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Old 05-03-2009, 07:56 PM
  #8  
hometheaterman
Nontypical Buck
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,519
Default RE: ram 1500

I've owned American vehicles and foreign vehicles and currently own a Dodge truck. We have other cars too both American and foreign. My honest opinion is the foreign vehicles are much much better. There are no if's ands or buts they are more reliable. Or at least the experiences I've had they have been. I think if you are going to get a half ton truck Toyota or Nissan would be worth looking into.

If you want a 3/4 or 1ton truck the American car companies are really the only way to go.

What years are you looking at? This was asked earlier but I didn't see a answer.

If you are looking at the 2nd gen ones which would be 94-01 or actually 02 for the 2500 and 3500. The 1500's changed in 02 but the 2500's and 3500's didn't. These all have solid front axles which I like and is a must if you plan to offroad. However, with a 2500 or 3500 you get much stronger axles both front and rear. You also get stronger hubs and just all around better drivetrain parts. You also get the option of a diesel or V-10 gas motor. Really a lot of guys that start out with half ton's that offroad them heavily end up upgrading to the axles out of a 2500. It's a worthwhile upgrade. The 1500's have a Dana 44 up front and a Chrysler 9.25" in the rear. The factory LSD's in the rear are basically junk however, the rest of it's pretty strong. The D44 up front is the weak link unless you like breaking parts.

It would be cheaper to just start with a 2500. I don't know why you don't want one but it would be the way to go. Sure a 1500 would probably tow what you want but the 2500 would do a much better job at both it and offroading. I see no reason that you would need a 3500 unless you want a dually or just want a 1 ton. For what you want it sounds like the 2500's will work fine for you.

If you are looking at the 03-I guess 08 which are the 3rd gens for what you want I wouldn't even consider a half ton. They have IFS up front which is independant front suspension if you didn't know. It's not popular at all for offroaders for good reason. If you try to put big tires on it or wheel it hard or both expext to replace lots of front end parts on a regular basis. I also wouldn't want this if I did a lot of towing either. The 2500's and the 3500's step up to the solid front axle which is what most offroaders want. The only advantage I see to IFS is it rides a bit smoother in most cases however, it's a lot weaker if you plan to beat on the truck at all. Once again I think a 2500 would be the optimal setup here. Not sure why you don't want one.


I will say from owning a Dodge and talking to lots of guys that own them these trucks have a lot of common issues. I know the most about the 2nd gens as that's what I have but they have issues with the automatic tranmissions(can be built to hold up pretty well.), lsd's in the rear, pleneum gasket on the 5.9L and 5.2L engines, dash cracking all over into pieces, heads cracking on the magnum engines so 5.9L and 5.2L, and probably some I'm forgetting. Those are all major issues that are pretty common with these trucks. I'd say the heads cracking are the least common of those listed. I've yet to hear of many that don't have a bad pleneum gasket or bad transmission. Quite a few also have had the dash crack at least once if not more than once however, I've heard of a few that haven't had that. Really these trucks just have a lot of common issues that cost a lot of money to fix. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy one I'm just letting you know to be prepared.
The manual transmissions aren't perfect but a bit stronger. It's what I'd want.

Honestly, if I was to do it over again I'd want a 2500. Not sure why you say you don't want one but it's what I'd go with as well as many others I've talked to who have bought 1500's and wish they had gone with a 2500.


This is just my opinion from all I've read.
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