Gonna go look at a 2005 5.9 CTD 4x4, 8ft. box, 4dr, single rear wheel, 3500 on Saturday Aug 5th. Truck has 59,000 miles showing. My question is what are the pro and cons of this particular year/model ?? Saw a few pictures but still want to put some eyes on it. Naturally it looks dam nice in photos. Asking price is $34,000 Canadian dollars. Has a topper/cap, some extra tires and small items. Sounds like a lot but they don't pop up here often if ever. Also private sale not a dealer. Thanks in advance for any and all input.
Bennoel

Forgot to mention it's a six speed manual trans.
Thanks again

I have an 04 3500 4x4 with about 320,000 miles on it. Pretty solid truck.
Mine has some random electrical gremlins which always seem to produce a warning light on the dash, or a chime. Nothing that has ever stranded me anywhere though.
I like this generation of truck better than the previous. Just my opinion.

Thanks for the input.

I have a 2004.5 H.O. CTD 3500 Dually with 217,000 miles on it. Been an awesome truck, as mentioned above I have also had a few electrical gremlins to address over time. Still gets 17.9 in the city and 21.0 on the highway pulling my 28' enclosed trailer with race car.

Cheap interior, mediocre seats, substandard HVAC especially on mega cabs (I live in the depths of hell… your results may vary), broken air doors (easy dash to remove), if it needs ball joints use MOPAR…. or Carli if they still make them. Lots of failed gear boxes until they went with the upgraded one (new one had a HUGE sector shaft). G56 trans?? You’ll find it buzzes rpm’s at highway speeds and a lot of people put gear vendors on them. Did ALOT of injector replacements on those in the 150k range….. I really think they needed the filtration they have on the 13 and newer.

The others know better , I still prefer the 98.5 to 02 CTD 2500's myself .

A big plus for the 05 is it's PRE DEF ... If I didn't think the front end was ugly , and I prefer the suicide door cab , I'd consider stepping up .

I'll agree on the front end. At 180,000 I did Carli ball joints, and updated to the 08 steering parts, has been fine since. I am currently just over 300,000 miles, on the original injectors. My A/C would give me fits. I finally replaced the compressor and orifice tube, with OE, and now in the depths of hell it cools great (I have a 4 door, but not a mega cab). I do think I have a turbo going out though....

Steered like crap, trans needed upgraded off the showroom floor, and was begging for power upgrades. Very few out there that the dashes haven’t crumbled in yet….. but the A/C absolutely ROCKED in that era pickup. I “kinda” miss my 01, but our 17 3500 is soooo much more relaxing to drive. I REALLY like the 14-18 Rams.

I agree on all of the above deficencies, the A/C was the best in my 2000. I'm not looking forward to pulling the dash on the 98 to figure out what's going on with why I have to run it on full blast ... and why the A/C doesn't work well at all plus replacing the heater core. The truck is still stock and a complete dog. The previous owner did redo the trans though, it shifts nice except for soft lockup shift. It's a 2wd and it rides real harsh , that's one thing I'd like to fix , maybe airbag it in place of the springs ??? Plus I'm over all the computer controlled crap , this is my last truck.

Sorry for straying off topic

…..and HERE is why people HATED the G56 trans. That era of truck with the “G” you got 3.73 gears. This is cruising in 6th gear.

My truck is doing almost 80 at that rpm

My buddy has a 2017 Tacoma that does the same thing on 33" tires no less.
Reverse ratio is gated off of 2nd gear. The truck is a nightmare especially when loaded or towing.

We had a 2005 and the seats were so bad that about every 100 miles you had to get out and walk around because your back ached so bad. Have a 2010 now and it's night and day difference.

I had that same problem with my 2000 with the SLTplus power leaather seat, I could never get comfortable. I put a new lower seat bun in my 98 that has 200K on it , denser foam that lets me sit higher , but it's still not super comfortable. I've been looking for a replacement seat and because I have the suicide door quad cab I need a seat with an integrated seatbelt . I remember the seat in my parents 05ish Tahoe was comfortable enough to drive straight for 6 hours so that is something I'm looking into.

2008 2500 CTD. 362k, still running good. Replaced the trans (auto) last year. I’ve been averaging suspension replacement every 130k. Seems everybody I run into wants to buy it. Gotta love that 5.9.