'98 Ram V-10 gasser- questions

[magothy1]

My first cousin is looking at one of these, any opinions/experiences ? Thanks.

 

[Grizzly]

Better buy it very cheap because these powerful engines are a real gas guzzlers. A Cummins is far more desirable.

 

[RRees]

I had a 99 V10 Dodge Ram. Good reliable truck, just loves the gas. Expect 10mpg DD, 7-9mpg towing.



Traded that truck in on my current and first CTD. Best move I ever did.

 

[HBarlow]

I don't know anything about Ram V10s but would caution a prospective buyer to buy it cheap or not at all.



The price of a Ram with V10 could be inflated by the value of a Ram with Cummins engine. As everyone knows, a Cummins-powered Ram of any age and any mileage has good value as a work truck.

 

[Garlic]

170K on my 96 and it still gets with the program, no engine issuses. It definitly LOVES the gas. I wouldn't sell it for the world.

 

[magothy1]

Thanks very much for all that. She does alot of RV travel, north summers, south winters, usually does some sort of work for site trades. She does know they'll love the petrol, I was more concerned with it being reliable. She's had some dogs. This one has 70 thou miles, asking price is $6500, seems reasonable. Yeah, a Hummin Cummins would be way better.

 

[BimmerAgent]

I've had 2 V-10s. Easily outpulled a same year Cummins, but would definately drink fuel. Didn't bother me when gas was $1 a gallon or so. The 5 speed was way better than the the automatic. Great trucks. Never had a problem with either of them. I'd pretty much agree with the stated mpg. Bruce

 

[Garlic]

They offered me $3500 for my 96 when I bought the 07. 5. I sort of told them where they could stick it. It is worth the insurance just to have it sit and be used once in a while. Right now, on my daily commute it is almost the same in cost per mile of fuel to drive. I sure do like having a second work truck. CTD purest have argued the point of out pulling the same year CTD truck, but I have done it as well, (there was a great cost in fuel to do it though). Still I love the 6. 7 in spite of what others say.

 

[Excessive Force]

I had a '98,and loved it till it blew up @ 67,000 miles. Even though it was out of warranty the dealer i bought it at fought with chrysler,and got the parts portion of the bill covered. Needless to say when i bought the '02 it was a no brainer what dealer to buy from. One thing i found about the V10 trucks was the rear tires only last approx 10,000 miles..... :-laf There were a few design flaws with these engines including poorly designed heads that led to uneven cooling. The best mileage i ever got was 11 mpg. Automatic w/4. 10 gears. There is a web site similar to the TDR for the V10,and i'll try to post the link. DODGE RAM V10 - Message Board - Yuku

 

[MGreer]

I had a 98 v 10 before I moved up to the CTD. At About 75k miles it started getting what sounded like a main bearing rattle at start up. This would last about 5 seconds and would stop after the oil pressure came up. Two weeks before leaving for a trip to Florida I decided to drop the oil pan and replace the main bearings.

Once I got the oil pan dropped I noticed a rubbery coating on the inside of the oil pan. The hot oil returning to the oil pan bubbled some of this coating off. The oil pump pickup screen was filled with this stuff.

I cleaned the screen out and moved on to the bearings. The main bearings were in great shape, the rod bearings were wore out. I replaced all rod and main bearings since I had the pan off. The engine wouldnt have survived the trip. The rubber coating was a factory installed item.

The best advice I could give is if on a cold startup make sure there is no engine rattle and the oil pressure builds up quick.





Lengthy, but hopefully helps

 

[jelag]

I run a truck for at least 500K before I trade... I don't care to do engine work... with this said... . we buy only diesels... our fuel cards only let us buy diesel... . I don't have to worry that any of my crew might take 10 gals a week home with him... . or put it on one of our cards... . they are locked out except for diesel... .

Each of us has our own needs... . if it was only going to be run 10 - 15K miles a year. . and the one your looking at is low mileage I'd consider a gas... . especially if in 60-70 K more miles you'd want to trade... .

My worst purchase has been a F550 power stroke... (7. 3L) it easily has cost me 3x's the annual cost of any of my Dodges... its sitting in the auction lot as I write this... and I should have money in hand next week... . I was afraid to sell it to someone local after all my grief... .