Opinions wanted - 1999 Ram diesel

[Deleted member 214]

Spotted a 99 Ram 2500 Cummins diesel for sale today. Florida truck with no rust, a real plus here in northern Ohio. X-cab, long bed, 2wd automatic. It was getting dark, but the interior looked clean, the bed was clean, no rust. Did I say it had no rust? Set up for a truck camper. The window sign says he wants $5,000 for the truck. No idea of the mileage. Is that a good price? Kelly Blue book lists it for $6,200 private party sale if it has 150k miles, but sometimes the books are way off.

 

[65-440]

i think thats a very fair price ..i'd pay it, 150K is nothing for that truck ! .... plus i favor the BR body rams .....

 

[69 Runner]

99 is a 24 valve motor and still a 5.9. In 2wd it should get 21mpg (or a bit better) on the highway with an auto. Damn good truck. Only thing to watch is the fuel pumps, specifically the "lift pump". There is NO indication when it goes bad. And when it does and isn't fixed it will kill the big pump. That's true of most of the Ram diesels up to the 2007's anyway.

Probably a fair price IF it doesn't need pumps

 

[Pistol Pete]

x2 what Tem said. A rebuilt VP44 (injection pump) is a little over a grand and the lift pump is crap to begin with so just plan on replacing it and running a fuel pressure gauge. What happens is the lift pump begins to fail, starving the injection pump, which uses the fuel to keep it cool. The reason for the gauge is to keep an eye on the pressure feeding the VP44. If it falls below 5 psi, you'd better ditch the lift pump quick. DAMHIK.
The front end will most likely need work if it has over 100k on it. Nothing major, just the usual stuff, but being 2wd, it may be a little easier on the components than a 4x4. Check the door bottoms and the tailgate for rust as it's not readily visible. Look where the skins wrap around the frame. If it doesn't come with service records, plan on about $300 - $400 worth of misc. stuff as insurance. Serp. belt, diff. fluid change etc.

I have 172,000 miles on my truck and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Good luck. ccasion14:

 

[Deleted member 214]

Called the seller for details. Good news - lift pump and fuel pump were replaced already, along with the transmission, and tires have only 3k miles on them. Bad news - needs new clock spring for the air bags, needs a new radio - both no problem - but it has 439,000 miles. THAT is a problem.

I'll keep looking.

 

[64BEL]

I'm on my third lift pump. If not for my fuel pressure gauge, I'd probably be on my second VP-44 by now. I installed the current lift pump in a motel parking lot in Tennessee when I was towing my Belvedere home from Florida. Running without a fuel pressure gauge with these trucks is a bad idea. Otherwise, love my Cummins. "Only" 120,00 miles on mine - barely broken in.

 

[65-440]

damn, what happened to 150k miles ? ..... still not bad with 440K+ miles, but might want to come down on price !

 

[65DODGE]

good trucks injector pumps are very expensive if they go out but really good trucks i dont sell a lot of parts for them just mainly brakes and ocassionally a wheel bearing or u joints just normal things that wear out.

 

[Pistol Pete]

damn, what happened to 150k miles ? ..... still not bad with 440K+ miles, but might want to come down on price !

I think that came from the KBB valuation that the OP was using as a reference.

 

[Deleted member 214]

I think that came from the KBB valuation that the OP was using as a reference.

Correct. It was dusk when I first saw the truck and it was locked. No way to read the odo. I was guessing about mileage just so I had something to plug into Kelly Blue Book.