About to make a final discision and gonna fly to dallas to buy a truck from North Texas Truck Stop. Any info you guys can give me on what to look for or listen for would be greatly appreciated.

The truck i am lookin at is a 2006 3500 HO 4x4 slt with 97k miles.

 

Try and set an appt to have Joe look at your truck before buying. not far from NTTS

check compression, leak down on the motor ? Check oil level and make sure you dont use oil on the drive home. Make sure you have a 30 buy back agreement of something like that.

look for body work. carfax isnt fool proof, i learned that the hard way on a 350Z. Check to see if the truck has the recalled steering? check ball joints and all U joints cause at that mileage, you are probably going to be replacing them.

http://www.macs-power.com/

 

Are you sure that the 06 has a recalled steering? I never got anything about that.

 

It was the upgraded steering parts that were recalled, if you had it done. H-46 is the notice, you can search for that if you like.

 

Here's a link to dodge put in the last 8 digits of the vin to see what is active on it:

http://www.dodge.com/en/owners/

 

It looks like my truck is on the list. Funny thing is I have taken my truck in for warranty work and they never said a word about it. If my warranty is already up, will they still honor the recall?

On the H-46 Recall it says,

The problem is...
"During a prior service appointment, a Mopar service parts steering linkage may have been installed on your truck (VIN: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx). The drag link inner joint may fracture under certain driving conditions. This could result in a loss of steering control and cause a crash without warning.
Also, the steering damper bracket at the tie rod tube may loosen. This could allow the bracket to slide on the tube and may cause increased vehicle turning radius."

What your dealer will do...
"Chrysler will repair your vehicle free of charge (parts and labor). To do this, your
dealer will inspect the steering linkage on your truck and replace steering linkage
component(s) if required. The inspection will take less than ½ hour. If linkage
replacement is required, the work will take an additional ½ hour to complete. However,
additional time may be necessary depending on service schedules."

Does this mean they will replace the whole front end link and all? Or will they only do part of it? Also When doing thing recall, was the Pitman Arm part of the recall? I want to make sure that if they do the recall that I get every part the first go around. I also remember someone saying that you have to get a differant steering damper with the new linkage. Is that correct?

 

if you have the possible defective parts it will be fixed free of charge as it is a "Recall"

Go to this sticky and read about it..this covers all years of linkage recalls:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...8-t230988.html

I ended up with all new HD (late 08) suspension components when I took mine in..

 

Are there markings on the older linkage tha I can check for? I called the dealer and the guy knew right away that the recall was only an inspection to see if I had the recalled parts so it sounds like they have done a few possibly.

 

Read post 68 here it has pics..

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...t230988p5.html

Print out post 55 take it the dealer and tell them you don't want that happening to your truck..It is actually quite common:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...t230988p4.html

 

2x the leak down test. If it has been "dusted", you'll find out and save yourself the cost of rebuilding the motor at 150k.

You can also measure how much blowby there is (homemade manometer) 11" or less is good, 30" or more, bad. Pulsing at faster than 1 per second means one cylinder is already toast.

My used texas truck made it to 144k before a very worn piston ring broke and took out cylinder #1 (~$8k later and 0.020" oversized cylinders, one sleeved) since it was an oil field truck it was also not a surprise that the front end needed to be redone as well (outer tie rod end separated on a FS road in Montana, all new steering linkage now). Ball joints, u-joints and hub assembly are this winter's project.

Get a real good price to offset these risks or find a low mileage, garage queen from a private owner and avoid these rebuild costs/risks.

 

I'd also pull the intake tube off the compressor inlet to see if the blades are in good condition. You can also check the shaft for excess play.

 

I hope your trip goes better than mine did. I went to Dallas in dec. to pick up an 06 3500 too. I got it back and now the tranny is giving me problems. I did purchase an extended warranty thru an independent waranty program at 1200 bucks. So I hope it takes cae of this problem. Yes the truck seemed to be priced right. I also noticed both of the front joints on the hubs are bad as well. but the truck ran and looked really good. So i wish you well and good luck.