savec'99 Ram 1500 4x4 pre-purchase question
From : frank
Q: ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. .
Replies:
From : sqdancerlynn
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From : peterd
on tue 19 aug 2008 213505 -0700 pdt bob az rwatson767@aol.com wrote on aug 18 714pm frank frank...@verizon.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile frank every mile you drive this truck will cost you at least 50 cents plus insurance registration taxes and so forth. most building suppliers will make deliveries of large items and big cost purchases. and the driver will help with unloading. all of them have a minimun for free delivery. simply plan your purchases to meet these minimuns. simply opening and using a charge account will get you some cost benefits. virtually none will deliver 70 miles rt for free. most will want a healthy delivery charge. but a 1500 wont carry that much either. imho the op is looking at the wrong truck at the wrong price. but he seems determined so be it... i hope it turns out well for him. .
From : bob azbob az
on aug 18 714=ef=bf=bdpm frank frank...@verizon.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. =ef=bf=bdi would like a 3/4 ton but f= or the price $5000 i think i can make do. =ef=bf=bdit wont be a daily dr= iver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. =ef=bf=bdthere will= be a few 300+ mile frank every mile you drive this truck will cost you at least 50 cents plus insurance registration taxes and so forth. most building suppliers will make deliveries of large items and big cost purchases. and the driver will help with unloading. all of them have a minimun for free delivery. simply plan your purchases to meet these minimuns. simply opening and using a charge account will get you some cost benefits. so be sure to factor the costs in your choice. also your time to make the runs to the supplier is worth a lot when you consider the time would be better spent doing the remodeling. last but certainly first is that your project will drag on forever and mama will be uptight long before the job is done. do anything you are able to to minimize this. bob az .
From : frank
on aug 18 714 pm frank frank...@verizon.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. thanks to all who responded. the correct spelling of plenum makes a big difference in my understanding. this truck was cleaned but certainly not detailed by a professional theres still some dog hair behind the back seat and a few stains on the floor mats. it also has several things i didnt mention like power windows/mirror/locks and a good air conditioner that i would like and other things that i dont need like the external temperature display and autodimming rear view mirror. around here its a decent price both compared to kbb.com and what others are asking for trucks. it seems that most trucks around here either have lots of creature comforts or are base model fleet trucks that have been beat to heck. im planning to have a mechanic check everything out. it seems that the only big concern is the transmission. theres still a bit of life left on the front brake pads but if im going to replace the rear slave cylinders ill replace the shoes too. i can probably talk him down on that account. oh i dont know what that savec thing is in my title must be keyboard hiccups no doubt caused by the id10t driving the keyboard. anyway thanks again. .
From : peterd
on thu 21 aug 2008 170719 -0700 pdt frank frank321@verizon.net wrote on aug 21 609 am peterd pet...@hipson.net wrote on wed 20 aug 2008 161339 -0700 pdt frank frank...@verizon.net wrote on aug 20 1040 am roy r...@home.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. curious is what you currently drive capable of pulling a trailer you might be better served buying or borrowing one to haul stuff with. the 5k+ can buy a decent trailer and you save probably $2500 oh boy this is one of my duh moments. thats an excellent idea. why didnt i think of if you dont really want us to answer that do you bg yeah its some thing like this...i hope this posts properly as a link. http//www.youtube.com/watchv=pjdnsjenwqk&nr=1 g good video now... know the symptoms i decide to water my garden. as i turn on the hose in the driveway i look over at my truck and decide it needs washing. as i start walking toward the garage i notice mail on the porch table that i brought up from the mail box earlier. i decide to go through the mail before i wash the truck. i go inside lay my car keys on the table put the junk mail in the garbage can and notice that the can is full. so i decide to put the bills back down and take out the garbage first. but then i think since im going to b e near the mailbox when i take out the garbage anyway i might as well pay the bills first. i take my check book off the table and see that there is only one check left. my extra checks are in my desk in the study so i go to my desk where i find the bottle of water id been drinking. im going to look for my checks but first i need to push the water aside so that i dont accidentally knock it over. the water is getting warm and i decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. as i head toward the kitchen with my water bottle a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water. i put the bottle on the counter and discover my reading glasses that ive been searching for all morning. i decide i better put them back on my desk but first im going to water the flowers. i set the glasses back down on the counter fill a container with water and suddenly spot the tv remote. someone left it on the kitchen table. i realize that tonight when we go to watch tv ill be looking for the remote but i wont remember that its on the kitchen table so i decide to put it back in the den where it belongs but first ill water the flowers. i pour some water in the flowers but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. so i set the remote back on the table get some towels and wipe up the spill. then i head down the hall try ing to remember what i was planning to do. at the end of the day the truck isnt washed the bills arent paid the flowers dont have enough water there is still only 1 check in my check book i cant find the remote i cant find my glasses and i dont remember what i did with the car keys. then when i try to figure out why nothing got done today im really baffled because i know i was busy all damn day and im really tired. i realize this is a serious problem and ill try to get some help for it... but first ill check my e-mails... .
From : ed medlin ed edmedlin com
ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. first of all the plenum gasket is not usually replaced unless there is some pinging detonation issues. it is a common problem with the 3.9 5.3 and 5.6ls. the front brakes are usually replaced 2-3 times for each rear replacement. this is a judgment call because everyone drives differently. i can go almost 100000 miles on my 1500 4x4 but some go only 30-50000. my wife is lucky to get that.....-. i have done my fronts twice in a little less than 180000 i use the gears when towing and never tow in od. you say he did pads and rotors on the front which means he may have went too far the first time and that may mean they are due again. as far as the price it seems a bit on the high side for the 360 which is selling in my area for less than the 318ci. i guess the 3-5 extra mpg makes a difference with the current fuel prices. for hauling building supplies you should be fine with the 1500 because i just cant see a whole lot of things overloading it unless you are towing a very heavy trailer. most building supply houses will deliver large purchases anyway. a whole lot of the decision making process comes down to your personal feelings about the truck. you can tell a lot about how someone cares for a vehicle by just looking at the interior and exterior condition. you say it looks almost new........so either he takes very good care of it or had it detailed.....-. $5000 is not a lot of money if the truck is has been maintained well. one very important issue is the transmission on those particular models. you might make the investment to have it checked professionally. ed .
