Time to replace my old truck

[ridgerunner]

Since PennDOT killed my old 1990 F150 I'm in the need to replace it. I'm looking at an 2003 Dodge Ram ext. cab 2500 with 5.7 Hemi. I'll be putting a plow on it too. Any info on this truck would be helpful. thanks!

 

[Turk]

Make sure the transmission fluid has been changed & hope it hasn't been beat too bad...

 

[mopar_monkey]

newer dodge transmissions aren't bad, they are actually pretty durable, as is the 5.7 hemi, very few issues with this engine.the only issue i have seen commonly on this truck is leaking pwr steering racks, but it looks like all are from a seal that can be replaced externally, though i have never actually replaced one. also the plugs in this engine should be replaced every 30k and it has 16 of them so you may want to replace them if they haven't been done in awhile. make sure this is the 5.7 with the m.d.s., it was added some time after the intro of the 5.7 and will save you a ton of fuel if you drive the highway.

 

[ridgerunner]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
newer dodge transmissions aren't bad, they are actually pretty durable, as is the 5.7 hemi, very few issues with this engine.the only issue i have seen commonly on this truck is leaking pwr steering racks, but it looks like all are from a seal that can be replaced externally, though i have never actually replaced one. also the plugs in this engine should be replaced every 30k and it has 16 of them so you may want to replace them if they haven't been done in awhile. make sure this is the 5.7 with the m.d.s., it was added some time after the intro of the 5.7 and will save you a ton of fuel if you drive the highway.

Thanks for the info. What is the m.d.s.???

 

[mopar_monkey]

multiple displacement system, not sure if the "s" is for system up it sounds right, it is a system that while cruising it shuts down 4 cyl and runs on the other 4 until a load is added then the offline cyl are brought back to life, the cool thing is that it is so seamless you'll never feel a change in the way it runs but it will save a fair amount of fuel on the highway.here is a link that shows how it works, scroll about half way down the page to the mds section "displacement on demand"


link