thinking of buying a new truck(old actually)

lil red · Oct 6, 2009

thinking of buying an 88 2500 power ram
its a 4 speed 4x4, id assume its a 318? it says v8 on the for sale thing
thats all i really know, gonna look at it tomorrow night
they only want $750 and it runs

so, good buy, bad buy, any common problems
it will be a dd for a while, and my tow rig for my race car
and possibly a wheeler, i think itl fit 33s

lil red · Oct 6, 2009

o, and body and interior look to be damn near spotless exept a sketchy patch on rear wheel opening(where first and 2nd gen rangers rust)
o and its turd brown, which i freaking love

the only dodges id buy

zukirider21 · Oct 6, 2009

BAD buy.

the 318's and 360's are both unreliable, nutless, wonders of engineering.

and in typical dodge fashion, general construction is never up to par with ford or chevy. (flimsy, flimsy, flimsy!)

just find a cheap f series!

Southerner · Oct 6, 2009

notoriously bad transmissions too, expesially when they've been used for towing, I dont know if ive seen a dodge go over 150 thousand miles with out havin a engine or tranny swap, but then again the folks that i know with dodges have beat them to hell and back, deffinetly worth a look at though...

zukirider21 · Oct 7, 2009

Southerner said:
notoriously bad transmissions too

wow i cant believe i left that out in my previous post! thats my #1 complaint with dodges, too!

Redjosh · Oct 7, 2009

well I have dodges and say its a good buy from what u list. Its either a 318 or 360 both motors are fine it will be a solid axle which is stronger and easier to work on then ifs or ttb. as for the trans is it a 4spd manual or 4spd auto? The old 727 trans where no where near as bad as the 46re in the newer trucks

What are you going to use the truck for?

Do you guys own dodges or did you just read the bad reviews other asshats wrote

Will · Oct 7, 2009

The LA motor is a damn good motor. The 727 is good, no doubt. But that should have an NP435. The axles on a 250 are the same as everyone else's.

85_Ranger4x4 · Oct 7, 2009

Nothing wrong with a Mopar power plant, I would say the ones I have been around would take a comparable Ford engine of the same era.

I know a guy with one about that year or a little later with a Cummins in it, he has 300k+ miles on it and aside from a dent in the passenger side fender from a frisky cow it looks new. He hauls livestock for hire with it, so they are not particularly easy miles...

Southerner · Oct 7, 2009

nothing against dodge personaly, ive just grown up with my pops owning a towing company. he had dodge 2500 flat bed with a 360 and a 3500 cummins(great engine no doubt about it) with a tow boom and has had nothing good to say about either truck. I dont know maybe yall have had better luck with the dodges.

Redjosh · Oct 8, 2009

I have had great luck with my 2 dodges and I am looking at another one its a 95 3500 2wd ctd with 500000 on the original motor I believe its on its 2nd trans but 250k isn't bad for a trans

up keep is the key to any of the trucks lasting and a lot of luck

zukirider21 · Oct 9, 2009

ive been through enough dodges, so now its ford only for me...

lil red · Oct 11, 2009

its manual, or should i just suck it up and keep my car......
6 inches of snow isnt fun going to work in a mercades

Chance · Oct 11, 2009

I would pry buy it... the only engine that I have a complaint about dodges is that 4.7 they got... never seen one go past 160k but I have helped swap two of them that blew at 150k.

I like both the 318 and 360 and since it's a standard... I'd buy it.

zukirider21 · Oct 11, 2009

you cant find any fords for around that price?

Hahnsb2 · Oct 11, 2009

zukirider21 said:
BAD buy.

the 318's and 360's are both unreliable, nutless, wonders of engineering.

I hope you're joking. The 318s and 360s are some of the best V8s ever built. They weren't far off from the 302s or 351s of the same era as far as HP and TQ are concerned.
Then the Magnum 5.2s and 5.9s came out and spanked the 5.0 and 5.8 (including the lightning 5.8).

Southerner said:
notoriously bad transmissions too, expesially when they've been used for towing, I dont know if ive seen a dodge go over 150 thousand miles with out havin a engine or tranny swap, but then again the folks that i know with dodges have beat them to hell and back, deffinetly worth a look at though...

It's a 4 speed, probably an NP435, not an automatic. All automatics from all companies have their problems. That said I've got a friend with a 1 gen cummins, 310,000 miles, original auto tranny and it's the overdrive A518, not the old reliable 727.

thinking of buying a new truck(old actually)

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