2nd Gen Ram Pickups

[Loony661]

I like your yard in the background
dump truck and other goodies

I noticed that too

 

[hoskvarna]

1998.5 2500 4x4, 298k as I recall. No cool info because it's only been running for 30 minutes since I got it. The electrical system eats the batteries in 15 minutes so that kinda crimps it's mobility.View attachment 373065View attachment 373066

Nice ole ford too

 

[Woodslasher]

I like your yard in the background
dump truck and other goodies

Not my yard, that's the quarry that I got it from. That guy's place is pretty awesome, it's logging stuff, mining stuff, and oddball cool stuff all in one place.

 

[karrl]

I got to give Chuck Norris a shout out because I grew wanting his silver 1500.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

Heres the 2000 dually i revived.
First Pic is the swap of the cracked 53
Bobcat was handy as i was by myself.
Now it's waiting to go to work.Has a gooseneck ball in the box, so a gooseneck dump trailer is on the wish list.

 

[FederalQ]

A little late to the party. Here’s mine: ‘98 24 valve, 53 block(hasn’t cracked), NV4500, 3.54 axles, and 288,000 miles. Plow was on it when I purchased it.

 

[davidwyby]

53s : the engine in my '95 when I got it was hotrodded and beat on and gave up. The '96 12v replacement block turned out to be a 53. We removed the freeze plugs and measured the wall thickness and it was/is OK. Specs can be found online.

 

[wap13]

And here I thought only the 24v's had 53 blocks, good to know if I ever go looking for a 12v.

 

[davidwyby]

And here I thought only the 24v's had 53 blocks, good to know if I ever go looking for a 12v.

From my research and in my experience they are OK. Thicker casting.

 

[bigbadbob]

I think the 53 block was 97-02 dont quote me on that.
The 24 valve 98.5 to 02 had to have a block with both a cam and crank sensor, only those years had them.

 

[karrl]

I was never able to actually find the block number on my 24v when I had it. Even with the oil filter off I could never see it. It’s still running strong for my buddy though at 285k.

 

[maulhead]

I was never able to actually find the block number on my 24v when I had it. Even with the oil filter I could never find it. It’s still running strong for my buddy though at 285k.

Most of the time, the casting numbers are on the lower front drivers side of the block. (least the ones I've owned were)

They are large enough they are hard to miss.

 

[FederalQ]

Well, lo and behold the stars must have aligned last Thursday. Craigslist find. 1998.5 24v with a slush box. 121,000 miles. Garage kept all it’s life. I simply could not pass it up. The transmission was rebuilt in the fall of ‘21 with heavy duty torque converter and warranty good until this fall. It was assembled in St. Louis! The guy I bought from has owned it since 1998.

 

[davidwyby]

Woooow

 

[hoskvarna]

Well, lo and behold the stars must have aligned last Thursday. Craigslist find. 1998.5 24v with a slush box. 121,000 miles. Garage kept all it’s life. I simply could not pass it up. The transmission was rebuilt in the fall of ‘21 with heavy duty torque converter and warranty good until this fall. It was assembled in St. Louis! The guy I bought from has owned it since 1998.View attachment 374191

Barely broke in

 

[Loony661]

Well, lo and behold the stars must have aligned last Thursday. Craigslist find. 1998.5 24v with a slush box. 121,000 miles. Garage kept all it’s life. I simply could not pass it up. The transmission was rebuilt in the fall of ‘21 with heavy duty torque converter and warranty good until this fall. It was assembled in St. Louis! The guy I bought from has owned it since 1998.View attachment 374191

Beautiful find!

 

[maulhead]

Sold at a auction local to me yesterday. $20 grand with 162K miles. Not super low mileage, IMO.

I should of bought a few of these 10-12 years ago, when they were cheap and not popular, parked them in a shed, for an investment.

 

[maulhead]

Well, lo and behold the stars must have aligned last Thursday. Craigslist find. 1998.5 24v with a slush box. 121,000 miles. Garage kept all it’s life. I simply could not pass it up. The transmission was rebuilt in the fall of ‘21 with heavy duty torque converter and warranty good until this fall. It was assembled in St. Louis! The guy I bought from has owned it since 1998.View attachment 374191

Cool find. I would not get real hung up on the, built in Mexico vs St. Louis plant thing thou.

Back in 1999 I bought a Ram 3500 new, same week a guy I worked with also bought a new Ram 3500.

His was built in St. Louis, mine was built in Mexico. At first he gave me rations of crap over that.

First time he went to use his AC it didn't work, first time he went to use his 4wd it didn't work, first time he used his ciggy lighter, it also did not work.

Service writer at the dealership were we bought our trucks, told him they have a LOT less come backs on the trucks built in Mexico, he said they have more quality control inspectors in Mexico and the plant workers in Mexico seem to take more pride in their work. Where the St Louis trucks seem to come back to the dealership, often for simple little things that are not hooked up before they left the factory.

Side note, my brother in law worked at the St. Louis plant for almost 9 years, before they closed the doors. He told me if you saw some of the things that went on there, you wouldn't ever want to buy a truck that was built there.

 

[Loony661]

Sold at a auction local to me yesterday. $20 grand with 162K miles. Not super low mileage, IMO.

I should of bought a few of these 10-12 years ago, when they were cheap and not popular, parked them in a shed, for an investment.


View attachment 375651

It’s too bad trucks are worth stupid money right now. I 4 years ago I couldn’t find a rust free 2nd gen for less than $15k though - ended up finding mine with a little door rust on the bottom for $7k and high miles. I snagged it up.

 

[maulhead]

Cool find. I would not get real hung up on the, built in Mexico vs St. Louis plant thing thou.

Back in 1999 I bought a Ram 3500 new, same week a guy I worked with also bought a new Ram 3500.

His was built in St. Louis, mine was built in Mexico. At first he gave me rations of crap over that.

First time he went to use his AC it didn't work, first time he went to use his 4wd it didn't work, first time he used his ciggy lighter, it also did not work.

Service writer at the dealership were we bought our trucks, told him they have a LOT less come backs on the trucks built in Mexico, he said they have more quality control inspectors in Mexico and the plant workers in Mexico seem to take more pride in their work. Where the St Louis trucks seem to come back to the dealership, often for simple little things that are not hooked up before they left the factory.

Side note, my brother in law worked at the St. Louis plant for almost 9 years, before they closed the doors. He told me if you saw some of the things that went on there, you wouldn't ever want to buy a truck that was built there.

I forgot to add (the guy I worked with) his St Louis truck started making a real loud POPPING noise when it only had a few hundred miles on it, whenever you turned the wheel full left or full right, it would POP.

After two trips to the dealership, they found the upper & lower control arms on the front end were not tighten to spec.