start.

Has the truck been modified in anyway that you can tell? Excessive smoke, etc?


As far as the dent....that looks....fun. Gonna be something you'll need to use a puller for that one. Hope you like paint and body.


Welcome to the forum.

dodge dude94 said:

Just start checking stuff: engine oil, transmission fluid, gear oil, all the fluids is a good start.

Has the truck been modified in anyway that you can tell? Excessive smoke, etc?


As far as the dent....that looks....fun. Gonna be something you'll need to use a puller for that one. Hope you like paint and body.


Welcome to the forum.

Click to expand...

As far as I can tell the truck is bone stock, you start it up and there's no smoke at all. I floored it in 5th at a low speed and there wasn't much smoke to speak of.