Thinking it might be time to replace one or both of my current trucks. I prefer 96-older Dakotas and 01-older full size. (would really prefer 93-down) but not much around here in those trucks that has more solid sheet metal than swiss cheese sheet metal, so though I really don't like the idea I have been window shopping newer Dodge trucks. I have owned nothing but Dodges, since I have been driving/ so I figure why change now.... I had an 07 Dakota in today at work whose body is worse than the bodies on both my 96 and my 99 Dakotas.
It's time to go back to a full size. I see a clean '12 1/2 ton reg cab longbed on a local lot, that I stopped and asked about....
less than 100k (been a LONG time since I have had anything with that low of miles)
4.7 engine have they gotten any better over the years? Still have issues with valve seats? I was never really crazy about that family of engines. was hoping for a Hemi.
coil springs on the rear, Doesn't seem right on a truck. Never had a truck so designed// though I know that some 67-72 Chevys were that way. when did Dodge start that crap?

why is every Dodge that era that isn't a 4 door, white? all 3 of our current vehicles are white, want to get away from that, I have zero use for a crew cab. the beds are worthless because they are so short. seems like the only way, though, not to be stuck with another white truck.
still more than I want to spend,// but compared to others around with today's pricing, this one doesn't seem that badly priced. according to carfax, it seems pretty well maintained.
I really wish they still made the 318/360 Magnum series of engine, in the newer series of Dodge trucks. that would definitely make my decision so much easier. never was a fan of steel timing chains on plastic guides. Stupid. I had my fill of that setup on 2.7 Intrepids, at work.
I have my 85 D150 winter project well underway// even though it is only a slant 6, I hope to make that my 3 season daily driver. Definitely not interested in the newer style 6 cylinders,

Fleet vehicles. Last year I looked long and hard to find a used regular-cab long-box 1/2 ton 4x4, ended up with a metallic gray '14 with a Hemi/8-speed... Box is starting to rust through over the drivers wheel well. when it gets too ugly to look at, I'll drop a flatbed on it (unless I can find a utility body).

Here's your truck. Bid to win...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224736571640

exactly what I'd love to find. except that unfortunately, I think I'd have better luck gettin the bank to help me on a newer truck, than on something like this. I don't have that kind of cash sittin around.
There's a guy in the town I work in, that has a truck like the one in that Ebay ad except it has the ugly grille/ meaning the one nearby is 91-93. nice clean Florida truck. Close to same money as the Ebay truck. As is the '12 I found at the local car lot. all are close to same miles too.

Very attractive truck for sure. Too bad about the Title.

I sure missed that!

yeah me too.
Im still contemplating this '12 that I started the thread about. Its still there, carfax seems decent, pretty well taken care of/ I know a guy at the dealer it was bought new from (parts mgr) and carfax does show a couple of entries for service there. I can probably get that info on it.
I went and looked at it, started it and crawled around it, didn't drive it cuz I would rather do that in daylight..... work has been too busy to get off early to be able to get a better look at it in the daylight (I hate this time of year, it's dark 20 min after I get home from work)
Not the Hemi I'd like it to have, the 4.7 is known for the valve seat issue if they get slightly hot..... but don't have the "drop to 4 cyl mode" of the Hemi in a 1/2 ton.... trading 1 issue there for another I guess. The 4.7 would be sufficient for 95% of my needs, as long as I don't let it get hot. I drive a rusty 3.9 Dakota now.....


I know where there's a '90 club cab 3/4 ton sitting, well off the roadway, owner doesn't live where truck is at, all I know about it is what I can see from ~150ft away, bed is rotted.... I have a nice clean replacement. I have everything to make that a super nice truck IF the cab is otherwise good (I have doors fenders core support and a nice bed for a square body on hand already) If the roof is solid and the cab mounts are good, and the frame is solid ("good bones") I can build that into a super nice truck..... It's a gasser but that's OK. It would pull the camper my wife wants just fine. just need to get contact info for the owner......

I'd contact the owner of the 90 myself. Its probably too rough, but you won't know until you look at it. Other wise, you are always going to wonder.

On the ebay/whats it worth section, someone posted a really nice 93 Dakota, pretty expensive in my book, but it looked really nice. Probably cheaper then the '12 your looking at, and probably cheaper then rebuilding the 90. Gene

well, part of me wants the 3/4 ton// although a 90 3/4 ton is a "lighter duty" than a newer 3/4 ton. My son's '17 has the same GVW as my 78 D300 had.... 10,000. and my 78 was a dually, my son's is "only" a 2500. My 83 3/4 ton D250 was a 7500 GVW. They offered the 250s 3 ways then and my 83 was the "middle" GVW package.

