2000 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Review
2000 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Review
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Used Ram Pickup 2500 for sale
Appraise This CarDodge Ram Pickup 2500 model years
Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 types
- Extended Cab
- Regular Cab
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Edmunds' Expert Review
by the Edmunds Experts
Pros
- User-friendly cab, distinctive sheetmetal.
Cons
- Underpowered base V6, quad cab lacks rear seat room when compared to GM full-size trucks.
What’s new
The Ram Pickup 1500 Club Cab models with the 8-foot bed box have been discontinued; also eliminated for 2000 are the 2500 Club Cabs. All Ram Pickups receive a new front suspension and steering system to improve ride quality and steering precision, and 2500s and 3500s have a revised rear suspension for a better ride when loaded. An off-road package is now available for the short-wheelbase four-wheel-drive 1500.
Edmunds says
The versatile Ram can handle everything from off-road bashing to towing an Airstream with ease, and still look good doing it.
Cost to DriveCost to drive estimates for the 2000 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 SLT 4dr Extended Cab 4WD LB (5.9L 8cyl naturally aspired 5M) and comparison vehicles are based on 15,000 miles per year (with a mix of 55% city and 45% highway driving) and energy estimates of N/A undefined in Ohio.
Monthly estimates based on costs in Ohio
Not EPA tested for Ram Pickup 2500 SLT
Ram Pickup 2500 SLT
vs
$257/mo
Avg. Large Truck
Vehicle overview
The Dodge boys must have known they had a winner on their hands the second they unveiled their bold Ram Pickup in 1994. The risky love-it-or-hate-it styling turned nearly every head, and it takes two hands to count the number of look-alikes that have since debuted from other manufacturers.
The Ram Pickup comes in Regular, Club and Quad Cab half-, three-quarter- and one-ton configurations, and all are equipped with Magnum power, be it modest or mammoth. There's a practical-and-it-feels-that-way 3.9-liter V6 that makes 175 horsepower, and at the other extreme, heavy-duty 2500 and 3500 pickups can growl with an 8.0-liter V10, good for 310 horsepower (305 for California). Tucked in between for good measure is a 245-horse, 5.9-liter V8 and a 5.2-liter V8 worth 230 horsepower. A macho 5.9-liter, 24-valve inline-six turbodiesel is available if you like loads of torque (450 pound-feet), low-maintenance and the overly loud purr of a diesel, plus have about an extra five grand to spend. We've heard that 2002 will bring an aluminum-block 3.7-liter V6 based on the popular Grand Cherokee 4.7-liter V8, and there's also talk of 5.7-liter and 6.1-liter V8s.
The Regular Cab has bench seating for three, while the Club Cab can cram three both front and rear, although access to the rear for storage and seating is difficult. With the Quad Cab, rear-access doors on either side of the cab make that easier, yet they're not separate full-size doors like on the new Dakota Quad Cab. Inside, the Ram Pickup is fully modernized, with ergonomics that match the utility of the rest of the truck. The controls are properly placed and completely functional.
Automatic transmission shifts are firm, but not harsh, and the column-mounted shifter operates easily. The manual transmissions are simple to shift and the gates are perfectly spaced. The half-ton's manual tranny is a five-speed with overdrive, while the 3/4- and one-ton reap the rewards of a much beefier transmission that has a granny-low first gear for getting going while hauling a heavy load. Although it's a bulky vehicle, the Ram Pickup is surprisingly agile and reasonably surefooted, but think twice before making any quick maneuvers. Ride and handling are so competent you almost forget you're in a full-size pickup, except if you're in an unloaded 3/4- or one-ton, in which case you'll be reminded over every bump in the road.
Yes, it's a full-size truck, but it does extremely well on trails and other off-road excursions. Dodge is well aware of the Ram Pickup's capabilities and this year introduces the Ram Off-Road 4x4. Regular and Quad Cab short-bed 1500 four-wheel drives can take advantage of this off-road package that includes heavier-duty equipment, such as a limited slip, a recalibrated suspension for extra ground clearance, all-terrain tires and steering gear designed for low speeds.
An all-new platform and redesign is likely for 2002, and Dodge is again hoping to build another talk of both the town and the competition.
Consumer reviews
Read what other owners think about the Used 2000 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500.
