Faults:
With this pile of junk, they should ask what hasn't gone wrong with this thing.
Entire brake job needed.
Steering box has to be replaced along with the shaft.
The engine horribly until I did a tune up and then it was OK. This included plug wires, plugs, distributor cap, rotor, air filter, etc.
The interior was in horrid shape - that's more from abuse though.
The oil pressure gauge had to be replaced, even then the oil pressure was always really low.
Oil pan gasket was replaced.
Emergency brake system replaced.
Rear lights didn't work properly nor did some of the turn signals - that was all fixed.
All four ball joints replaced.
Windshield replaced.
Pitman arm replaced.
All four wheel bearings replaced.
Front brake hoses and battery replaced.
Door speakers don't work properly.
The fan wiring was all screwed up and I constantly had to play with it.
Water pump blew up driving it home and had to be replaced.
I was driving one day and the damn thing just died on me. The starter would turn it over, but it wouldn't start. After about 20 minutes it would fire back up and run for about 5 minutes and die again. Took me about 4 hours to make a trip that should have been only 30 minutes. Turns out it was the fuel pump. I found this out after replacing the fuel pump relay, ignition coil, and a few other things I don't remember.
General Comments:
I had to fly out of town to get this truck because there was none for sale in my city. Turns out if I would have waited a couple months a good condition, w150 went for sale for a good price. Oh well, gotta learn patience.
The picture the used car dealer showed me of the truck was a masterpiece of not showing all the rust and dings all over that pile of junk. He completely lied to me of the condition of the truck. It was supposed to be in good condition and running order and it was completely the opposite. Something that was supposed to cost only around $4000 tops ended up costing me around $7000.
I should have just came home and not bought it, but I was stubborn and had spent money getting there so I took it anyways. I'll never get over that.
The 4x4 system worked well, the a/c was good, cruise was fine. Tailgate was messed up and had to pull those little tabs on each side to open it. Ran good after I spent all that money on it, but by then the fuel pump problem hadn't been sorted out yet and I didn't want to spend anymore money on it so I sold it for only $2500 - What the safety cost me.
I only used it for less than a year and other than driving it home from where I bought it from, I might have put 3 tanks of gas through it before I sold it. I am so glad I got rid of that thing. I was so hardcore for the Dodge Ram 4x4 before I got mine (some people I know had them and loved them), but I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Good ridance.
I lost about $5000 on this truck and I'm a university student. My only saving grace is that I'm about to receive a lot of money soon, so I can pay my truck debt off and finally forget about this nightmare once and for all.
One last thing, anybody reading this is going to think that all this money spent on it was from prior abuse. It was obviously abused, but in my opinion, only some of these things I replaced was from abuse, a lot of it was due to poor quality in craftsmanship and assembly. Things like the oil pressure sensor and steering box and drive shaft shouldn't wear out like that. Before I bought this truck, I never had a clue what it was like to feel stress and worry over money, thanks to that Dodge Ram, now I know.
22nd Jun 2006, 15:52
Dude it's called an OLD TRUCK! For goodness sakes things happen as metal gets older! It's a little thing called rust