It looks like this particular '12, 1500, I am considering, has the 4.7.... has a 6600VW, and about same tow capacity, (as the GVW) besides. I notice that online that year in the 1/2 tons, whether you get the v6 or either v8, gas mileage ratings are identical. so, in that sense, may as well get the Hemi. I wish that a 318 or 360 Mag was still an option in the 2010s decade. If I hold out for a Hemi, dunno when the next reg cab 8' bed will pop up.

I never liked the cam drive setup in any engine that ran chains across plastic guides. I have always considered that, as a stupid design. so it seems I'd be trading a stupid cam drive design, for the cylinder deactivation of the Hemi. More unneeded complication, more crap to go wrong. I've dealt with cylinder deactivation issues on GM LS engines in Caprice cop cars at work. not crazy about the 4.7 idea, but it would be an upgrade in power over the 3.9 in my 99 Dakota which gets the same mileage.... the 4.7 that year (2012) was rated at 310HP, more than what the 360 in my wife's 01 Durango has.... with similar tow capacity to the Durango with that 360. My wife is eyeing bigger campers, than the popup we have now, meaning I'd need a bigger truck than anything I currently have if we were to get one. But that's a 3-4 weekend a year job, the rest of the time a 1/2 ton would be more than fine for my needs. Mileage isn't paramount in my consideration otherwise I'd be looking at Neons.
I still have not been able to get the number of the guy with the 90 club cab.

I'm 98% sure that this '12 was originally a fastenal truck, something which I had looked into buying a few years ago/ and got "cold feet" about having payments again. Not about the trucks I was considering.
I went (test drove it) across the road to the Dodge dealer and had the parts guy (whom I know) run the VIN and he printed me up a "build sheet". This truck was pre sold to someone in Minn. but delivered to IL. Fastenal I believe is based out of Minn. I have had ex squads (Diplomats) which are also "fleet" vehicles and they did me well. My being a fleet mechanic for the State makes me even less "afraid" of a fleet vehicle. though unfortunately I mostly deal with Fords which I definitely do not want.

I DO NOT want a 4 door truck.. no way no how. and I do want the 8' bed. Regular cab Dodges are damn near impossible to find. and these current 4 door trucks with 6 foot (or less!!) beds are utterly worthless. So other than having the 4.7 instead of a Hemi and being white (again) IF I were to buy a newer gen Dodge truck, this one is pretty much what I would like it to be.

How's your guys' experience with this generation's coil sprung rear suspension?

I did go to my bank and 2 others yesterday asking "what if"... what kind of terms I could get IF I was to buy it and went thru them.... less per month and 1 year shorter term than what I got on my 97 Wrangler back in 2000.... which was my last vehicle with payments.
to get the 90 and redo it, monthly payment would be $0, and I have everything Id need to make it rust free in storage already.... just the time it would take to swap the panels, and get it in for paint. and have a cab and 1/2
Decisions, decisions. Whichever way I go, I have my 96 Dakota for a winter beater and 4x4 to keep salt and brine off of whichever "new" truck I get.....

Sounds like you are all over the place on what to decide on. Extended cabs are nice for the extra space for your stuff. Ever consider a Cummings?

Hmm...that's tough. I'm not sure how the newer 4.7Ls are reliability wise. Supposedly the guides/valve seats are improved but, uncertain. The newer 4.7Ls do have dual plugs per cylinder. Don't know if they ever fixed the poor bolts on the exhaust manifolds either. Also, if this is correct you can get a Superchips Programmer for that truck which can add up to 60 hp and lbs ft of torque. You may want to do more research on that however. https://www.ramforum.com/threads/su...2-ram-4-7l-and-5-7l-hemi-coverage.39773/

I think the 4.7 got better in 2008 when they bumped the horsepower to 300. I'd give it a shot. A newer half ton with an 8ft bed is almost unobtainium these days.

