ok ill be more specific- platforms that are equiped with 3.9, 4.7, 5.2, and 5.9 motors, suffer from improper oil passage design, and poor oil pump pickup tube design. this causes oil sluge to seal these passages, starving the motor for oil. the end result is a set of bearings out the pooper.
now this was not my truck only, there is a class action lawsuit going with OVER 750,000 people suing daimler-chrysler. that is just people that know about this problem. dodge has done a VERY good job keeping it quiet. hell ive been a mechanic for all my adult life and never heard of it. these manufacturer defects affect all motors listed from 1996-2005. no recalls have been made. dodge claims "poor vehicle maintenance"
which makes sence in most cases, for other car manufacturesrs-but my records show the first motor blew at 11,978 miles. absolutely unaccebtable. if you own an affected truck, consider yourself lucky that it still, runs-DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! and then trade it in for an import
i wish i had known this prior to trading my Lexus for it, but live and learn.
on top of that, the 5spd autos are notoriously horrible transmissions, and the rear ends are famous for spitting carrier bearings out the cover.
it was a really nice truck-more comfortable then a truck should be, powerfull as hell, has a factory locker and wheeled very well for something that had 0 ground clearance (my legacy has more) but the fact of the matter is i dont make enough dough to keep replacing motors, nor can i afford to trust a known bad vehicle with my wife and two kids-so i bought a good ol-made in indiana subaru!
