1996 Dodge Ram 2500

Pickup truck

6 - Cyl.

Automatic

1b7kc26c3ts715697

Clear

Diesel

1996 Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel Over all I would rate this truck an 8.5 out of 10. She spent most of her life in CA (at one time the personal truck of the owner of PLANT DRIVE: www.plantdrive.com ). To my knowledge she was never used primarily as a tow vehicle (although I have towed my 21ft ski boat a handful of times)- most of her miles are road trip and commuting highway miles. There is no rust and the engine and transmission are in good condition and the front end is tight. Recent Maintenance This vehicle has been maintained and cared for. The motor oil was changed every 3,000mi (owners manual recommends every 5,000mi). Many parts have recently been fixed or replaced: · Tires- Firestone Destination A/T 265/75/16 @ 123,524 mi $595 · Brakes pads- @125,000 · Front Shocks- @ 133,000 mi · New battery- @ 133,000 mi $90 · Head light switch- @ 125,000 mi $87 · Starter- removed, cleaned, new contacts @ 133,000 mi $53 · Lift pump- @ 116,678 mi $90 · Fuel Filter- @ 125,000 $25 · K&N Air Filter @ 115,000 $80 · Fuel gauge sending unit- @ 130,000mi · Killer Dow Pin Removed – done by previous owner: www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/dodge/0706dp_1997_dodge_ram_kdp/index.html Condition · The body and paint are in pretty good shape. The lower gray area had some stone chips around the rear driver door that I repaired. The touch up is noticeable, but not terrible. There are an average number of small stone chips and scratches, but nothing large. · Interior is in good shape. The Recaro seat has a small tear. The headliner was falling, so it was glued back. The upholstery and carpet have a few dirty marks, but overall in good shape. · The radiator has a slow leak from the center of the radiator (probably from a stone on the highway). I have been topping it off once a week. · Occasionally the engine will crank over slowly, like it has a dead battery. This is a random occurrence, and have no explanation for its cause. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it starts fine. Special Features · ARB Air lockers for rear differential- next best thing to 4x4 · Recaro electronically adjustable drivers seat- melt those road miles away in the “lazy boy” of drivers seats · Panasonic 6 disc CD changer Plant Drive Veg Oil Conversion Kit · 2-tank system with VERY GOOD V.O. heaters (“Vormax” heated filter + “HotFox” coolant heat exchanger in V.O. tank + 12v electrical “VegTherm” in-line heater. · Aluminum Vegetable Oil tank- 85 gal (1700 mi range) & stock 35 gal tank for diesel or bio-diesel. Both the V.O. and stock tank have the heated “Vormax” filters. The “Vormax” on the stock tank allows Biodiesel to be used in slightly colder temps (heat keeps it from gelling) · In cabin fuel tank toggle switch, V.O. gauge, and warning buzzer if truck is shut down on V.O. (Very important to purge fuel lines and motor of V.O. before shutting off the vehicle aka switch back to diesel or bio for last 10mi of trip) Veg Oil Collection, Filtration, and Dewatering Equipment Included with the sale is all of the equipment that I use for vegetable oil collection, filtration, and dewatering. The system that I use is the easiest way to turn waste vegetable oil (quality used restaurant fryer oil) into high quality fuel. This equipment includes: · Collection: A 55-gal drum with ball valve 6’’ from bottom, housed in a lockable waterproof outhouse. This equipment is left at the restaurant and when it is near full, I fill 10 5 gal buckets to bring home to settle further. The sloped roof and lockable outhouse keeps water, debris, critters, and thieves out of the oil. · Settling: At home I have another 55 gallon drum (with ball valve near bottom) that I pour the newly collected 5 gal buckets of WVO (waste vegetable oil). I allow the WVO to settle for two weeks (you can settle none or as long as you like- however the longer the oil settles more contaminants will fall to the bottom, allowing longer life of the filters in the next step) · Filtering/Dewatering: After the WVO is done settling, the ball valve is opened on the settling drum and transferred (by gravity- the settling drum is on a stand above the filtering drum) to the filtering drum. I use a 4 way manifold to fill the 4 jean leg filters simultaneously (jean leg filters sound primitive- but they are excellent filters, abundant, and free/cheap). Once the filter drum is full, a hot water heating element warms the oil to about 100 degrees F for 12 hours. The gentle heating allows suspended molecules of water to fall to the bottom of the filtering drum. After dewatering is complete and tested (using the frying pan method) it is pumped in the truck. There is a 5 micron fuel filter on the outlet of the hand pump to catch and final particles before entering the truck’s V.O. tank. Now you have 50 gal of driving satisfaction knowing you have turned a waste product into high quality fuel! What is it like living with and driving a V.O. powered vehicle? Driving a V.O. powered vehicle is gratifying because you are saving money, less dependent on foreign oil, and doing less damage to the environment. However, this process takes a significant investment of time and a desire to produce high quality fuel. It’s not as easy as pulling up behind Mc FastFood and pumping from their dumpster into your vehicle (let alone it’s illegal without permission). If you are not prepared to find a good source for WVO (not all WVO is the same…..some is just plain unusable- ie wrong type of oil, too dirty, too used, a lot of meat cooked in the oil, too much water, etc) and spend the time to filter and dewater the WVO to turn it into fuel, then this is not for you. For me to run through a batch (approx 50 gal) I would guess that I have 4-5 hours invested. Hence, if you are working 50hrs a week- this is probably not for you. However, if you have the time and desire to drive a V.O. powered vehicle it is very satisfying. I still find myself having a little laugh as I drive down the highway burning French Fry oil while the cars around me just dropped $50 at the gas station! Operation of the vehicle is pretty simple and you only really have to remember a couple things. First, the motor and V.O. must be warmed up before switching over to V.O. This means driving on diesel or biodiesel for 5-10mi before switching to V.O. The number of miles driven is dependent on the outdoor temperature. In the heat of summer a few miles should be enough to make sure things are warm, while the cold of winter requires more driving before making the switch. Once driving on V.O., drive as long as you want. Before shutting off the vehicle it is very important to purge the motor of V.O. as restarting a cold motor on V.O. will cause excessive wear (its ok to leave V.O. in the system when shutting the vehicle off while running in the store for a few min). To purge the system of V.O. simply flip the switch to the stock tank containing biodiesel or diesel. Proceed for approximately 10 miles. Now the system is purged of V.O. and can be safely started again while cold. The truck has a warning buzzer incase you forgot to switch back to the stock tank before shut off. Does the truck drive the same on V.O. as it does on diesel? No. I would say the truck has about 85% power while running V.O. There is just less energy stored in V.O. compared to petroleum. This means that the truck does not accelerate very quickly on V.O., it probably doesn’t tow as well either. However driving down the highway at 65-70mph with the cruise control on, it’s very hard to tell the difference between V.O. and diesel. It also means you will get slightly worse gas mileage on V.O. Conclusion This is a nice truck without too many miles. The 12V Cummins is regarded as one of the best diesel motors available in passenger vehicles. The 12V Cummins is also regarded as one of the best motors to run V.O. This truck has one of the best conversion kits available by a very reputable V.O. conversion company. If I missed something or if you would like to see the truck in person don’t hesitate to ask.