Old Square Rams
 

Anybody have any experience with the old first generation Dodge Rams? The old square ones that stopped production in 93? I rather like the look of them and am idly wondering about acquiring one. Cummins ideally. Any opinions?

- Peter.

Just your basic truck. Rides like, handles like, runs like and sounds like an old IH. Not as robust as the old Power wagons but darned tough nevertheless. Definitely go with the Cummins 6BT diesel. They aren't the new ISB's but they did the job. Figure on 14-17MPG unloaded and 10-14 MPG pulling/hauling a load.

FirstGen Rams are tough trucks. Basically a 70s model with updates, which really means it is similar to the Sweptlines from the 60s. Last real pickup made by Dodge w/o overly complicated stuff.

I had a 1984 350 Dually with the 360 4BBL I bought as a work on houses truck for $700. I drove the snot out of that truck and sold it for $1000 when I was done with it.
They are big, clumsy well TRUCKLIKE trucks, but they do not die and are really tough!

I sold mine to a farmer friend after it had 300,000 on it.

Aesthetically I like the look of them. As well, I'm after simplicity, toughness and reliablity. So that's kind of my thinking. Of course they are much rarer than the equivalent Ford or Chevy adn the Cummins of course demand a premium.

- Peter.

Some years back I was speaking with a wrecking yard owner who was buying the diesels at city auctions and what not. The trucks looked pretty beat up, so I asked him where the profit was.

He told me that the Cummins was easily outlasting the bodies and that no matter how beat up or rusted out the truck was the engine was still good. He could easily sell them to those who had taken better care of their trucks and finally worn out the engine.

Yep. Or as in the case of my FIL used the engine as a conversion for a Chevy Blazer camper.

- Peter.

A few of my coworkers have owned the earlier Dodge trucks. I didn't hear anything bad about them from them. One I know bought one used, and I think fairly beat. I remeber he bought it from a neighbor of mine. He drove it for several years after that. He sold it and bought an early VW Jetta Deisel.
I haven't seen the other guy in a year or so. He still had his at that point. From what I remeber of the conversation, it was a '93. He used it for semi commercial towing. He said it got better than 20 mpg highway. Something about the '93 model year, as the latest development of the old style pump maybe.
I think he said he changes balljoints or such every 50K. And tie rods too. Dodge did have problems with susspension components with the extra weight of the Cummins in it.
I think the engine has aroung 185 HP. I forget the torque, though. The base engine is capable of 220HP, but the Chrysler trans couldn't handle that at the time.
I can ask around for more info if you need.
Tom

I owned one of these style trucks about 20 years ago. It has a slant six with so little power that I noticed the added horsepower when I was driving in 10 degree weather and the oxygen level was denser.

I would suggest keeping an eye on four things if you get one.

Front wheel bearings will go without notice, so replace them about every 50,000 miles.

Check all the wiring under the bed. A lot of it is exposed and will wear through. A quick and easy fix is to wrap it with split plastic tubing that protects it. The truck you buy may already have this, though.

There are some plastic grommets in the windshield wiper linkage that wear out and snap during heavy rain storms. These are cheap and easy to replace so I would put this on the list of things to look at right away as they are easy to neglect.

If your brake lights work and your dash lights don't (they are on the same fuse) then you will need to replace a 5 Volt transformer that plugs into the back of the dashboard and supplies power to the dash lights.

All these things are cheap and easy, but all of them are known trouble spots.

I dig the looks and they are pretty stout and uncomplicated. If I could find a rust free Cummins Club Cab around here I'd probably jump on it whether I had the money at the time or not. Then I'd go for a 70's grille, which I much prefer to the shiny plastic of the 90's.

My truck driver has a 2wd '93, just over 230k, and it still pulls strong while he allows the bed and cab slowly rot away. :( If the front end work hasn't been done, I'd keep those numbers in mind while pricing them out because you'll want to get it done. It's not quite 2nd Gen Death Wobble but they do get sloppy.

There are some simple mods to boost power into the mid-200's but you'll never get 12V power out of them. They are the last of the truck-like trucks which is why I like them!

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...b8785cbd32.jpg :eek: -----> :D

Interesting info folks, thanks.

- Peter.

Having owned several with the Cummins I would look for a 91.5-93 years because they were intercooled. Those years also came with the overdrive automatic transmissions which are well built( think torque-flite with OD) as long as you change fluid and filters AND adjust the bands every 30k. very easy to do. Rust over the windshield by the rain gutter is common and there is no replacement parts for the roof available. Rockers are another area prone to rust but are cheap and relatively easy to replace. Doing 60-65mph I routinely got an honest 23-24 mpg with 3.54 rear axle ratio and got 18mpg around town both being empty, all figures are in a 2wd truck. All in all there a well built diesel truck that are reliable and reasonable priced, no glow plugs only heater grid, filters easily changed, an honest medium duty engine that has been installed in construction and farming equipment for some time. Check out Dieseltruckresources or Cumminsforum for more info.

Interesting, thanks. What's the relevance of the intercooler? Any major advantage to having that with one compared to one without? One thing about living in the desert south west is that rust is less of an issue than just about anything else.

- Peter.