The dream has become...

[Panama_Red]

Standard Gas is anywhere from 0-10% Ethanol (Most pumps have a sticker stating as such "May contain up to 10% Ethanol").

Even that isn't great. Alcohol doesn't burn as hot as gasoline.. I ended up switching to 89 octane and it runs like a champ, haven't seen a problem with the o2 sensor 2 tanks of gas later..

Swapped in a new muffler that helped as well the old stocker was trashed..

The new coil and tune up put my average mileage from 10.2 up to 12.9 The average mileage for this truck new was 12. I don't drive on the highway much either so I am impressed..

these trucks run strong... just like everything else... things break and need to be replaced. unfortunately for you it is happening all at once. but IMO dodges are one of the most reliable trucks I have come into contact with and this is why you see so many more of the on the road now adays... not to mention they look as mean as an angry demon... really the only thing I have know about dodges going bad is their radiators, and their dashboards, but with a little tlc they can be avoided.

It's all good I have been going through and fixing what was needed to be fixed.. I realize it is 11 years old.. When I started the thread I was hit by a barrage of nickle and dime sh*t to fix. I figured I'd be getting into that when I got it just not all at once...LOL...

let the Challenger speak for dodge over the truck and you should see that they are a very fine piece of machinery

It's a great car, they still use cheap plastic on them though...LOL... The interior parts while nice looking are very easy to scratch. Thankfully I am a plastic fabricator so I know how to remove them..

also just one other thing to remember is that your truck is the first year of this generation... it can be considered their "beta" if you will... where they find out some of the common problems in order to fix them for the next years of production models within this generation.

I know it's the first year of the 3rd Gen's, part of the reason I got it was it has the 5.9 OHV engine carried over from the 2nd Gen's.

There are some parts from that "betta" stage I still am going to need to replace. The rack and pinion is nearing death, Not my favorite thing to do but when it's replaced it will be new. They already did the ball joints, and i am going to replace all of the brake rotors with some powerstop cross drilled and slotted rotors and throw some new pads on at the same time. The brakes were done pre me getting it, but they have some super cheap pads on there and the rotors are on their last leg IMO..

I am going to throw about $1500 more at it and it will be sweet.. A lot less than paying payments and I like the truck..

I'll shoot some pics of it next time I wash it and post some before and after shots.. It's coming around nicely.