From : frank
on aug 21 609 am peterd pet...@hipson.net wrote on wed 20 aug 2008 161339 -0700 pdt frank frank...@verizon.net wrote on aug 20 1040 am roy r...@home.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. curious is what you currently drive capable of pulling a trailer you might be better served buying or borrowing one to haul stuff with. the 5k+ can buy a decent trailer and you save probably $2500 oh boy this is one of my duh moments. thats an excellent idea. why didnt i think of if you dont really want us to answer that do you bg yeah its some thing like this...i hope this posts properly as a link. http//www.youtube.com/watchv=pjdnsjenwqk&nr=1 i have not one but two trailers i use that way a high flat bed which can hold up to a 4x8 sheet of ply and well over 1000 lb of load and a low ramp flat bed that is six by 12 with a walkup or drive up full width double ramp on the rear. between the two i could do without a pickup easily except for snow plowing but thats a different story. .
From : peterd
on wed 20 aug 2008 161339 -0700 pdt frank frank321@verizon.net wrote on aug 20 1040 am roy r...@home.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. curious is what you currently drive capable of pulling a trailer you might be better served buying or borrowing one to haul stuff with. the 5k+ can buy a decent trailer and you save probably $2500 oh boy this is one of my duh moments. thats an excellent idea. why didnt i think of if you dont really want us to answer that do you bg i have not one but two trailers i use that way a high flat bed which can hold up to a 4x8 sheet of ply and well over 1000 lb of load and a low ramp flat bed that is six by 12 with a walkup or drive up full width double ramp on the rear. between the two i could do without a pickup easily except for snow plowing but thats a different story. .
From : miles
peterd wrote 3. plemum gasket... i gotta wonder whats wrong with the truck. no one no one just replaces parts without a reason. also if hes only done one brake job in 122k miles it clearly needs new brakes. up until 2001 problems with the plenum gasket were common. i believe the most noticeable issue when that occurred was pinging as well as loss of oil with no external leaks found. 5k for a 10 year old truck with 122k miles on it seems high although 4wd does add some value. new rams 2008 can be bought dirt cheap with huge rebates and other incentives. .
From : roy
on mon 18 aug 2008 191430 -0700 pdt frank frank321@verizon.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. you may want to check the value of the truck in one of the online price lookup pages... kbb or nada you will see that the actual value of this truck is typically much less than $5k. as well these values are dropping quickly with the increased cost of fuel so one must take the stated value from the lookup page and perhaps deduct some because these values are based on history and things are changing. personally id say keep looking 1. it is imho overpriced. 2. it is *not* what you are looking for you say that in your post. a 1500 is probably not suitable for hauling large heavy loads. 3. plemum gasket... i gotta wonder whats wrong with the truck. no one no one just replaces parts without a reason. also if hes only done one brake job in 122k miles it clearly needs new brakes. regarding the gasket change out. it was common to read of its failure here and elsewhere. .
From : peterd
on mon 18 aug 2008 191430 -0700 pdt frank frank321@verizon.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. you may want to check the value of the truck in one of the online price lookup pages... kbb or nada you will see that the actual value of this truck is typically much less than $5k. as well these values are dropping quickly with the increased cost of fuel so one must take the stated value from the lookup page and perhaps deduct some because these values are based on history and things are changing. personally id say keep looking 1. it is imho overpriced. 2. it is *not* what you are looking for you say that in your post. a 1500 is probably not suitable for hauling large heavy loads. 3. plemum gasket... i gotta wonder whats wrong with the truck. no one no one just replaces parts without a reason. also if hes only done one brake job in 122k miles it clearly needs new brakes. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. .
From : frank
on aug 20 1040 am roy r...@home.net wrote ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. curious is what you currently drive capable of pulling a trailer you might be better served buying or borrowing one to haul stuff with. the 5k+ can buy a decent trailer and you save probably $2500 oh boy this is one of my duh moments. thats an excellent idea. why didnt i think of if .
From : roy
ive found a 99 ram 1500 4x4 5.9l 4speed automatic with 122000 miles that im thinking of buying. i would like a 3/4 ton but for the price $5000 i think i can make do. it wont be a daily driver rather a work truck making the 60-70 mile round trip to town with building supplies etc. while i remodel my new house. there will be a few 300+ mile round trips which would be very inconvenient to break down on. the seller has a pretty good maintenance history documented with receipts except for diy stuff like engine differential and transfer case oil changes brake changes etc. the engine oil looked a little dark but the coolant looked good. apparently he replaced the water pump somewhere around 75000 miles and the plemum casket sorry about the spelling i dont know what a plemum gasket is around 100000 miles. which brings me to my question... what kinds of things should i look for the seller states the plemum gasket was a preventative measure nothing was wrong with it but they are known to good bad. also he claims to have replaced the front disks pads and rotors only once and never the rear drum brake shoes. i pulled a rear wheel off and i could see some brake fluid leakage around the slave cylinder. i figure he is either real easy on the brakes and hopefully the rest of the truck or hes lying to me. the truck looks good for a 10 year old 4x4 with 122000 miles. curious is what you currently drive capable of pulling a trailer you might be better served buying or borrowing one to haul stuff with. the 5k+ can buy a decent trailer and you save probably $2500 .