Looking at a 2001 1500

[ram lady]

Been looking at a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with 150,000 miles on it.It is for my nephew I have been raising for 4 years.He turns 16 next month and said he wants a truck.I spotted it for him and he likes it.Talked to the seller whom was good with us has kept it up and maintained.The seller said he had new tire put on it 3 months ago,right front wheelbearing and front u joints replaced last month.Came out with every receipt for repairs done to it since he owned it.Only little spot of rust on it is on the left side box in the wheelwell area.I offered $3,500.00 and he saw my nephew loves the truck.Am I right on the offer.Looked at a 1998 and a 1999 that were a pig inside the interior.One was owned by someone that was a heavy smoker.This 2001 is clean inside and out too,he had it detailed before putting it up for sale.I told him give me a call thinking about my offer.

 

[MADDOG]

Good luck with the deal.

The one you are looking at is the same generation of my '99 318 cu. in. gasser. The only problems I had with it were the front track bar and bushings (known weakness) and an intake manifold leak. Other than that, it ran pretty darn good to almost 180k miles on it when I traded it in. It got routine maintenance and if something broke, I fixed it right away to avoid any other collateral problems.

 

[ram lady]

I seen the track bar was replaced as well and the replacement is a Moog whom has a lifetime warranty on their suspension parts.It does have the 318.Only thing I seen that needed changed was the transmission fluid and filter,Fluid looked a little dark with no smell.I do know that to use the ATF+4 transmission fluid in the Chrysler automatics only.Transmission shifts fine.

 

[IrocRam]

I seen the track bar was replaced as well and the replacement is a Moog whom has a lifetime warranty on their suspension parts.It does have the 318.Only thing I seen that needed changed was the transmission fluid and filter,Fluid looked a little dark with no smell.I do know that to use the ATF+4 transmission fluid in the Chrysler automatics only.Transmission shifts fine.

I don't know what people's opinions are on this forum about Moog products, but over on another forum I am on for camaros, they dislike Moog. I haven't had a single issue with any of their parts yet. Supposedly it was a few years ago their quality all of a sudden took a huge hit. I'm thinking they outsourced or something along those lines. I have no idea what brand the track bar is on my 97, but I repainted mine, replaced the heim joint on one end, and had the fixed end cut off and a piece welded on that would take the factory rubber bushing so that it was easier to find bushings when I needed to replace them. The aftermarket one I had I couldn't find a bushing or make one for it.

Any more information on it? Lifted? Bigger tires? any aftermarket mods? The reputation on the transmissions on these trucks is not very good, and at that milestone, if they haven't had it rebuilt or replaced yet, I would personally have money set aside, just in case. I don't like to jump on the bandwagon and say all chrysler transmissions suck, as I do not know as much about how they work as a lot of people on here do, but, I do know a lot of them seem to start to before or at the mileage this truck is at. It depends greatly on how well it was maintained and it the fluid is dark, that could potentially be a bad sign right off the bat.

I also don't deal with rust issues, so I don't know how much rust affects the value of a vehicle in your area. I am in Phoenix, so rust is not a common thing on vehicles out here. I paid $2800 for my 97 1500 5.2 auto (the one in my main picture on the side of the page) back in april, with quite a few problems that I have fixed. I have about $1200 on top of what I paid into it already. Around here, the truck you described in good shape, people are asking about $4000-$8000 for.

 

[ram lady]

Not lifted,stock and stock tires.I am friends with a transmission repair shop owner,he sees human error a lot when the 904 and 727 are rebuilt.Basically they rebuild them wrong and don't use the ATF+4 transmission fluid.He rebuilt one all over again 2 weeks ago,someone that did not know what they were doing rebuilt it.This one is the original transmission rebuilt 2 years ago by this friend of mine.Plus the nylon ball in the lower transmission line was removed in the rubber hose part.Did get the call this morning,did get it and going there this afternoon to pick it handing the money over.

 

[IrocRam]

Not lifted,stock and stock tires.I am friends with a transmission repair shop owner,he sees human error a lot when the 904 and 727 are rebuilt.Basically they rebuild them wrong and don't use the ATF+4 transmission fluid.He rebuilt one all over again 2 weeks ago,someone that did not know what they were doing rebuilt it.This one is the original transmission rebuilt 2 years ago by this friend of mine.Plus the nylon ball in the lower transmission line was removed in the rubber hose part.Did get the call this morning,did get it and going there this afternoon to pick it handing the money over.

That is especially good news about the stock ride height. Generally, when dealing with lifted trucks, you get all kinds of front end issues. I had to replace the ball joints and tie rods as well as track bar on mine already. I have to replace the struts as well, which I have, I just haven't gotten to them yet either. That is also good news about the transmission. Like I said, I don't know much about automatic transmissions, and I have never torn one apart, they just have a bad rep. Wrong fluid is one of the most common things I read about online that causes transmission issues. It's as if people just go to an auto parts store, grab anything that looks like oil, and throw it in. The previous owner of my 88 camaro put gear oil in the manual T5 in it, and it was grinding in 3rd gear because of it. I swapped transmissions, but at that time, I dropped it to change the clutch when it went out and then flushed the transmission and it was fine after that.

Once he gets all settled in with the truck, have him join this forum. Who knows what may come up.

 

[BBartow]

Well the a727 and a904 transmissions were great. What gave chrysler transmissions a bad rap were the a518 and a500s with overdrive. The big problem was centered on marginal fluid flow to the overdrive unit. Inadequate fluid flow to the OD unit caused ATF to burn, which made valve bodies and servos clog up. Plus they made OD off switches that owners towing/hauling never seemed to use.

Fluid choice was a huge problem though. Our RH transmissions were made for ATF+3, brand new compared to Chrysler's old ATF+2. ATF+4 came with the introduction of our RE transmissions. Regardless A LOT of people were filling up with Dexron-Mercon or topping off with it. Clutches and bands saw major friction material loss due to it, and again valve bodies got clogged from particle contamination. Chrysler's ATF was designed to provide a specific friction coefficient for the new band and clutch materials. When Chrysler introduced the REs the main issue was with plungers in shift solenoids becoming magnetized, but the incorrect ATF was still a significant issue.

Regardless none of the Chrysler autos had inherent problems with broken input shafts, sun gears, and planetary gears commonly found during the same years in GMs. Older Fords suffered from pump failures, direct drum bearing failures, and valve body problems.