Well,

I could not talk my brother into spending the loot on a "real" truck. He just bought a 2001 QC 1500 4x4 with a 318 in it. He only towes about 4000 lbs about 1000 miles a year, so it should work alright. Any one have any thoughts or insight about these trucks? I want to help him have as few problems as possible.


FRONT END ISSUES?
TRANNY ISSUES?
ANYTHING ELSE?
GOOD MODS TO MAKE IT A BETTER TRUCK?????


as always thanks alot

 

you probably already know about this site, but here are the TSB's for that year of truck. Its worth a look...

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2001-index.htm

only 4 recalls on it....
955 - QC Upper Control Arm Fasteners
966 - QC with Camper pkg - Rear Axle Spring Seats
982 - Clockspring
B04 - Power Distribution Center Cable Connections

 

From what I read/hear the intake gasket failure issue can be a PITA, causes oil consumption, and some other things. There should be a TSB on it.

 

Heres a good site. More off road stuff, but good info on 1500s as well as some diesel info.

http://www.pavementsucks.com/

 

I wouldn't be too concerned about the intake. Just keep an eye on the oil level, and if it does start "using" it's an easy job. Keep the stock size tires on it, go big and you'll kill the towing capability. Drain the rear diff and go with a good 75/140 synthetic. I used to tow my 8500 lb race trailer with my 95 1500 5.9 gasser. Lots of abuse and it was still a great truck when I sold it.

 

I did the 1500 4x4, 318 thing before ... that's what lead to me buying my Cummins.
I put the 5 inch lift, 35" mudders and better gears in the diff's so I could tow. Did ok on flat ground but going over the Rocky Mountains was ridiculous. 5 mph for a couple hours is not my idea of towing.

Sure was a beautiful truck though.

PISTOL

 

In 1998 I bought a brand new 1500 4X4 with the 318. It was a really nice truck, but really sucked for towing. I was really unimpressed with the power, and the rear suspension could barely hold any weight. I learned a big lesson from that and apparently so did pistolwhipt, and sounds like your brother will too. As long as he's happy, that's what matters. It is a good truck, just not for towing!!

 

I had two 1500 4x4s with the 318 and the 5 speed. The '95 I ordered in August of '94 and took delivery in November of '94. It was an absolute gem of a truck. Beautiful paintwork, never had a single problem with it in 40,000 miles. The second was a '98 that I bought used, and it was a complete lemon. Fuel pump went out, belly pan gasket went bad, etc. I was glad I bought the extended warranty--it more than paid for itself in two years, plus when I traded it on the CTD I got nearly half the purchase price of that warranty refunded to me.

 

I had a '98 with the 318 and a 5 speed for a couple years. It was a nice truck and never gave me any problems until I towed one of those large water tanks on a trailer up into the mountains. It wasn't a heavy load but it acted like a parachute behind me. After I got back home, I noticed some tranny noise and a rear end pop. I took it in to the dealer to have them check it out since it was still under warranty. They told me it would need work on both the tranny and rear end...all covered under my warranty.

Here's the good part. A few months earlier, I was at the dealer checking to see if there were any used CTD's on the lot for sale. They are very scarce here. There were none but the salesman said he'd contact me the next time they got one in.

Now, move forward to me being in the service department with my truck. My cell phone rings. It's the salesman. He said they got '99 CTD in on trade and he wanted to know if I could come on down. I told him I'd be there in about 10 seconds since I was standing right around the corner at the service department. I test drove it and decided to go ahead and pick it up before someone else did. I cleaned out my '98 while it was still in their shop and never saw it again.

Sorry for the long story.

 

If that 318 gets looked after, it'll probably last almost as long as a Cummins.

 

http://www.dodgetrucks.org/forums/index.php

 

I have owned a 1996 1500 4x4 5.2 and a 1998 1500 4x4 5.9. The 1996 was trouble free but I only owned it for 35,000 miles. The 1998 was trouble free until between 80,000 and 100,000 miles the front axle u-joints, the AC evaporator (behind dash), and the intake manifold gasket all went. The 1998 is the "old" truck in my gallery. With aired down 285s, that truck felt like it could go anywhere in the sand. I spent alot of money to fix everything but at about 110,000 miles I figured it was about time to trade it on a 2004 2500 CTD 4x4 before the motor got anymore tired. My 1998 got 9-11 around town and 12-14 on the highway. This truck had 3.92 gears,K&N drop-in, 3-inch flowmaster 40 exhaust, 285 BFG ATs, and daystars. I used to think the 1998 was fast until I drove a friend's 2001.5 CTD. I was hooked on diesels and just waited until the time was right to get the 2004 I own now.