Heading down to pay for and pick up my new ride next week! Any tips on buying a truck from the warmer climates and bringing it north into the cold?
Should I drain the water from fuel first, or just add some stanadyne and drive her?

 

You can always drain the water from fuel first, certainly can't hurt. Neither can the stanadyne. Don't forget to check the antifreeze though, if you don't want to have any trouble in the cold. Good luck on your new ride.
Mishkaya

 

Do a good PM and check all fluids and change all filters. Check your antifreeze protection and add coolant conditioner. Check belts and all hoses, rad, heater, and vacuum. Rubber and plastic items tend to deteriorate more in hot climates. If you are going into a salt belt, take the truck to get it rustproofed before you get into the salt. A good coat of wax will help too.Check the w/s wipers and change the washer fluid to straight stuff to get the freeze protection. many people run straight water in the washers down here. Check the tire pressures too, when you hit the cold the pressures drop.
Good luck

 

I thought of most things but forgot about the windshield washer juice! I will have to change that out for sure.
I don't want to take a lot of time reading through the manual to find out how to drain water from fuel, so If you folks could direct me to the valve location and procedure , that would be great.
I plan on spending about 45 min driving the truck around through various conditions and then a few min. on a lift to check ball joints(been reading the posts),and drain the water. Then I got to beat feet back north!
The Domie

 

Southern Dodge dealerships seldem order Cummins equiped Rams with the engine block heater chord, plastic inner fender protectors and usually have non aggressive Michelin tires.

 

Brett;
Thanks for the heads up. I'm not worried about the tires, but have not heard anything mentioned about the block heater( and I never thought to ask!)
Can you add one later on?

 

You can, but it is more expensive. The exact amounts escape me at the moment. I know its only a $5 or $10 option if the truck is ordered with it.

 

Why purchasing out of state?

 

just couldn't find what I wanted here in W. Pa. And when I got close, they wanted a fortune for it.
Its typical. We drove to Arizona to buy our 5er, no dealer up here would talk price with us so screw um. I go where the deals are.

 

How much did save? Arizona is a long way away? Did you factor your travel time and exspenses in? What about warranty? Your local dealer is going to love you if that truck needs warranty work that's border line.

 

We saved about 5k on the 5er in Arizona. Saved about 1.5k on the truck in Texas.
Thing was about the truck was it really had everything we wanted, so saving some jing was just a bonus!
Now I got it home so I can take some of the "gingerbread" off. First thing is the headache rack has to go. The 5er hits it!