5 star(67%)
4 star(23%)
3 star(10%)
2 star(0%)
1 star(0%)
40 reviews
Trending topics in reviews
Most helpful consumer reviews
5 out of 5 stars
1999 Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel
DRecu, 09/21/2002
1999 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Laramie SLT 2dr Extended Cab 4WD SB (5.9L 8cyl naturally aspired 5M)
Ram 2500 Diesel in a few words it's
bullet proof! awsome truck have 124K
miles on it so far no real problems to
account for so far!
DRecu!
5 out of 5 stars
The Best Vehicle I've Ever Owned
Srichards, 04/15/2016
1999 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Laramie SLT 4dr Extended Cab LB (5.9L 8cyl naturally aspired 5M)
I mean it! At the time of this writing I'm 69. I've owned all kinds of vehicles in my time. From '52 Mercury's, several Ford's (which I'll never buy again) 1964 Dodge Dart (bought new as a teen), Toyota's, Datsun (now Nissan), '76 Corvette, Honda's, Kia's, Plymouth, and more. But my 1999 Dodge RAM 2500 SLT Quad Cab 5.9L Cummins diesel with the 8' bed.. wow! Its the best vehicle I've ever … owned. Had 1 tranny rebuild about 5 years ago. I towed 19,000 lbs. in a trailer through the Cascade mountains of Washington/Oregon and that was my fault. Diesel mileage? Run it yourself. I recently did 800 miles on 30 gallons of diesel from Reno to SoCal on cruise control (27 mpg).
At 179,000 miles I had no body work but clear coat was starting to peel (probably from the car wash down the street which I no longer use). All the upholstery in the truck was in excellent shape but my drivers side foam was a little tired. I thought about selling it and buying a new one.. then slapped myself and decided on a restoration. One week after I bought it in June of 1999 I had Rhino Lining sprayed on and a hard Tonneau cover put on and Nerf bars. Best thing I ever did. I've put bricks, blocks, lumber, plywood, steel, all kinds of stuff in that big eight foot bed and you can't even tell it. That Rhino Lining doesn't scratch. The Tonneau comes off if I have to carry a high load and after all these years I just replaced the gas struts.1
Okay after I decided to do a bit of restoration.. instead of going to the local Dodge (stealer) (parts sold me a lug nut for $10 once), I went to the Cummins engine repair shop. Asked them to check it out and if I needed a tune-up. About 45 minutes later they came back and told me they only changed the fuel filter and I wouldn't need a tune-up till I hit 350,000 miles! Wow! That settled it for me.
I got estimates for a prime paint job from 5 different shops and settled on a 5-star shop who would do it right. They took 3 weeks to paint it, and they did an excellent, custom job. I kept the same green paint color but the paint is so wonderful I could shave in my reflection! Meanwhile I had an upholstery shop refoam the drivers seat and put back the old seat cover. Its still perfect and comfortable once again. Brought in high powered Euro style "angel eyes" projector style headlights and new LED tail lights. Put on a new RAM badge on the tailgate (same kind as the 2016's have) and another that says "Turbo Diesel" on the lower left of the tailgate. Put back all the rubber door bumpers (which new models don't have). They work really well in tight parking spaces so the paint doesn't get chipped. Oh... new upper console as one of the plastic door hinges had gotten broken. And all these years I had changed my own oil at 7,000 miles including air filter and changed my own fuel filter. I keep my engine clean upper and lower including lower chassis with WD-40. Got my baby back from the paint shop and she looks and drives like a new truck.
The new trucks have a navigation system built in which I don't have... but about 5 or 6 years ago I bought a Garmin GPS from Costco which still works fine stuck on my windshield. Back in '99 I bought the Premium Sound System which has both a cassette player and a CD player w/equalizer and of course the AM/FM radio w/6 speakers surround sound. Sounds great. However, a few weeks ago I started putting all my old Rock 'n Roll albums (Vinyl, Cassette, and CD) onto a 120GB USB drive. Made up several of 'em. One for my wife's car, one for my office, and one for the house. But I had no USB port on my trucks radio. Then I ran across the iKross FM transmitter system which was (is) very inexpensive. Put it into my auxiliary power port... tuned it to 99.9 and tuned my radio to 99.9 FM and it plays all my old music I put in 182 folders (1 folder per artist & sub-folders for that artist's albums). My truck is not up-to-date and better than some of the newer ones with all this California CARB junk hanging on them! If you're not in California, CARB stands for California Air Resource Board and they're completely nuts. But that's another story. ;-)
While I'm bragging... The truck originally came with Michelin tires. I've gone through them a long time ago and went with Costco's Michelin then Bridgestone. Costco does a wonderful job on tires, rotation, warranty, etc. Just put on a new set of Michelin's and the truck now has 185,000 miles (wife and I did a big circle trip to Canada and back) and she rides the rough SoCal freeways smooth as silk.
