Harley86

I just bought a 97 cummings 3500 real cheap with a no oil pressure and 288K miles. A close friend of mine has owned this truck since 16K miles and I know how he takes care of his trucks. I figured I could put a remain motor in for arround $8,000 and have a nice 12V with a fresh motor for what I would pay for a 150,000 mile truck same year. Well come to find out thanks to this forum I discovered the KDP problem. The pin ended up in the oil pan wore a hole in the pickup screen and got sucked in to the oil pump. I have replaced the oil pump and pickup tube and it runs great.I plan on running this motor another 200K or so. I would not worry about milage on the cummins if it has been taken care of.

Good Luck

~Angry Tractor~

This is the second CTD i have owned. My first one had 275000 on it when I bought it. The one I have now has 145,xxx. I thought I needed a low mileage engine so I sold the first one and bought this one. I can't tell a bit of difference between the engines and the way they run. The truck itself is a different story. The first truck had all the worn out components replaced and this truck I have now is starting to wear out all the components. So now I am replacing Dodge truck parts i.e. front end, tranny, transfer case, turbo boots, etc. I wish I had my first truck back. I wouldn't worry about the mileage if I had it to do all over again, I'd be more concerned about the up keep of worn out truck parts. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

xtoyz17

This one looks like it's in your price AND mileage range. I'd scoop it up if I could afford it

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ct=8372&cat=19

sluggo42

Ya never know... I Paid $9000 for my 2000 Laramie, loaded and leather with every option available, including camper package with H/D suspension with 191,000, but will have to rebuild:
the D70 ($1500- howling), and the tranny ($2500-3000- it's ok now, but I assume I will blow it up after I install a few goodies).
But I knew that going in, as after these things, my truck will have the same amount of money into it as a nicer truck, but now all of my rebuilds will be new. I already did the ball joints, A/C Evap, Bilsteins, speakers, 4" turbo back, tires, rear brakes.
I would rather blow up a worn out stock tranny, than a freshly rebuilt stock tranny after I juice it up a bit.
When its all said and done, I'll probably have about $16K into her, but at that point, I will have a true beast, an extremely solid drive train, with all new parts
Is that a good deal?

Forrest Nearing

I get guys asking me all the time about what to look for when buying a used CTD...

I always tell them to go test drive the truck... get it out on the highway and hold the pedal to the floor for as long as you can... pull it over and look for oil coming out of the blowby hose, check the underside and backside of the truck for any oil splatter.

as long as it's not pushing a ton of blowby and the thing runs/drives good, steering feels tight, etc. go for it.

rule of thumb is a 4wd front end will last 100-150k miles, 2wd front end will last 200-250k...

also, I'm sure a lot of guys kinda snickered when you said "high miles" and 150k... my first truck had 200k when I got it, sold it back to my buddy w/ 265k, and I think it's gettin' close to 400k now.

my 2nd truck had 198k on it, sold it w/ 245k, and I think it's probably around the 255k mark.

3rd truck I got with 178k

4th truck had 174k

I consider anything under 200k "low miles" for a 12v... I consider anything under 100k freakishly low and somewhat suspect.

flightmedic992

Figured I would weigh in on this....

My first CTD had 220K on it when I bought it. It had been used and abused but ran good and was in fairly decent shape. I sold it a year later with 229k and you guessed it a heap of repair bills.

Now this is just my opinion but what I think happened was, I started to baby it. I know that may sound silly but everyone I know who just drives their truck and treats it like a rented mule has good luck. Guy I work with at the fire dept has a 99 dually. Washes it once a year whether it needs it or not. Has never changed out the fuel filter and it stills runs great at 150k. Go figure.

Seriously though, buy a good truck and just drive it. Also consider whether you really need 4wd. I was convinced that I needed it until I sat down and really looked at my usage of 4wd. Last year I needed it once. That's all. For the extra money that it costs in initial purchase, maintenance and fuel, I realized it wasn't worth it to me.

And put a little weight in the back and you won't have any trouble. That last snow storm we had here in the mid-west dropped almost a foot of snow along my 68 mile path towards home. I had about 500 pounds worth of tools in the back and had no trouble what so ever.

