1995 Dodge D250 WT (Work Truck) 4X4 5.9L Cummins TD from North America
Summary:
Great truck, bad transmission
Faults:
Replaced wheel bearings.
Ball joints.
Control arm (upper and lower) bushings.
All at around 220,000kms.
Replaced the alternator with a high output one at 245,000kms.
Rebuilt a lazy starter at around 250,000kms.
Reupholstered worn out seats (and center console) around 258,000kms.
Replaced old and tired cup holders shortly after.
Replaced faulty TPS at 260,000kms.
General Comments:
Other than the very minor things above, the truck has been super fun to drive and own. I got it at a fairly low price, because where I live Ford/GMC are the trucks of choice, and this was a WT model (work truck/fleet) which has NO options at all, not even tilt steering!
The bonus of finding a WT model 2500 is that it got heavy duty springs and a NP241DHD transfercase with a PTO :D. I was also fortunate enough to find it with a Dana 70 rear LSD.
When I did get the truck, it had the 2 tone sliver/royal blue paint, but it suffered from the classic '90s Chrysler paint job in that it peeled very badly, and I was pretty much left with a primer gray truck. I remedied this by picking up some matte black rust paint, and prepped any rust areas and rolled it on. Now it's very tough to scratch or chip, and if I ever need to touch up an area or repaint an area, it will look clean and uniform. The best part is, the paint is $14 a gallon!
Off road performance of the Ram is slightly above average, it does everything well, but doesn't excel in any particular area. I noticed it does like deep snow, I believe the rear LSD helps out a lot, and I'm thankful for it.
Performance of the 12 Valve 'P-Pumped' Cummins is superb, it delivers 400 lbs of torque at 1600RPM (it beats ANY gasser off the line). And delivers all of its power until 2200RPM, then it dogs out on you, this is because the stock governor springs are set to cut fuel off at 2200RPM. I fixed this by getting a set of 2800RPM gov. springs (the red line of this engine is 3000RPM but it can handle about 3200RPM safely, stock.) This engine is very mod friendly, you can get around 400HP/600lbs of torque with about $200-$300!
If you don't have a 5spd manual, then the first thing you have to do before you mod your engine is to build your 4spd auto trans to handle the power your Cummins is making. This will run probably $2000-$3000. Expensive, yes. But well worth it. In stock trim the 47RH HD is good for 190HP/450lbs of torque max. And at this it will still start to slip.
That's about all I have to say my Ram, it's an amazing truck and looks good to boot. I definitely recommend it if you can put up with some repairs that come up from time to time :-).
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 25th March, 2010