[Smoke Out]

Ok are the dodge bodies as bad as everyone says they are. if you take care of them will they still give ya problems? Also the front end

 

[DIESEL BUTCH]

Yup, front end is pretty weak, I bounced it through a ditch hunting, jumped the truck off a rock, and bent the control arm...Can you believe it?? :lol3:

Just kidding man, I've got 40K on mine, good amount of towing, no probs as of yet (front end or otherwise)

 

[Smoke Out]

ok what about the 2nd gens. like 98 to 02

 

[gary j westrope]

ok what about the 2nd gens. like 98 to 02

its a stout front end i have a few buddys that have beat these year truck and the axles never skiped a beat!

 

[Esjayco]

the bed is like any other pickup ... if you work one ... better get a flatbed

 

[360ctd]

just the same as the others i believe. never had a problem with my 02. used it for work so the box got a bit rough. only problem i had with the front was bending the rim. not visibly just enough that it couldnt be balanced. result of trying to play duke of hazzard

 

[Broke Down]

the only problem i have had is the cab cracking at the seams. and no it wasn't a big crack just a surface crack in the appoxy. other than that i need to replace my door hindges (266k on them) because now they are making a poping sound and have no top bushing. my uncle brought 4 12v to Africa doing missionary work and tore the door striker off the side of one and the panhard off another. of coarse he would be driving through the jungle with his foot on the floor. that's just a whole other kind of ruff over there.

 

[Boosted]

the trucks will eat balljoints. On the 4 wheel drives they like to munch on the drag links also. The ride the dodge has is the worse out of the big 3... The duramax rides the best, then the Ford and then the dodge.

I am not brand loyal so you will get my honest opinion on the dodge. I have owned all 3...

I forgot to ad that the paint sucks, it will fade and the clear will come off..

 

[tvfc21]

Prior to my 07 2500 I had owned a 98 1500 from new. I had 112,000 when the ball joints finally needed replaced. The body was rust free starting to rust slightly at the bottom of the doors right along the seams but other than that it was rock solid. It was used hard towing a boat around and hauled firewood and rocks and all kinds of things in the bed with no issues. Take care of anything and it will last forever. Side note my buddies 03 F250 has had upper and lower ball joints replaced 3 times already so your better off in the Dodge

 

[Smoke Out]

What do you guys think about rino lineing the bottom and underneath? That should help with the rust and rock chips and stuff.

 

[Cumminsboy]

Rhino lining can actually cause rust instead of preventing it. theres a guy on here forget his name but he had it done and under the lining it was rusting. The key is to prep it real good and not just spray it over ur old paint.

 

[tclappcummins]

well the body itself I think is really really weak... as least the bed sides... i jumped up on the tire the other and and reached into the bed to pull something out and my knee hit the side of the bed and put a small dent in it... just my knee I got down and :thud:

 

[bhdodge]

I did something similar I leaned over front fender on both sides and on both side there is a very small dent.

 

[ben]

Dodge metal leaves something to be desired. At least on my 2nd gen.

1 or 2 dents on my box and cab from mild impacts. Bottom of the door rust is the option that everyone gets that no one ordered.

Although, I have seen that some have had success with spraying a chain lube into the drain holes to prevent the rust. I wish i knew that when I first got the truck.

I am the guy with the rusted rockers from the rhino lining. I took it all off, had the rust fixed, and had the bottom painted in matte black. Couldn't be happier.

If it gets all chipped up, oh well, get it re-shot. If any rust starts you will see it and get a jump on it.

And, to me the matte black looks waaaaaay sharper than the dark gray rhino lining I had on it.

 

[Smoke Out]

ok just a heavy duty mat black paint.

 

[Robertb6963]

My dad has a 97 2500 5.9 gasser for a work truck (along with a few F-350 7.3 N/A) and one of his guys was dumping some dirt in the bed with a skid steer....didn't back up far enough and dropped the bucket all the way down the bedside. Didn't break the metal at ALL! Just left one heck of a dent.

And his shocks are going out...at 315k miles! It's been a great truck! I pulled a trailer FULL on 20' sticks of rebar and it did great (about 5k miles ago). I think the Dodge bodies are great...it's the Chevy body's I hate. Doors fall off the truck at 100K. Just about every Chevy truck I have driven, I have had to lift up the door to shut it all the way.

 

[beads159]

I am not brand loyal...atleast I havn't always been. I have owned:

74 Ford Bronco
78 Ford 150
80 Ford 150
92 Mazda B2200 (Don't get me started)
90 Gmc 1500
89 Ford 250
98 Dodge 1500
93 Dodge 250
00 Dodge 2500

Of all of them I love my 00 the best. It has 130000 mile. The only thing I have done to it is routine. Brakes, lube, etc.

The Ford 250 had more problems than I could count. Hubs, trans, engine, you name it.

The GMC I had for 3 years and put 3 motor rebuilds in, new cv joint, the front differential was crap. Again you name it. I will be a Dodge pickup man for as long as I can see.

 

[smkstk]

usually the rust on the door bottoms is from the window seal giving up and letting water leak in and it rust from the inside out, you can put some atf, or something to it's extent and that will slow it down alot.

 

[Smoke Out]

ok thanks guys

 

[Mopar1973Man]

As for the 2002 body and axles...

I've never had a problem with either...

1. Body wise everytime I'm out in the mud or offroad I was come home and wash the under body and frame. 6 years later I've never even seen a spot of rust yet...

2. As for the axles and ball joints I keep my all lube up and lube them everytime I've been out in the mud or deep water as suggested by Dodge. I never even had a trac bar problem yet or ball joint problem...

Most all front end problems come from over size tries and rims. This changes the geometry of the truck and tend to break things...

Most of the body problems come from lack of clean up.

I've owned trucks that where over 30 years old and never had problems with all of these things...