Yes I have considered a CUMMINS (no "g") but can't currently afford one. And aunt paying what they want even for a rot bucket. If I get a Cummins truck, it will be 2002 orr older.
I'm either gonna get the '12 or I'm gonna get the '90 club cab, AND I am gonna have my /6 powered 85 D150 on the road by spring too. That will be my daily "mileage eater" during the 3 non road salt seasons.
I am gonna keep the 96 4wd Dakota for my winter workhorse. I've been looking around at the few regular cab trucks on places like auto trader and this one near me seems best bang for the buck in all of Chicago land. Going either 4 door or 4wd takes this (almost) 14k truck to a 20k (or higher) truck even in the same model year and some even older.

Something that just complicated matters, I found out that my daughter in law is pregnant again, will be the 2nd grand kid. 1st will be a year old in 2 weeks.i got screamed at by the daughter in law in front of the stands at the county fair because I had the car seat in wrong the first time that I ever drive my grand son around. (only way I could get it in there, had it facing forward) in my club cab Dakota.... I ain't buying a vehicle for me to drive to satisfy her. I was raised without one as was my wife, though my son came home.in a car seat, things weren't as crazy in the early 90s as they appear to be now. I'm sorry I don't know as much about those as the daughter in law thinks she does.
I have never cared much for 4 door anything. When the Durango croaks well probably look for a 4 door Ram for grandma to drive. But not for me. Even though they actually have 6 doors maybe then it's time for another B van. It will not be any sort of minivan.

Lawd, lawd...I'm gonna go out on a limb and commend you for handling that in a far more mature manner than I would have.

volaredon -

Check out this website. It's a list of Fastenal vehicles for sale in the USA and Canada,

https://vehicles.fastenal.com/

If you don't mind owing a white truck, I would definitely check them out.

Good luck.

Thanks. I was looking at their listings a year or 2 ago, they have absolutely NONE remotely in my area. Last couple times I looked they showed none in Illinois.

well, it seems I know several people who know the guy with the '90 but nobody has a contact number. so iwent and bought the 2012. Hope I don't regret it. For one thing all of the newer Dodge/Ram interiors are UGLY.
I did have 1 problem already that wasn't there 2 weeks before, when I 1st drove it On the way home from the stealership the front calipers locked up. I got it home and up onto my lift, neither front wheel would turn, pads were smoking.
I promptly pulled the calipers, and ran them to town and bought new ones. I went back by where I bought it, reciept in hand (less than 3 hours after leaving with it) and they said they'd cut me a check come Monday, they didn't ask me any Qs. Whoever writes the checks was off all day yesterday for NYE, didn't even have to work til noon (I was off too, my wife had to work, she works elsewhere) got em bled when the wife got home, we went for another drive and much better! /
2 weeks before when I 1st test drove the truck, (and so did my wife) we took it out in the country and gave it a pretty good workout. Didn't beat on it any but did start/stop many times and did get it up to about 75-80. On teh way home with it yesterday it shook like He11 over about 50.... only 26 miles on it from when I 1st got into it for test drive 2 weeks ago to buying it, and getting it home yesterday.

Sounds like a tire separating. Look them over closely.
Out of curiosity, what motor is in the '12 and how many miles?

Ok first let me see if I can get thru ONE damn post here without INFO LINKS abruptly starting to talk to me about something I really do not care about. This is beyond old. I've attempted to respond to this post 7 times and had to back out of my reply to shut the damn thing up

Ok... Definitely not a separation in a tire, no doubt about it.
Please re read my post above yours, smoking brakes and inability to spin wheels with the truck in the air isn't a separating tire.

Has the 4.7 in it (yeah I know) and 93112 miles.

I just ordered $343 worth of filters, spark plugs, (16 of those!) Plug wires and coil boots, gates green HD belt and a tensioner from rock Auto, it's close enough to 100k miles and not seeing any history of a tuneup on Carfax, and the belt definitely being the original, it's time.
Was gonna order radiator hoses and a thermostat but realized I forgot them once I checked out.
I order enough from there, I'll catch that stuff next order..

Next thing I want to do is to order a bucket of that NHOU undercoating I keep hearing about, I can definitely DIY tthat, no problem.
The closest place they have to here is 2 hours NE (Michigan) or 4 hours south (st Louis area) I ain't goin that far.
It's in the garage right now, we got our 1st dumping of snow yesterday. I won't be able to do that forever, but as this being the most expensive Truck I have ever bought ($14k plus the govt gouge of $870 in damn taxes), I don't want to see it dissolve on me like my most recent Dakota has.
I have 2 Dakota's here, I transferred the plates from the 99 to this one, I still have the 4wd 96 to drive in the slop, as long as it's willing.

And then next next thing is a set of seat covers and maybe a dash cover.