This 1993 Dodge Ram 2500 is a desirable 5.9L Cummins Diesel-equipped example that the seller claims failed its Pennsylvania state inspection due to rust issues. This can happen in the super strict states north of the Mason-Dixon line, where rust is a fact of life and there’s little tolerance for older vehicles once they begin the slippery slope into needing ongoing metal repair. This Ram even has the super rare manual transmission, along with the extended cab with rear jump seats and super clean cloth buckets up front. Bidders aren’t worried about the perceived rust issues, as it’s listed here on eBay with bids to $5,500 and no reserve.
There’s no doubt that fixing rust is a costly endeavor. It’s time consuming and often not fixable in one swoop; like any infestation, rust goes deeper than we ever expect and often takes years to fix correctly if done in a piecemeal approach. What I can’t quite tell with this Ram is whether the rust is limited to that spot you see at the bottom of the driver’s fender in the top photo, or if there are deeper issues to sort out. The pictures do show surface rust on the frame, but that’s typical of almost any vehicle that lives in the snowbelt. I would hope it didn’t fail inspection because of either of those areas because the fender looks like an easy fix and surface rust is nothing to panic about.
Check out that interior – how clean is this truck? The bucket seats stand out to me for a few reasons: first, because I wasn’t expecting to see buckets like this in a Ram pickup, and two, because they are in gorgeous condition with surprisingly generous bolsters. The carpets are in minty condition as well and the woodgrain inserts in the dash still appear quite fresh. Same goes for the door panels and dash, which show very little in the form of wear and tear. The mileage is reportedly just a hair over 86,000, which the cosmetics certainly seem to back up based on the photos of the cabin.
The Cummins engine is probably the most desirable feature of the Ram, along with the rare manual gearbox and clean condition, outside of any perceived rust issues. With under 100,000 original miles, there is gobs of life left in this Ram, and hopefully a sensible caretaker can see that just fixing the rust will yield a low-mileage truck with an extremely robust powertrain. I suspect that’s why bidding is as strong as it is, despite the scarlet letter of a rejection sticker attributed to corrosion. Do you think the rust issues go deeper than what I’ve identified above?
I lost track of the number of these I had go through the shop. If you wanted to be a non-conformist you got one of these with a gaspot. I’m sure that if you went into a Dodge dealership the salesman would’ve given you the ‘Deer in the Headlights Look’ if you wanted to buy anything other than a diesel. But they were as common as flies on a dead horse. Always had people asking how to get more power out of these. I told them how but added that they were on their own. A lot of them turned up the DFWI screw but the more you turned it in the less sensitive the governor was so you’d have them holding at high rpm and taking forever to come down between shifts. But the VE pumps are limited to what you can give them before they grind their insides to powder. If I was to get this truck the first thing I would do is to get the injection pump checked out and updated as needed. It will last a long time as long as you don’t push it beyond what it was designed to do. The ’94 models had the P-7100 pump and there was a good reason for it…
Living in PA I have seen these fail our SI for rust issues.Fender rust no problem same as surface rust.But these trucks really have rust issues on the frames,gas tank straps and brake lines.They rust at spring hangers and where frame goes over the rear axle and at rear where bumpers attach.No simple fixes.Have seen some people with nice trucks like this one actually replace the whole frame.
I owned a 2001 Ram 1500 4×4 until the front brake line rotted through on my way home from work in September 2016.
While replacing the brake line I took note of the major frame rust where the rear springs met the frame, where the front axle location arms met the frame, and where the crossover attached to the frame, among others. I concluded that hitting a pothole had the ability to end my life and it was time for a new car. I’ve been driving for 50 years and never had a truck rust like that. I blame the fracking brine that PennDOT dumps on the roads here in western Pennsylvania. My truck looked as good as this one but was fatally rotten underneath. Even the exhaust manifolds were rotten!
Geez, if the fracking water in the well doesn’t get you the brine on the road does. You are lucky you checked the truck thoroughly when that line let go.
Trifecta! Oil burning, 4WD, and a stick… Nice Find!
I have an 02 F-250 that I kept really clean. I knew it would rust over the wheel wells on the bed but 3 years ago, I lost a cab corner and all the door started splitting at the bottom, all because of brine. It still runs strong at 176k and doesn’t look bad. I want to trade it in for a used truck for towing but will probably get hammered due to the rust. The next one will never go in snow. I am not going through this again.
Obviously, the winter salt spreading eats away steel
But why not simply rustproof
Its inexpensive
Proven
Available even for the diy
And you get to have your
Cake and est it too..,
All I See is a Part’s Truck Not worth 5500 either way it’s been in the Rust Belt so it’s a good Part’s truck but you can’t use the body panel’s because of Rust also . Part’s part’s Part’s and as for the Getrag they are Ok nothing special I’de sell it and get a 47rh Auto Trans to go into a Crewcab Build .