thinking of buying a new truck(old actually)

zukirider21 said:

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

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In your 6 years of legally piloting automobiles, I seriously doubt that.


My 04 is my first dodge. Many of my friends (RedJosh included) have had Dodges and some have had them since the 60's and still swear by them. I figured that it was worth me giving them a chance. I'm much happier with this truck than I was with the 2000 F350 PSD that I was dd-ing for a year or so in College.

Don't base your opinions on those of others who are narrow-minded and are blindly ignorant and completely brand loyal just out of "principle".

zukirider21 said:

you cant find any fords for around that price?

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At that price it is a crapshoot.

You could buy a F-150 with the most supposedly bulletproof drivetrain and after 20 years of thrashing and it could give you nothing but problems as well. There is more to it than brand when talking about a older vehicle.

A lot of people have lost a lot of money by buying a certain brand above all others no matter what, with a newer car you can get by with it but that logic is very flawed on something with some years on it unless you are looking for a project or parts vehicle.

Dad has a '70 Dodge, I have to find a Ford of that era that I would trade it for. My uncle has a '67 F-100 with the 300... no contest whatsoever. The Dodge runs like it is fuel injected, has torque out the ying-yang, shifts like a dream (4 speed manual)... all in all IMO grandpa did a very good job when he bought the cheapest brand new 3/4 ton pickup he could find with a V-8.

Wow, so many trolls in one thread. Where's the bridge? A 318 in a 2500 would be a bad buy, I wouldn't do it. Now a 360, those are torque monsters, most of the power is generated in the Mid-RPM range.

As to what the trolls are saying, if they were such bad engines then why did they last so long while their competition changed engines just about every year?

Keep in mind that you're buying a truck that someone else doesn't want.

zukirider21 said:

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!

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Are you serious, the mopar 318 is one of the toughest engines ever produced. they are bulletproof. I understand that this is a ford site but give some credit where credit is due.

personally owned a couple of dakotas. i had a 1995 dakota that blew a tranny on me at 250000 kilometeres and i had a 2000 dodge dakota that blew a tranny on me at 150000kms

master hec0 said:

personally owned a couple of dakotas. i had a 1995 dakota that blew a tranny on me at 250000 kilometeres and i had a 2000 dodge dakota that blew a tranny on me at 150000kms

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and whats that got to do with the price of tea in Canada. I had an 89 3.9V6/5spd/4wd Dakota and a 92 V8/5spd/4wd Dakota. the V6 is still running around Vernonia Oregon and has been sold twice since I sold it and it had over 180,000 on it. The V8 Dakota is still being driven daily by the cousin I sold it too..... it's odometer broke at 139,XXX miles.

there is nothing wrong with Mopar engines ...... it is the rest of the vehicle that sucks.


and some of you guys are talking about "I haven't seen X engine go beyond 160,000 miles"......... you know what ...... 20 - 30 years ago 150,000 miles on an engine with out an overhaul (or putting out so much blue smoke people thought it was a 2 stroke) was unheard of, thats the stuff legends were made out of. you are talking about 160,000 miles like it is no big deal, in the past cars did not last 160,000 miles with out alot of work, the metallurgy just wasn't there.

It's more the combustion science than the metallurgy. The engines are easier on themselves by burning more efficiently, and have more solid state components to replace unreliable mechanical ones.

I would also like to give credit to the lubricants, but that's tough. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They want you to buy their product frequently, but they also want to say they have the best additives. So I will say thet the industry as a whole has risen, but reluctantly.

My experience is that Dodges aren't nearly as bad as people make them out to be. It was the about 95 - 2003 stuff where they had a terrible decade - mostly due to tranny problems in the Rams, Dakotas, and Durangos.

I had a 90 Dakota 2wd/OD auto/3.9L non-magnum that had the tranny die at 180,000 and consistantly got about 10 mpg. Other than that it was slow but bulletproof.

My friend had a 88 Dakota 2wd/AX-5/2.2L carb. It managed about 15 mpg when you could get it start. The only problem with that truck is that it was really too slow to drive in traffic. You ended up being a hazzard.

That same friend then got a 92 Dakota 2wd/OD Auto/3.9L magnum. Now that was an awesome truck. It got about 14 mpg but had more balls than alot of other stuff on the road. When he sold it, it had 215,000 miles on it and the original engine and tranny worked like new.

By brother had a 93 Dakota 4wd/AX-15/3.9L magnum. It wasn't as fast as my friends 92, but it got 14 mpg and was really reliable.

Another guy I know had a 98 2500 Ram 4x4 with an auto and 5.9L. It was slow and got 10-12 mpg. He would buy rebuilt transmissions 2 or 3 at a time as it was going through them roughly every 20,000 miles. He owned his own shop so it wasn't a big deal to put in the lift and pop a new tranny in. But other than that it was a great truck.

My uncle had a 96 1500 Ram 2wd with an auto and 318. It too struggled to get better than 12 mpg, but other than that was a fine truck. The tranny started getting goofy at about 90,000 so he sold it off before it crapped out completely.

Then my brother's brother-in-law has an 89 Ram 2500 with a CTD and the A727. It has 300 something thousand on it and still runs awesome, gets 20 mpg, and will tow anything. It has gaping holes in the floor, shakes like jackhammer, and he's replaced the tranny 3 or 4 times. Otherwise still an awesome truck.

But for a truck that you don't plan on DD, where gas mileage isn't an issue, an old Dodge with a 4-spd manual sounds like a perfectly tough, suitable truck for occasional work.

ive had a couple of dodges,there just as good as any ford or chevy,as with any truck,you take care of them,that means proper maitanance they will last,both the 318,360 LA motors are tough as nails,power is up with other V-8s in there class,the downside with the dodge trucks-72-93 wernt as pretty as the fords and chevys,aftermarket stuff not quite as available,but in stock form,they're just as capable as any ford or chevy,most people have their personal preference on wether its ford,chevy or dodge,but all those makes are simular on reliability,but what youre looking sounds like a decent buy.

My opinion? Bad truck. They have problems. We've owned both the auto 4x4, and standard 2wd trucks with the 318. Hated them both but the each made it through 4+ years of HARD quarry work. Hard meaning they were forced to haul 5x more than they were built for and were driven in offroad conditions of mud and 2" snow. So I can't say they are completely bad. The 2wd sucked, but 4x4 was okay but still sucked. I personally drove the auto 4x4, it was the first truck I learned how to drive on and I was all over the road. It was loud, rough, cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and the ride quality sucked. Watch the C-clips in the rear axles as well. They also suffer from shackle problems, like our rangers.

For that price? If it runs, drives, and doesn't have any problems, feel free to go for it. It should last you a few years.

Here's our old power ram. The other one was almost an exact clone, just dark blue and a 2wd 250 model.


We replaced it with this.


And your not looking to buy a 1988 Dodge PowerRam 2500, your looking to buy a PowerRam W250. They didn't start the 2500 until '94.

sounds like it could be a good buy,the mopar LA series motor is rock solid,and comparable to ANY ford or chevy,the trannies are solid,the only thing that era dodge suffers from is they just not as pretty as the ford or chevy from that era,so there not quite as popular and they get a bad rap from loyal ford,chevy enthusiast,not a mopar freak,but ive had good luck with them.