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I know this has been asked before, but I can't find the threads. Considering 2000 to 2008 diesel Rams, which are the best years? It seems some were prone to rust and others had mechanical issues. I want to use it for plowing, pulling an open car trailer, and I will probably put a camper topper on it in the summer. Auto or stick would be fine.
2004.5 is OK but now you have a CAT and a post injection event to make it work (and burn/waste more fuel). 2006 and the nearly invulnerable NV5600 has been swapped for a G56 with a dual mass flywheel (garbage) and somewhere in there the intercooler tanks were plastic for a year. 
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Great information! Yes it will be a very small camper. Just for going to the races.
Any thoughts on Ram 2500 vs 3500?
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Seriously consider a dually unless you are getting a very small truck camper.
The 48RE was introduced in 2003 (but not all 2003's had it) and it is far stronger than the earlier 47RE. I would not buy another diesel ram with the 47RE, but although the 48RE is better than the 47, I strongly recommend the 6 spd, especially up to 2003. The NV5600 is the strongest transmission ever used in a light truck of any brand; with a good clutch (I recommend South Bend clutches), it can and will take whatever abuse you throw at it.
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Seriously consider a dually unless you are getting a very small truck camper.
The 48RE was introduced in 2003 (but not all 2003's had it) and it is far stronger than the earlier 47RE. I would not buy another diesel ram with the 47RE, but although the 48RE is better than the 47, I strongly recommend the 6 spd, especially up to 2003. The NV5600 is the strongest transmission ever used in a light truck of any brand; with a good clutch (I recommend South Bend clutches), it can and will take whatever abuse you throw at it.
Does the VIN or underhood sticker indicate which transmission the truck has? Or, do I need to crawl under and inspect?
Both of my 48re's had well over 100k when I traded them and that was towing 12-15k on a regular basis.
). 47/48 can live. NV5600 are good.... but don't break it!! parts availiblity getting pretty bad.
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Get out of the rust country.
We've got loads of those trucks for sale in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Just avoid coastal Texas areas.
Find a truck. Have a local Moparts member check it out. Fly in and drive it home. You'll spend about $600 on the weekend trip (I just did it) but you'll have a truck with zero rust.
Do the best you can with rust preventative before the winter sets in.
I have blown up two Cummins engines, a 2004 305 555 and a 2005 325 600, both were injector related and probably my fault for not keeping up maintenance on the injectors. 
My next truck will be one with an NV5600 or AISIN trans to see how long they last with me driving them. 
I like the power and less noise of the Common Rail and better brakes/interior comfort of the 2004-2006 Rams, but hated the 2007-2009 interiors. 
I may go back to the 2001-2002 quad cab because of the interiors and disc brakes, plus the HO engine. I did not like the 2003 compromise interiors between old style and new.
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My experience with diesel Rams are a little different, as apparently I am much harder on transmissions than most. I lunched 7 NV4500's in a 1999 3500 and 3 G56's in a 2007 3500. My 2004 48RE just exploded after 2000 miles on a rebuild.
but the injector problem is real but all you need to do is install a 2 micron filter like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/VPMAX-Single-Rem...d00&vxp=mtr and that greatly reduces injector problems, I have never had an injector problem but I always install a better fuel filter set up. The injector problems were both ends, wide open hydrauliced the engine and injector went dead burning a piston. I will definitely use a separate filter on my next truck.
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All the trans problems occurred during heavy tows (11K-18K lbs, but never overloaded. I will never own another truck with an NV4500 or G56 if I do any towing, why they tried an aluminum trans (G56) with Cummins torque is beyond me.
Quote:I don't want a mega cab, in fact if they still made a quad cab, I would buy new. I need to plow my office parking lots in the winter and in the summer I will be using it for trips to the strip and cabin. I need to be able to maneuver around some obstacles in the parking lots so I don't want to go too big. One of the above posts said the 2007+ Rams don't have the same rust problems as the earlier ones so I will expand my search to include the 2007-08. Thanks
If you are looking for a 3rd gen Ram I would buy a late 07 or 08 with the 6.7 motor and get a MEGA cab if you can afford it. Nothing wrong with the earlier 5.9 trucks but I don't understand why anyone would want to live with a 4 SPEED automatic when you can have a 6 speed automatic. 5.9s generally have a RE48 trans, have you seen one? they are puny, look like a 727 and your going to run 600lbs of torque through it? I'd much rather have the 68RFE from behind a 6.7 Cummins, it's beefier, you can also switch to a lower gear with the flick of a switch on the column. Now if you remove the DPF, EGR, and CAT you can also get just as good of mpg as any 5.9. I've had plenty of 6.7's that get 21-22MPG on the hiway. Looking at 04-05s doesn't even give you an option for a mega cab. Then you are looking at 06-08 for a mega. 2006 5.9 mega's are selling for a premium now because of all the buyers who think they are the only ones that get 20+ MPG. Oh, and 6.7 trucks all come with a factory exhaust brake which is cool as heck.
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- 1998.5 12V Quad cab: only year of the quad cab with the bulletproof 12V using the 215hp pump. These trucks had issues with steering boxes and rear brakes.
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All the 3rd Gen's have the same rust problem over the rear wheel wells because of the support design. If you can afford newer that is the way I would go. The 4th gen CREW cab back seat has way more room than a 03-08 quad cab. If you get a short box the wheelbase would still make it easy enough to maneuver as a plow truck. I just bought a 12 Mega cab Laramie so I will be selling my 2010 Crew Shortbox Laramie 4x4 diesel, only has 23k on it and gets 21MPG.
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- 1998.5 12V Quad cab: only year of the quad cab with the bulletproof 12V using the 215hp pump. These trucks had issues with steering boxes and rear brakes.
Wouldn't a 98.5 be a 24v? My friends has a 98.5 sport quad cab, it's a 24v.
Anyways...
As much as I like my 01, it doesn't ride anywhere as nice as the newer ones in my experiences. If I parted with mine I would get an 03-06 6 speed... another friend had an 04 6 sp, I wish I had the $ to buy it when he sold it.