My new wood HAULING truck

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Gees, I was a little concerned when I read your posts, but upon checking out the forum you posted I see most guys love their trucks so I guess I am not overly concerned. I guess mine is a 3rd generation but I am not sure if that matters that much.
 
Trannies are crap, no doubt about it. But I too love my Dodge, yeah its ugly, smells funny ( dumped a qrt of gear oil on back floor) and dont shift into OD but it hauls wood.
 
Hate to add fuel to the fire, but my buddy who owns one said there's a factory re-call on the upper ball joints. Might help with the "Death-wobble" thing.
 
father in law has 02 RAM 1500. he is in need of his third tranny. he finally got smart and bought an 8.1 suburban. there is a tranny mod u can do cheaply that will increase the coolant flow and lengthen its life span but i'm not sure what it entales. do some research in a dodge forum. or go cook it and let the dealer fix it?!
 
All the brands have their issues. Don't let these guys get you down. The brake lines on my '96 F250 started rotting out when it was about 8 years old. If you have the gumption, replacing brake lines is not very difficult. the hard part is getting at them. You cab get pre made lines in various lengths at an auto parts store, or buy a double flaring kit, the tubing, and the hardware and make your own. At least it is easier to do on a truck than a car because you usually have a little more room to wiggle around under the truck.
On double flaring brake lines from another site I frequent.
http://www.fordification.com/tech/doubleflare.htm
 
I have a dodge dakota and I have pull about 7800 lbs with her 4 horse and a big horse trailer over hills and all she does great ...But only about 4 miles to the gal with that load ....
 
Flatbedford said:
All the brands have their issues. Don't let these guys get you down. The brake lines on my '96 F250 started rotting out when it was about 8 years old.
http://www.fordification.com/tech/doubleflare.htm

I agree. The internet can be great for information and scare the crap out of you at the same time. People that have had problems are much more likely to post about it than someone who has no troubles. Unfortunately, when you buy a used vehicle there is always going to be a chance something will go wrong. The bad thing about these newer vehicles is that when something like an overdrive tranny goes it ends up costing a ton of money to fix compared to the old 727's, Turbo 350's, etc.
 
well, thanks for the head up on some of this stuff, but it's my truck now and i'm gonna make it work for me. I can't buy a truck without hearing the negatives of it from one set of people and the positives of it from others. My FIL says ford is junk, Chevy rules, my Dad says Ford is junk and his Chevy is too, My grandpa loves Chevy, my other grandpa only bought fords, My best friend sold his chevy for a ford and used to have a dodge or two before that. My overall verdict is that all trucks of all brands are junk.

that being said, here are a couple of pictures from this morning with about 3/4 of a bed full of mostly oak and elm I just split. Truck seems to drive much better with the weight in it and I can't really feel it engine/brake wise. I'll take some measurements, but it really didn't drop it too much, but I can tell it's sagging a little. I just really couldn't get timbrens until I load it up for some before/after measurements pictures.

P.S. Yes, those are my briefcases in the back with the firewood. Also, I am also wearing a pink shirt with a tie today. I'm sure someone out there was surprised to see a pickup truck full of firewood, an 8lb maul and two briefcases being driven by some nancy looking guy today. I guess I'm just a rolling paradox...
 

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festerw said:
If you're going to get some support for the rear take a look at some air bag systems (either Airlift or Firestone) they're roughly the same price as the Timbrens now.
yeah, i looked at those and they get great reviews for doing what they are supposed to do. BUT, installation and the work involved when using them seems like more of a pain than I want. I want to slap a product on there and forget about it.
 
Danno77 said:
festerw said:
If you're going to get some support for the rear take a look at some air bag systems (either Airlift or Firestone) they're roughly the same price as the Timbrens now.
yeah, i looked at those and they get great reviews for doing what they are supposed to do. BUT, installation and the work involved when using them seems like more of a pain than I want. I want to slap a product on there and forget about it.

I agree, timbrens are superior. The air bags can leak and wear out too, you need to have 5psi in them so even unloaded they will stiffen up the ride. Much harder to install. My kid has one of those bouncy balls, a rubber ball with a handle on top, and I could see the truck just bouncing along the same way with air bags.

Pink shirt eh?
 
Highbeam said:
Pink shirt eh?
I let my wife buy most of my work clothes.
 
Danno77 said:
Highbeam said:
Pink shirt eh?
I let my wife buy most of my work clothes.

I thought I was gonna read "I let my wife dress me this am".
 
Flatbedford said:
Danno77 said:
Highbeam said:
Pink shirt eh?
I let my wife buy most of my work clothes.

I thought I was gonna read "I let my wife dress me this am".
If my wife wants to dress (or undress) me, then i let her ;)
 
The truck is looking good. I have been on vacation and kind of missing the chance to drive mine. Going home tomorrow.
 
Looks GREAT for a '97!

I have a '01 4X4, x-cab, w/the 5.2l (318 - been around for ever :) )w.150+k on it, also bought it used at ~66k about 4 years ago. Yeah, the drivers side brake line does go - between the fuel tank and the frame, I replaced mine 2 years ago (@100k miles) when it went. Down to the local NAPA and got a 60" line and a union. Also, the passenger side "flex" line - from the frame to the caliper let go on me last spring (@125k) under a heavy load (bed full + trailer) while stopping hard (dumb as$ cut me off), so I changed both sides, while I had the front in the air.

At 145k mile, I had my biggest expense - the transfer case let loose. The chain blew out the side at 65, leaving a nice oil slick and smoke (oil sprayed on the exhaust system) limped back home for about 15 miles (found ALL my loose fillings with the vibrations!) All totaled (new x-case, 2x drive shaft u-joints, 2x front u-joints, upper/lower ball joints) was about $1300.

As far as the automatic transmission, I can't help ya - 150k plus on the original clutch, and still going strong :)



Good luck to you, and remember -

"If I can't DODGE ya, I'll RAM ya"
 
Just ordered the Timbrens. Should be here in a few days. Wonder if I should be doing anything for the front...
 
Danno - good to hear the truck is working out for you. With all the stories of issues I do know a guy with a 2001 1500 and he has 100,000 plus with no issues at all .
On the other hand
Golfandwoodnut- another known source for the antifreeze is a blown gasket on the intake plenum , it's not real bad to fix and cost is reasonable two to tree hundred .


So you say a bed of wood plus briefcases and a guy with a pink shirt driving ........ does this seem normal to anyone ? I think I would change lanes and keep an eye on that truck.
Some mudflaps that say backoff or die might just finish it off !
 
A half ton? Rilly? I leave this place for one summer and the whole thing turns to yogurt.


My dad had a Mazda B2000. It was great for hauling wood because if would be full before you could get anywhere near tired.
 
My wood hauler is a 95 Ram 3500.

Fit 1-1.25 cords in it.

I have a 2500 as well but it's just a shortbed so I don't bother with that one.

Hauls that just fine without overloads or anything. May just be a "1 ton" but I have hauled 3-3.5 tons in it before with no trouble.
 
Bigg_Redd said:
A half ton? Rilly? I leave this place for one summer and the whole thing turns to yogurt.


My dad had a Mazda B2000. It was great for hauling wood because if would be full before you could get anywhere near tired.
Where the heck have you been? I'm gonna buy a Dullmer to go with this new 1/2 ton... lol....
 
If these Timbrens perform like I hope they do then they were money well spent. The install was unbelievably simple and took me less than 30 minutes INCLUDING searching for a missing 17mm socket...

I am a little worried about the EMPTY ride, because I do not have the suggested gap while unloaded. I could just slide the blocks in there with the bed empty.
 
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