old 300

I just came in from another great night working on the old Dodge. I think now that the hair is all grey its time for me to start pulling it out too. I can't imagine that a person can have this much trouble with one truck. In 55000 miles I have replaced
#1- brake pads 4 times, not because they were worn out but either falling off or rust issues.
#2- Parking brake cables
#3- lift pump
#4- 2 track bars
#5- inner tie rod end
#6- Sway bar end links
#7- Both front wheel bearings
#8- Complete set of rotors
#9- Exhaust- rusted out
#10- Front axle u-joint
#11- Rear diff gasket-leaking
#12- Speaker issues not fixed yet
#13- Second set of rear rotors
#14- Needs rear parking brake assembly replaced ( all shoes and hardware)
#15- All calipers
#16- Fan belt
#17- all shocks
#18- clock spring
Then there is the fuel system worry VP-44
The transmission that is only good if you don't tow or work the truck.
The ball joints that fail if you drive over too many bumps.
The steering box that is no good.
The rust issues on the fenders and doors.
The cracking dash boards.
Power seats the catch fire.
A/C that quits.
Quad cad doors that the latches quit working.
Alloy wheels that crack.
The list goes on and on.
In some cases I know that there are wear items and so on but in my 30 years of owning and driving I have never had to replace and worry about so many things.
If 1% of what you read on this and other sites is true I would not have touched this truck with a 10 foot pole if I knew about the site before owning the truck.
I have owned approx 12 cars or trucks over those 30 years of driving, Fords, toyota's , Jeep, Hyundai, Mazda, and this DODGE. I have replaced brake pads and rotors and drums on a couple after 70000 or 80000 miles, the odd shock, belt, etc but I wouldn't have spent $ 1500 on all put together.
This was a $50000 truck, never worked, used as a butt hauler ( MY BUTT ). This has been looked after the same as the other vehicles. Under coated 2 or 3 times every year since new.
Sorry if I am going on and on but I have to say this great powerful and tough work truck that can pull the moon out of the sky has let me down. I am terrified to drive it anywhere. I joined AAA because I don't trust the truck.
I drove at work a Power Joke for 9 years only to have nothing go wrong with the engine or the tranny. From what I read on here they were no good, funny thing I think it was a better truck. O and that truck was drivin HARD everyday for 200000 miles loaded.
I will say one thing for sure and that is I will never own a Dodge again. I can't put myself through that kind of pain and suffering anymore. The odd day when you dump a pocket full of money at it and it runs good you kind of say " Man I love this truck" then it kicks you in the n-ts. Its something like a woman. Cranky and bitchy till you spend some money and the next morning she would rather kick the boys that look at you.
I guess if you need a heavy duty truck its one of the big 3, but in my case and most other people that drive these monsters we could get by with less. I think my next will be back to toyota or maybe even an old clunker and a motorcycle. NEVER A DODGE AGAIN THAT IS A GIVIN..
I think I'm going to cry!

kas83

I'll keep buying them, this is my 4th 2nd Gen truck.

However, I've come to a couple conclusions since I've owned these trucks:

*What were they thinking when they designed the front end on these trucks?
*Why did they put such a weak transmission, and torque converter, behind the CTD?
*Why on earth didn't they use real front hubs with lockouts, instead of the stupid unit bearing design? I mean, the #1 selling trucks in that era, Ford F-series, were still using them, and look how few problems those trucks had. Up to 97 model year that is.


My ulitmate dream truck, at this point, would be a half million mile RV hauler, that only has A/C and cruise for options, 94 or 95 5 speed.

I'm so sick of replacing switches for power windows and locks it's not even funny. The less the truck has, the less there is to fail.

patdaly

300, more than 1 percent is true, but kindly tell us where you live so we can stay away.

If you want to come to Illinois, you can see my 2 trucks, one has the original Exhaust all the way back to the tip, and the other one now needs a tailpipe, but I will go ahead and throw a 4" one one. Brake pads falling off the backing plate is not a Dodge problem, unless you bought those pads from Dodge.

If you don't like her, great, don't buy another, but coming from my GM background, I see nothing really terrible about the twins.

Junk Man

My take is that the front ends, fuel system & steering are weak. Once fixed with aftermarket parts they are good. Dodge should have done better & I don't care if they do fail. The only aftermarket part that I believe is a waste is my AGR box that is expensive, has failed multiple times and is slow to get replacements because of shipping time.

old 300

I live in the northeast near the salty coast. We get road salt all winter and sea salt everytime the wind blows in from the sea. The problem is that this is where all my vehicles were driven and I didn't have those troubles. The pads that came apart were factory Dodge in both cases, aftermarket stayed together but just stuck if you didn't clean and lube everything at every service.
I'm not bashing Dodge even if it sounds that way, just where I live its not working for me. I was under a 96 or 98 1500 the other day that was from inland and I couldn't believe how clean it was.
As for this and other sites I find them very useful and use them always when trouble shooting.

patdaly

300, wow, they need to make a 'Noreaster model for you guys, straight Stainless Steel......

I have always found Factory brake pads sucked, especially for what you pay for them.

I can hardly deal with the rot from around here, you must have a fair bit of patience............

coastal_diesel

I understand, I've been through that for the past few months. But not all of it was the truck's fault. Beginning in April, I cracked the lower part of my right rear wheel pants on a knee-high cable bollock at a restaurant when backing out at night. Next the fifth gear fell out for the second time in a little over two years. Then my aftermarket headlight harness failed, and when I removed and replaced the passenger side bulb to troubleshoot the problem, I failed to get the bulb back in properly, and it got loose and melted the headlight fixture socket, requiring a replacement which was a real pain. Next the oil leak got to the point that I was using a quart of oil every three days,even after replacing the main front seal. Took it to the dealer and had to replace the oil pan gasket which was expensive because it required removing the transmission and jacking up the engine. I also thought it prudent to reduce the rear main seal. A few weeks later, the a/c started blowing out of the defrost only. I replaced the rubber components of the vaccuum hose leading from the vaccuum pump to the t-manifold at the firewall. About a month later, I was leaving a restaurant and I felt a vibration in the steering column--my power steering reservoir was empty. I replaced the hyrodboost last Saturday. The next day the a/c started blowing out the defrost again- this time because we accidentally pulled on the vaccuum mamifold-t a little when changing the hydroboost and cracked the line going to the vent control box.... such is life with an 11 year old truck. But I can't think of another vehicle I would rather have at this time.