Thanks to All

[JimE]

Being a new guy here I'd like to thank all you folks that have posted on various 4th Gen issues and service tips. I spend a good part of the past weekend reading posts that were pertinent to my 2012 RAM 2500 SL with a 5.7L hemi.

When we acquired the truck it had been a small town dealer's lot queen for a bit over a year. It was a special order that wasn't delivered to the person who had ordered it and it does indeed have a few oddities that I'm trying to get past to make the truck reasonably sane. Got a whale of a deal on it and despite its weirdness I'm basically very happy with a good looking and stout as 3 acres of Garlic truck.

Again, thanks to all you guys for the help you are until now unaware that you provided.

Now for a bit of a return. As we all know there is no such thing as factory shop manuals that can be purchased. If you go looking for a Haynes or Chilton's manual at a parts house you aren't going to find one that covers 4th Gen trucks. Now for the good news Haynes is indeed publishing a manual for our trucks however it appears they can only be bought through Delmar Cengage Learning. I ordered one online earlier today and you can too. The link is:

Dodge Full-Size Pick-ups 2009-2012 Repair Manual (1620920077) - Delmar Cengage Learning

 

[Casper]

Excellent, thanks!

 

[audio1der]

Sweet- thanks!
What are the "oddities" you have on your truck? I'm very curious now.

 

[Mopar_Express]

Sweet- thanks!
What are the "oddities" you have on your truck? I'm very curious now.

x2 and lets see some pics!

 

[JimE]

Sweet- thanks!
What are the "oddities" you have on your truck? I'm very curious now.

The guy that had ordered the truck apparently just wanted a very basic version, none of the stuff that can get destroyed when using a truck for serious Farm/Ranch usage or towing. With that said, it was ordered with without power windows, door locks, carpet, has all vinyl seats (manual adjust), a basic Am/Fm/CD radio, column shift, and none of the Uconnect little niceties. Of course it being a regular cab makes it a bit of an oddity these days except for commercial usages.

We live way to heck and gone out in the country and the absence of carpet is a blessing when it comes to keeping an interior as clean as possible. (Reminds me of 1940s cars when if the floors got muddy, one could just open up the doors and hose the sucker out.) Same is pretty much true with the vinyl seats. However, as a serious vintage vehicle collector/restorer hobbyist for many decades I'm frequently on the road with a 2,000 lb steel car hauler trailer picking up a car and a great radio/receiver with Satellite radio and a USB port keeps me from going nuts when on one of my 1,500 mile one way trips. I don't worry about GPS as I can read a map. Though it has been 4 decades since I bought my first vehicle for daily use that had power windows and door locks, I'm spoiled. The fact the door windows are so large puts the crank handle inconveniently almost at floor level. So one of my missions is to find a couple of doors with those features at a salvage yard and strip the guts out of them and put them along with the interior door panels on this truck. That will cost me about a grand and a bunch of my time, but so what if I can make it sane.

I was probably out of my mind to have bought the truck but aside from the interior and Uconnect issues it is every thing I wanted in a tow vehicle, plus the fact it is painted Tequila Sunrise kinda caught my eye and certainly sets it apart in a Wally World parking lot. Of course being able to pick it up for under Twenty Grand was pretty good incentive.

 

[audio1der]

Hmm- anything will sell for the right price!

 

[JimE]

Hmm- anything will sell for the right price!

Or, as P.T. Barnum supposedly said; "There's a sucker born every minute."

I seriously didn't understand how a dealer could be so stupid as to not having done what they needed to do to make it go away as fast as they could when the guy that ordered it failed to take it. Always better to bite the bullet immediately rather than compounding the losses by hanging on to a turkey in hopes someone will come along and pay top dollar for it.

 

[BAILEY1]

Thanks for the link.

 

[JohnD72]

I'm new so, perhaps this is old news... I found the following for the 2012 Rams on the Mopar Tech Authority web site when I searched by VIN:

www.techauthority.com :

81-370-12075-CD
2012 Ram Truck 1500/2500/3500/4500/5500 Service Information CD (English)
Product Dimensions: 5 IN x 4.75 IN x 0.25 IN
Product Weight: 0.085 LBS
Description:

This comprehensive service information provides the resource that the professional technician needs to diagnose/troubleshoot, maintain, service, and repair a Chrysler Group vehicle. A complete working knowledge of the vehicle, system and/or components is written in straightforward language with illustrations, diagrams and charts.

The information is specific to a vehicle(s) and includes:

Repair procedures that highlight step-by-step removal and installation instructions for vehicle components and include line art drawings to aid in component service
Diagnostic procedures to aid in the diagnosis of electrical and mechanical systems, DTCs, and symptom-based concerns
IT DOES NOT CONTAIN THE TRADITIONAL WIRING DIAGRAM INFORMATION

It does contain the wiring information relevent to a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) in the diagnostic procedure for the specific DTC.

Hope this helps.

 

[XTrooper]

Thanks for the link! I'm definitely going to snag one of these.