1997 Dodge Ramside, are these rare trucks or not

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Chrisf

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Was wondering did anybody know were I can find information on this 1997 Dodge Ramside truck
 

dapepper9

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They're a little hard to find yeah. Aftermarket company used chevy beds as a base and custom built them. Few dealers had the procedure done and sold them off the lot like that.
 

Roy Coffman

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They're a little hard to find yeah. Aftermarket company used chevy beds as a base and custom built them. Few dealers had the procedure done and sold them off the lot like that.
That's not true the 1997 ramside is not a kit and had nothing to do with Chevy. They are rare. I bought mine off the show room floor.
 

dapepper9

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That's not true the 1997 ramside is not a kit and had nothing to do with Chevy. They are rare. I bought mine off the show room floor.
I never said that. I said aftermarket companies used a Chevy bed as a base and modified. DODGE never produced them from the factory HOWEVER many dealers had them done by these companies before putting them on the lot.

It's the same story as the full 4 door crew cab trucks. DODGE did NOT produce them. DEALERS altered plain jane trucks
 

Roy Coffman

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I was told by dealer there was 12 made. I don't have facts on that and would like to hear more but not from a Chevy lover
 

Roy Coffman

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I never said that. I said aftermarket companies used a Chevy bed as a base and modified. DODGE never produced them from the factory HOWEVER many dealers had them done by these companies before putting them on the lot.

It's the same story as the full 4 door crew cab trucks. DODGE did NOT produce them. DEALERS altered plain jane trucks
Are they worth anything
 

dapepper9

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I was told by dealer there was 12 made. I don't have facts on that and would like to hear more but not from a Chevy lover
YOUR dealership may have had 12 made but that is just yours.

Your "Chevy lover" comment is hilarious because im literally as far from a Chevy fan as you can be. It also shows your ignorance


Are they worth anything
About as much as a regular 1500 unless you can find somebody who just HAS to have the ramside
 

Okiespaniel

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I was told by dealer there was 12 made. I don't have facts on that and would like to hear more but not from a Chevy lover

Oh wow...new guy with attitude. Way to make a wrong impression.

These beds were built by a company in Phoenix and examples as well as raw beds were still showing up on the interwebs about 10-12 years ago. Yours is probably one of the cleanest because of poor paint jobs on the beds, and the flares being damaged.

The concept was indeed based on a GM product to try and sell custom stepsides, as Dodge/Mercedes didn't see a Market. Most Dodge guys did not want their trucks looking like a GM/70's disco van crossbreed, and probably fewer than 100 were produced. Some of the first beds actually used Chevy tail lights. BTW, I also heard they use Chevy tailgates. Show us a photo of the rear so I can see. :)

Before you make another stupit comment about chivy lovers, it makes sense to use readily available GM parts, rather than custom built one off pieces made from unobtainium, with the appropriate costs. You'll find your step pads on the bed have GM or Ford part numbers.

The extra beds languished in a Phoenix warehouse because the company that made them went under, then someone got possession and sold them off. I could've bought a bed for 500 bucks. There was a baja pre runner style Ram being built on another forum that had one of these beds.

Since they were a conversion on a regular truck, the VIN won't reflect that and tracking them would be difficult. Best to post around on a few other sites and see if you can locate other owners.

An extremely clean and rust free original truck might be worth a couple k more than a rusted out mess, but your market is limited.

Best of luck...
 
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Neil E

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If you're close to a good auction company (collector car), maybe you could bring it to them. Then you could find the value of what someone is willing to pay. Though, the only issue is, you would need at least 2 people that wanted it.
 

McBroom

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That's not true the 1997 ramside is not a kit and had nothing to do with Chevy. They are rare. I bought mine off the show room floor.

Do you still have it?
Got any pictures?


- The Blue Mule
 

tooldoc

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I own a 1995 ramside almost every show they argue it's a chevy box. Today at a mopar show guy made one using a chevy box it's similar but body lines are off he new mine was original one piece fiberglass including the bed floor it was nice comparing the 2 boxes and differences. Very rare he had heard Leer made them for dodge which would make sense because they made fiberglass caps.
 
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