Back in a Ram soon

[ib516]

Well, I stumbled on a deal where I could get a 2007 Dodge/Ram 1500 with a Hemi for a pretty reasonable price.

I have a 2006 Chevy 1500 Extended cab, 4x4, 5.3L (transplant, it came with a 4.8L from the factory), and I think 3.73 gears and a 4L60E 4 speed auto. It's a plain truck - hand crank windows, rubber floors, and it's pretty rough, and is rusting away quickly. It has 242,000 Km on it (150,000 miles).

I just bought, but haven't got yet....a 2007 Dodge/Ram 1500 Quad cab, 4x4, 3.55 gears, and the 5 speed auto. It has 231,000 Km on it (143,000 miles). Very little rust and it's in much better shape.

The new truck will easily tow our little 17' Jayco Hybrid, same as the Chevy did. Slowly recovering financially from the big "D".

Guess I better change my signature!

[Grit_dog]

Nice! Looks like new. One of my favorite colors too!

[larry_barnhart]

Yep that is not good. hard to see it when driving so drive. chevman

[mat60]

I see what you mean. If it was black maybe it would look a bit better but nice looking truck anyway. Looks in great shape.

[ib516]

:E Don't stare!!! :B

[ib516]

It's been debadged, and it has a hideous grill....but it runs good.

Dare I post a picture of the grill (for which I have a new replacement on order)?

[blofgren]

Awesome! I'm sure it will pull your trailer noticeably better.....:B

[Jarlaxle]

Critical! Use ONLY ATF+4 in that trans! That should be a 545RFE...I THINK a dealer can actually reflash to give you 6 gears.

[IdaD]

Congrats. The extra gear alone should be a big positive.

[BenK]

Good to hear and congrat's on that find !

Looking forward to your commentary on how it goes getting the new TV up to snuff

[Fordlover]

ib516 wrote:
Well, I stumbled on a deal where I could get a 2007 Dodge/Ram 1500 with a Hemi for a pretty reasonable price.

I have a 2006 Chevy 1500 Extended cab, 4x4, 5.3L (transplant, it came with a 4.8L from the factory), and I think 3.73 gears and a 4L60E 4 speed auto. It's a plain truck - hand crank windows, rubber floors, and it's pretty rough, and is rusting away quickly. It has 242,000 Km on it (150,000 miles).

I just bought, but haven't got yet....a 2007 Dodge/Ram 1500 Quad cab, 4x4, 3.55 gears, and the 5 speed auto. It has 231,000 Km on it (143,000 miles). Very little rust and it's in much better shape.

The new truck will easily tow our little 17' Jayco Hybrid, same as the Chevy did. Slowly recovering financially from the big "D".

Guess I better change my signature!

Glad to see you continuing the climb from the depths. Of course you'll share photos of the new truck I expect?

Be well.

[Bionic_Man]

Congrats on the new to you truck. I hope it treats you well.

[Grit_dog]

Lessmore wrote:
Congrats on your purchase of the Dodge. A question, why do you think the one year older Chevy truck has a rust issue and the one year newer Dodge doesn't ?

Prolly cause Dodge owners take better care of their trucks....

[ib516]

Mote wrote:
That should make a nice for you to pull the camper.

Curious as to why you list the 2010 Cougar 322QBS as "junk" ?

Among other things, the welds on the kingpin box failed as I towed it down the road when it was 3 weeks old, causing it to fall onto the bed of my truck at 65 mph. An examination of the welds showed rust inside them, meaning it was never bonded properly when welded. I am lucky it didn't totally detach and go into oncoming traffic that day. Oh, and should I mention that I was 800 miles from home in another Country, and it was Sunday? Nightmare. Keystone had to put us up in a hotel, hire a mobile welder to come to the campground to weld it enough so it could be towed, then I got to watch as my brand new $45,000 RV got ripped apart and rebuilt, ruining our family vacation.

Then there was the enclosed, small area where the converter/charger was mounted at the top of the stairs to the bunk room was not ventilated, so the cooling fan for the converter/charger just pumped it's own heat into the enclosed space, eventually cooking the converter, that of course failed just after warranty. I added vents and a new part and had no more issues. This is something any competent designer who cared even a little should have seen as an issue.

Also, constant uneven tire wear due to improperly aligned axles (had to get them realigned every year). The axles were barely rated for enough weight to handle the weight of the RV minus the pin weight, so they were at their limits and bent easily, again, under engineered for anything resembling durability

I'll spare you more details....I could go on and on.

[ib516]

Lessmore wrote:
Congrats on your purchase of the Dodge. A question, why do you think the one year older Chevy truck has a rust issue and the one year newer Dodge doesn't ?

Well, besides the poorly designed Chevy that traps dirt and moisture where they rust (cab corners, rockers and over the rear wheels), I suspect it was neglected and maybe the Dodge saw a few more car washes.