new owner of 08 Ram 1500 5.7 HEMI. Few pending issues...

[brfr2005]

Hey all - I've officially migrated from the Chevy life to my first Dodge. Recently picked up an 08 1500 w 5.7 Hemi - 140k miles. Although not new, by any stretch, it's still new to me! Never been a believer in loans for vehicles and being so worried about using the bed of a truck so this one is perfect.

There are a few issues I've noticed since picking it up and hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

1) there is a strong whistle / wind noise coming from the front exhausts. This happens with the ac / heat on or off. Is there a common leak in these trucks causing that?

2) I found a large puddle of water under the rear bucket seat. I'm assuming it's getting in from the rear sliding window. I've heard to sealing on these is an issue. Can't seem to find exact guides on how to fix it tho - any help?

3) When going over certain bumps like railroads at higher speeds - I've damn near lost control of the truck. Would this be a sign of the shocks going? They appear to be oem. Anyone here running the Bilsteins? Now I'm at the point of wondering if I should replace front, rear, coils, and leafs to get it over with!


For anyone that cares - here is what the previous owner had done to the truck.

*1" leveling kit
*Installed 2500 tow mirrors. I have the 1500 mirrors as well
*K&N Air Filter with cleaning kit
*Pioneer AVX Apple Car Play and Bluetooth DVD Head unit with rear/backup camera.
*Hopkins Insight Brake Controller
*Tinted windows
*Tonneau cover
* Bedliner
* Flowmaster 409S dual exhaust
* Tires (305/r20 Nitto Grapplers G2)

We live in the midwest so rust is inevitable. Wheel wells have been replaced. Backside of bumper has some rust showing and bottom of tailgate has a few bobbles. Other than that - pretty damn clean for a midwest 2008 truck!

Appreciate any help and look forward to lurking around

 

[Karlsweg]

#3 struts,tie rods or ball joints
#2 if you have a sun roof, the drains get plugged up and the drains are the small rubber pieces behind the cad and bed. Take something long enough to hit them they will shoot water out. There are also drains on the front door posts and using your finger you can wiggle them.
#1 hemis are known for broken exhaust manifold bolts but usually they “tick” at idle.

 

[Karlsweg]

* between the cab and the bed*

 

[89gtcs]

For #2, check the 3rd brake light on the cab. Those are known to leak when the gasket/seals wear out, and water will drip down inside the cab.

 

[corneileous]

Hey all - I've officially migrated from the Chevy life to my first Dodge. Recently picked up an 08 1500 w 5.7 Hemi - 140k miles. Although not new, by any stretch, it's still new to me! Never been a believer in loans for vehicles and being so worried about using the bed of a truck so this one is perfect.

There are a few issues I've noticed since picking it up and hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

1) there is a strong whistle / wind noise coming from the front exhausts. This happens with the ac / heat on or off. Is there a common leak in these trucks causing that?

Guess I’m not following on this part.

2) I found a large puddle of water under the rear bucket seat. I'm assuming it's getting in from the rear sliding window. I've heard to sealing on these is an issue. Can't seem to find exact guides on how to fix it tho - any help?

You mean, in the storage well under the rear seat? The only time my 08 ever did that was after I replaced the third brake light assembly with an aftermarket LED one. The gasket they used was flimsy and thin so I just replaced the gasket with something thicker, and used the carpet shampooer to suck the water out, left the truck with the doors open to air out. I sold the truck shortly after that but I’m pretty sure that was the problem.

3) When going over certain bumps like railroads at higher speeds - I've damn near lost control of the truck. Would this be a sign of the shocks going? They appear to be oem. Anyone here running the Bilsteins? Now I'm at the point of wondering if I should replace front, rear, coils, and leafs to get it over with!

It might be bad shocks, especially if they look OEM. A lot of people praise those Bilsteins, I’d give them a shot. I did rear shocks and front struts on mine with the Ranch RS5000’s. I don’t think I’d recommend those for someone that does mostly highway driving. I bet they were good off-road tho. Never found out. Back end still kinda had some bounce to it but it could just been them stiffer-riding shocks, too.

Is yours a 4-wheel drive? I’m not sure about the front on those but on the 4x4’s, the front struts are a *****, I’m not gonna lie to ya...lol. Took me all day to do just them. Using the tool to separate the coil springs from the struts was the easy part. Lol.

For anyone that cares - here is what the previous owner had done to the truck.

*1" leveling kit
*Installed 2500 tow mirrors. I have the 1500 mirrors as well
*K&N Air Filter with cleaning kit
*Pioneer AVX Apple Car Play and Bluetooth DVD Head unit with rear/backup camera.
*Hopkins Insight Brake Controller
*Tinted windows
*Tonneau cover
* Bedliner
* Flowmaster 409S dual exhaust
* Tires (305/r20 Nitto Grapplers G2)

We live in the midwest so rust is inevitable. Wheel wells have been replaced. Backside of bumper has some rust showing and bottom of tailgate has a few bobbles. Other than that - pretty damn clean for a midwest 2008 truck!

Appreciate any help and look forward to lurking around

Sounds like a nice ride!....



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Logan Klein]

Dodge trucks get exhaust leaks. Mine's got the same whistle. You can fix it the right by replacing gaskets or cracked headers, or you can go to AutoZone and pick up exhaust sealing products that work pretty well. They also have poorly designed rear ends, the bounciness going over bumps is also present on my truck. There is a fix for that as well, a sway bar that's a bolt on part made by Hellwig and I've heard it works WONDERS to stop that bounciness. it could also be bad driveshaft joints at the differential and transfer case.

 

[Black W900]

The other thing you might need to do for the water leaking in to the cab is, replace the two rear cab vents between the bed and the back of the cab, my '08 had this problem too.
They are cheap and easily replaced from the inside once the rear seats are removed and the rear cab insulation is removed.

If you look at the new ones you'll see that they have been redesigned to help them not leak.

 

[Black W900]

I replaced the seal on the third brake light as well.

 

[landyacht67]

Not to hijack a thread, but where did you find your replacement cab vents W900?
Also what is everyone using to repair the gasket on the 3rd brake light - new mopar gasket, or homemade?