I am considering buying a 97' to 01' Dodge Ram 1500 and wanted some opinions on how reliable and how repairable these trucks are. I've been having trouble deciding what vehicle to buy. I realy like the look of these trucks but my renching skills are limitted and buying a 60k or better vehicle with no warrenty is scary, especialy with dodge's reputation for crap trannys. Also when it comes engines I am unaware of how good the 318 for these trucks is. Is there aftermarket support and are they dorable? Any help would be appeciated, Thanks.  

Nowadays GM, Ford and Dodge all have bad reputations for their auto transmissions. I've never heard of an automatic overdrive transmission that was very reliable as it came from the factory. (ie. many dying within 50,000 miles) The manual transmissions still seem to be good though. Sorry I don't know much about their engines. I also like the look of the Dodges built up to 2001.

The dodge autos are junk, luckily the aftermarket realized this and there are lots of options out there, the 318 or 360 are both decent engines with good aftermarket support. My favorite part of dodge's are there front suspension which is easy to make an incredible rig with.

I have done some experimenting myself with IFS stock and IFS lifted.

I found the best lift for these trucks is....no lift, you can save alot of *** by buying yourself a tool called a reciprcating saw and hack out the fenders and bumper a bit.

I fit 35 inch mud terrains on a stock 94 GM shortbox with no rubs....I mounted the 315x75R16 BFG's on the stock rims, cranked up the torsions a bit and then put in some Rancho  5000's and went wheelin.

It seems if you go with wider tires they will rub easier, I did have to do some mods to the inner fenders too. If you finish the mod up right with paint n stuff it is hardly noticeable. It was a capable little truck. I went alot of places where other 4x couldnt particularly in deep snow, I wheeled right past many a straight axles.

On the other hand, I found the same truck "lifted" handled worse than stock.

I think when people put lift kits in newer trucks with IFS they are after "the look", and the new Chevys with the procomp look ssswwwwweeet.

I would own one if it wasn't $50,000. I guess if your to scared to chop it up and want "the look" put in a lift but it isn't gonna help you, it will hamper you more than anything.

Hey boss, the dodges in question had straight axle front ends, coiled front ends.  

I wonder if most or at least a lot of their customers don't believe they're just buying "a look" but are duped into thinking it makes their truck better for real offroading. Maybe the 4wd shops tell people it's just for a look. Don't know, never went shopping for a lift.

I also heard all the pre-02 Dodges used a solid front axle, but with coils and "link bars" for the 94-01 models. (I have a sales brochure from 1998)

BTW, did you notice much improvement switching to the Rancho 5000 shocks on your IFS Chevy?

There are some beneifts to lifting an ifs chevy. Higher frame means better breakover angles, higher body, means you are further from the mud, higher engine vitals are futher from water/mud. Its not just for "looks".  

I hope I didn't offend you, Blackchevy. I know and agree with you regarding the benefits of more ground clearance.  

Not offended at all, just justifying the expense in my own mind, haha. Just showing the other side also.  

I've heard the plastic frond end on the Dodges are pretty expensive to fix. One of the national labs ran some slow speed crash tests on these trucks ( 5 mph ) and the Dodge cost 5K to repair the front end on a 5 mph hit !

I also heard the front bearings go pretty quick on these models, - depending on use of course, but I though less than 50 K miles on a street truck was a really fast rate of wear !! The bearing assemblies  will also set you back between $300 to $400 dollars - each side - for parts only!  Unlike the old Chevy's where you can change the roller bearings and the races for about $50.00 in parts.  Is $400.00 worth of "modern technology" really noticable in a comparison of wheel bearings ? What exactly is the benefit of this "technology" ? ( except to the dealer's parts department of course ) Ka-Ching!  Can anyone really feel the difference in ride on these modern wheel bearings ?  Someone will say yes, just to justify to themselves the load of bucks they spent on this dog!

The unit bearing hubs are a pain, but if its worth it to you you can always get with dynatrac and get yourself some selectable hubs for 2k, haha. A real bumper would cure the front end damage problem.  

No *** !!  Slap a 'redneck bumper' on that *** for less than $100 in steel pipe and welding and forget the 5-mph damage BS ! oh, and don't forget the two cans of Wal-Mart flat black spray paint so it looks purdy !  "paint it black & put it back" - words to live by.

ill agree on the bearings there crap, and the bigger you get the more it cost to fix.  but crappy bumpers! please i hit a car at 45mph in my 98 Dodge and i could barly find the scratch it left on the plasctic trim of the bumper!  ... well, then again it was a honda so...  

I'm not up on Dogde model years but the new ones are mostly plastic and foam from what I've seen of 'em in the body shops. A 45-mph hit one one of these, and you'd be replacing most of the front body panels, bumper, grill, lights, and probably the hood too.

It's simple economics, really. Things are designed to break ( maximum damage ) to make everyone happy - selling replacement parts, body & frame shop repair bills, labor, ect...etc... except for the drivers. They get to pay the bills and argue with lawyers who work with each other all the time and the little guy get screwed. The worst thing of all is when both drivers have the same insurance company!  I've just seen waaaayyy to much of this crap over the years.

if your talking about 03 and newer models yes i totally agreed on that.  my dad has a 03 Ram and he hit a deer head on at 65mph!!  it took of the whole front end, bashed the radiator in then came around and took the driver side fender of and caved in the door!  as for 93-02 they a lot stonger with the exception of the Sport models which i remember do have all plastic bumpers and are worthless.