dozer12216

My 00 3500 was built on Dec 19, 1999 and has drums on rear. Course a 2500 could be different and who knows if some 2000's weren't still on assemblly line in Jan. It is what it is and you good to go.

2001smoker

yup who knows just be happy ya got discs lol

Tallguy67

Well folks, I have a little more info. The two following pics show the rear axle - you can clearly see the rear brake calliper. The second pic shows the sticker inside the driver side door post. Vin is covered because I am not comfortable posting a vin on the internet. No idea why but it feels like posting my name and credit card info
I have take the truck in to the dealership tomorrow to get new key fobs programmed so I am going to try and the build sheet. I must be reading the sticker wrong - it looks to me like it says truck was built with drw and camper special. I didn't think you could get a 2500 with drw. If anyone is willing to tell me what sticker really says about truck other than tire size, I would apprecaite it. BTW - I have decoded VIN and it IS a 2000 2500.

2001smoker

yeah the rear end is disc aint it. well its a late build 99 sold in early 2000 but yes rear end is not factory casue in 99 there were no disc brakes until later in 2000. so rear end is maybe a later 2000 model casue my 2000 rear discs are a little diff doesnt have the rock shield on the caliper. an its just a reg. 3/4 ton the marking where it says single and DRW thats just when they make that truck on the line they know what gear they need to put under it/ short and simple rear end isnt from that truck but if it works it works

KATOOM

After seeing your trucks tag, I'm sure your truck is genuine. Most of the time the build date and the year marketed are not the same, with the build being before the vehicle year. For instance, my truck is a 2001 but its build date is Jan 2000. Go figure. Also, its not uncommon for the manufacture to change its components for an up an coming model but only have so many of the "old" components on hand. So what happens is the assembly line runs out of components for the current year build model and has to dip into the next model's component pile. This is why some 2001.5 trucks have the CAD front axle and some dont and why some 2002 models do have a CAD axle. So since the rear disc's didn't come out until the 2001.5 "marketed" models, your truck may have hit the assembly line when they ran out of drums so they installed disc's. Thats not to say that there's thousands of 1999 trucks with rear disc's either. You never know the details as to why a specific factory puts out what it does and maybe there was only a few trucks like yours made.

Lastly, the "X" by the SINGLE means your trucks a single, not a dual. If it was by DUAL then..... As for type TRU/CAM, your truck is clearly a Canadian truck so maybe those two indications mean TRU for truck and CAM for Canadian built in America. My stick just says TRUCK. And the 8800 GVWR means that its a 2500 too. I would stop worrying since it sounds more like you have something rare than something wrong.

Tallguy67

Thanks for comments and feedback. At the end of the day, the truck runs well, the brakes and abs all work fine and hey, I prefer disc brakes to drums anyway.

Tallguy67

So, this is definitely turning into a research project for me but it might be starting to get boring for the rest of you. I was at the dealership yesterday and had them print the Build Sheet for my VIN. Note that the VIN on my dash and the VIN on my driver side door frame match. The build sheet now has me curious. It says I have the following things that I do not:
Rear Drum Brakes
Leather trim seats with suede
Hood Insulation
6 speed HD Manual Tranny
Clearance Lamps
Fog Lamps

I seem to remember there is a VIN somewhere else in the vehicle - does anyone know where a thrid VIN might be. I suspect the door frame VIN sticker was peeled off another truck and that the dash came from that same truck.

As I said early in this thread I have suspected for a while that this was someone's project - bulding one truck out of a few wrecked ones. Luckily, the end product seems about 90% good.

KATOOM

The VIN on the dash should be the most accurate. Have you tried this: http://dodgeram.org/tech/specs/VIN_decode.htm

Russ Roth

Mine is a Jan 2000 build date and is an '01 also. That is because MY 2000 was very short and MY 01's started in Jan of 2000. That year only. I believe it had something to do with emissions but I'm not sure about that. Mine was bought Feb 2000. Your VIN will tell you if it is an '01.

Tallguy67

Katoom - I did check my VIN against that site and it lined up with what I have for my VIN. It doesn't get into the specifics like brakes, axles etc. I can probably just let this thread die now. I am trying to get in touch with the PO to see if he will 'fess up about whehter or not this was his 'build a truck' project and if so will he provide me any info about what he scavenged from where so I don't run into any surprises later.

KATOOM

Cant speak for anyone else but I'm not bored with your thread. I'm actually kinda curious if you do find anything out since I've never seen rear drums with shields like that either. If I was you, I'd be looking for obvious signs of wrenching. When something leaves the assembly line, you can clearly tell that no bolts, screw, etc. has been touched. Even the driveline u-bolts will have wrench marks on them if the rear differential was truly changed. Fender bolts will be scratched and paint chipped. If you cant find any of those signs then you can probably be sure its factory. And mixing and matching parts on newer vehicles is nothing like it was. There's electronics and other specific parts which intermingle together. Like fog lights..... If they were there at one time then probably there would still be some indicating unused connectors. Yes the loom is most likely pre-wired for such items but only to a certain point. An example of what I mean by that is that some trucks came with four wheel ABS but that doesn't mean that the trucks which only came with rear ABS dont have dangling wire up by the front hubs. And as for clearance lights.....if those were truly factory on your truck then there's no hiding the holes and obviously the roof is part of the cab, which has the VIN on it.

Dieselbuilder

Well this is the second truck I have seen with this combo of that year it was down in Washington state and the kid was the second owner and he new the first and the rear end had never been changed

Tallguy67

Some of the stuff like the clearance lights really have me scratching my head. I can guarantee you there are no holes filled with bondo on the roof. The other one is the manual tranny. The build sheet says it was built with a NV5600. It is most definitely an auto and there is no way that would be an afternoon switch it out project in the backyard. I haven't pulled the carpet to look for a hole in the sheet metal but there is no hole for a shifter in the carpet and my shifter is most definitely on the column. The fog lamps are a possibility as there is a connector hanging down behind the bumper that really looks like it is for lighting. As I mentioned earlier, the bumper has all the indications (not well aligned, some missing screws and fasteners and a missing brace) of having been scavenged from another vehicle. Will keep this thread updated as I find more info since no one seems to mind. Oh yeah, as I mentioned, the build sheet says rear drum brakes and you can all see clear as day that those are discs back there.

SIXSLUG

There is a laser engraved vin on my trucks frame almost directly under the passenger seat, facing the ground.

I'm wondering if the truck I passed on was indeed a disced 2000 now.

Don't kill the thread yet.

KATOOM

How about trying that carfax.com website? I thought that all vehicle history had to be entered into carfax.....unless anything done was without the knowledge of business or shop who are required to notify carfax.