Bottom line: If you're smart, buy a 1999 ~ 2001 truck like mine and restore it. It will be BETTER than new without all the EPA junk on it and you can add on Gale Banks products if you want more power and all kinds of after market goodies. :-)
4.13 out of 5 stars
Still a keeper
JJagiella, 08/30/2005
1999 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Laramie SLT 4dr Extended Cab 4WD LB (5.9L 8cyl naturally aspired 5M)
Bought this truck new- Brakes are a joke. Had it in repeatedly while it was still under warranty; they never got it right. I've got 100k on it now with the 4th brake job coming up. And the ABS is anti-braking skid system...the rears lock up easily. But it goes through anything (I live on a farm, and this truck works!!)The gas mileage still isn't real good, but is actually better than … when it was new. (no, I didn't have the money for the diesel) Since I drive a car to and from work (my real job) the truck only puts on about 10-12k/year now, so I'll probably have this truck another 5 years or so- it does everything I need it to do, which is mostly pulling heavy trailers.
4 out of 5 stars
Strong truck. Built the old way.
Vince, 10/25/2015
1999 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 Laramie SLT 4dr Extended Cab 4WD LB (5.9L 8cyl naturally aspired 5M)
I had once of these for many years. It was the 4 door 4x4 2500 with the V10 long bed. I think I paid something like $2500 for it at the height of the gas prices a few years ago. The previous owner probably couldn't afford to feed it. I took it everywhere and it was reliable for me. I got it with 100,000 miles and sold it with about 150,000 miles. It was big and heavy. But also very … heavy duty with the Dana 60 solid axle in the front and the Dana 70 in the rear. The V10 is has lots of torque down low and can tow just about anything. Going to my hunting camp and driving offroad, this tended to sink due to the weight upfront so I had to fit front and rear lockers to help with traction. On road it was cumbersome, but not too bad. Front seats were great. Back seat was a bit tight, but good for kids to early teens. Center console on these Ram's are epic- big and wide. Mine was pretty jacked up for a stock truck so it was a climb in and a slide out of the cab and because of this hard to get into the bed to get stuff without a step stool. Ride is stiff and rough because to the solid front axle and HD springs. When I got my truck the thermostat was broken and that simple job is a major pain with the accessories getting into the way. Mine seemed to have a coolant leak, but some leak stop tabs seemed to have addressed it. Fuel economy is poor. Single digits around town and maybe as high as 13-14 MPG. Tows well with plenty of low end grunt and I've caught myself towing heavy items at speeds higher than I should have. Brakes average though and worse with a load. Structure and strength was excellent. Looking at the components under the sheet metal is littered with "Made in the USA" labels. Other than that I performed maintenance. and that was it. I sold it for a bit more than I paid for it so I think I got my money's worth even with the fuel bill and considering this truck's capabilities worth it.
We have a limited number of reviews for the 2000 Dodge Ram Pickup 2500, so we've included reviews for other years of the Ram Pickup 2500 since its last redesign.
2000 Ram Pickup 2500 Highlights
Extended Cab
ST
Engine Type | Gas |
---|---|
Drivetrain | rear wheel drive |
Max Towing Capacity | 8,500 lbs. |
Safety
IIHS Rating
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety uses extensive crash tests to determine car safety.
- Small Overlap Front Driver-Side TestNot Tested
- Small Overlap Front Passenger-Side TestNot Tested
- Moderate Overlap Front Test – Original0
- Moderate Overlap Front Test – UpdatedNot Tested
- Side Impact Test – OriginalNot Tested
- Side Impact Test – UpdatedNot Tested
- Roof Strength TestNot Tested
- Rear Crash Protection / Head RestraintNot Tested
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