Faults:

Replaced rotors and brakes at 80,000.

Replaced thermostat at 83,000.

General Comments:

The thermostat was located at the bottom the engine, I have never seen such a thing. Other than being hard to reach, I have no complaints about the truck. I love my truck, it has never failed me whether on the road or off road while I'm hunting. I loved my Bonneville GXP I had before my truck, but something was missing... It wasn't a Dodge... If you can't Dodge it... RAM IT!!!

Faults:

Both outside mirrors failed within 500 miles, this was a warranty recall and fixed in a few hours.

Drivers side rear door lock got out of adjustment, also fixed for free.

At 82000 it had the right front control arm replaced, ball joint replaced, transmission flush and filter, new transmission cooler, new power steering rack. The A/C was also recharged as it was sometimes intermittently warm.

At 82000 it had also developed an exhaust leak in the right manifold, new studs, a new manifold and new gasket added.

The warranty package purchased with the truck when it was new covered all of the above except the transmission and A/C service.

General Comments:

This has been an excellent truck, the powertrain is super reliable and up to heavy loads. It's been up and down California, over the rockies and back to Colorado and never gave any troubles. This was usually with about a ton of people and gear aboard too.

The cab is very quiet inside and the factory Infinity premium sound is very effective and well laid out ergonomically.

The only real gripe is with the fuel economy, 11mpg average. But this was an assumed risk, and the rewards of the 5.9 liter engine far outweigh the poorer economy versus the 4.7. The 4.7 felt like it was working at full capacity lugging around the empty truck, and we knew it would be no good for keeping up 85mph on the interstate all day long with a load. The 5.9 really shows it's advantage climbing up long grades like the grapevine, 335lb-ft is much more useful than 295lb-ft. The Hemi 5.7 was not yet announced, and we've found that 5.9 liter 03 Rams are extremely rare. It's a pity, because the Hemi has a lot more power, but the 360 is a simple and proven workhorse.

Faults:

Only time it went to the dealer was for a bad brake rotor at 26,000km. They fixed it for free, replaced front rotors and pads. Warranty covered it, though they said usually brakes are covered for 20,000. Excellent service.

Good year tires wore out at 40,000 km.

Replaced original rear brakes and fronts (77,000 km on fronts) at 101,000 kms.

One light bulb on the third brake light burnt out at 75,000.

Nothing else ever went wrong.

General Comments:

Very, very, very reliable. I love it and would recommend one to anyone else in the market for a fullsize truck!!!

Great power. Ran it once at the local drag strip; 15.09 for a quad cab 4x4 with 3.92 rear gears.

Driving costs are only gas; averages 15.7 MPG (though in Canada it's metric, I go by MPG).

Though reliability was not a question when purchasing this truck, my 95 Ram had 300,000 trouble free kms. Besides normal brakes, battery, tires, muffler.

Faults:

Both outside mirrors (recall item) broke a week or so after purchased, repaired in 1 day for free.

Drivers' side rear door lock wouldn't open from inside at 65k, mechanism adjusted by dealer for free.

A/C needs a charge and there is a squeak from the front end, but both are covered under the extended warranty and are being fixed.

General Comments:

This Dodge truck is quite possibly the toughest gas powered vehicle ever produced. It has never had a major mechanical problem, is super quiet and rides very well for a truck and has all the desirable options. It was mainly used to haul racing karts to and from races, which meant a lot of heavily loaded Grapevine crossings in hot weather. It has an amusingly loud auxiliary cooling fan that comes on on grades like that, but super effective, never overheated or even came close.

The 360 V8 and auto tranny do a decent, if not exciting, job of moving the truck down the road, but the fuel mileage is miserable, about 11-12 all around. On the up side the engine and trans are just about maintenance free, just oil, filter, gas and go. And despite not being really powerful, the truck will easily cruise at 85 or 90mph all day long, even fully loaded.

The interior fit and finish seem to be remarkably good, everything works fine and it has a reassuringly solid and strong feel to every part. I'm firmly convinced that the build quality and design of Dodge trucks is far and away the best on the market, but my next one will have to be a Cummins Turbo Diesel, the consumption of the gas model kills me. Also the newest 6.7 Cummins has 350hp and 650lb-ft, that's +105hp and +315lb-ft over my 360, and it really showed during a test drive. I just hope the 18+mpg claims are true as well.