Last but not least. Things will break. Nobody has mentioned it here but find a good mechanic. They are worth their weight in gold. They will charge you a little more because they are good, but it is a truism with mechanics that "you get what you pay for".

b.lee

Mines got 357k and it drives excellent.
All i had to buy was an alignment and a trackbar & front shocks.
Im planning on running it till it dies then replacing the engine.
I got it for cheap enough that I can afford to throw.

AltavistaLawn

I bought the 3500 with 260k on it, it now has 270. Solid truck. I just bought the 97 2500 with 205k on it. I bought my 2000 new.

To accrue as much money on each 97 as my 2000, I'd have to replace nearly everything, engine included 3 times!

High mileage cut off on thses trucks (to me anyway) is around 400k.

Dave D(SK)

My brother-in-law just sold his 2003, quad, 4x4, lb, 3500 drw with 860,000 kms (533,000 miles). This truck was very well maintained, not driven over 65 mph and is in mint condition. I went on a trip with him earlier this year and the truck drove like it was new. I won't be at all suprised if the new owner gets another 150k miles or more with no major problems.

mopar-or-no-car

I bought my 2001 4x4 quad cab long bos with 380 thousand miles on it it runs and drives great the bodies in excellent condition interiors clean .its all highway miles a company used it to haul fifht wheels across the states for customers. everythings been mainteained its got new ball joints. all i needed to do was put new tires on it. it has 4.10 gears and gets 18.5 miles to the gallon regular driving. It cost me just over $12000 dollars canadian and is reliable and nice to drive so if i end up needing to fix a few things it will still work out as good as getting a low miler and i also got a two year powertrain warranty pakage with it.

ddestruel

Ive owned too many to list 130-200k i dont even bat an eye.

between 150-200k
you will do
balljoints
tierods
steering box
wheel bearings
PS pump/ and or PS pump to Vacum pump shaft seal

and probably have to possibly rebuild the rear ends and reseal the front.
front and rear main seals
Possibly rebuild the tranny or at least rebearing it in the 200-250k ballpark. i pushed one 6spd truck to 400k and about 20k after i sold it it all came apart but its how you treat it. or how its been treated. my 241dld behind a 6spd in my old truck towed its whole life dynod 348hp to the rear wheels and both tranny and t-case lasted forever. oh yeah motor had over 400k and the tranny was right at 370k since the 5spd crapped out after only 40k and no oil .

I just bought my friends 98 12v QC SB auto really well taken care of with plenty of mods. needed a few things so i paid 11500 with a salvage title but thats not a normal salvage title. he needed the cash and ive known the truck since day 1. Was going to sell it to my brother for 10k after dumping 1500 into it in worrk and parts and at 200k with a new tranny, t-case tierods and rear axle i have no worries. I HATE the auto ive neever owned an automatic vehicle EVER and now i have two. Tell you ive thought and have all the parts to do a 5spd conversion or may just sell it now that my brother backed out on the deal. But aside from the auto the truck runs flawlessly.

Rocky5.9

With proper somewhat proper use, and I say that in a liberal sense, these trucks can last most people a life time. Another thing to consider is with the price of diesel these days one might not want to pay for it anymore and back down to a smaller gas vehicle...or even a ...hybrid

hzemax

Yesturday i got my half a million.

hzemax

Perhapse you got some else to challence me...,,,?

FlaCracker

Let me dispel some fears about purchasing a 2nd Gen Ram:


(1) Do your homework, be wary of any seller who does not have good maint records, has done a lot of extensive upgrades, does not have receipts for work done.
(2) Cummins Engine Mileage - Mileage for the Cummins engine is not a concern if engine maintained properly. Cummins 5.9 can go 1 million miles if properly maintained! 150K, engine just really getting broke in.
(3) Truck Mileage - Buying one with 150-350k, good range. The truck itself, is another story. By time you hit 150K, look at replacing all frontend components, check tranny, check frontend wheel bearings.


My two cents!