At first I wondered if reviewing an older vehicle would be beneficial to anyone. After I gave it a great deal of thought, not only is it beneficial but even more so than reviews on new vehicles. If you’re in the market for a used vehicle it’s difficult to find detailed information anywhere!

My father bought a 1991 Dodge Ram D250 pickup truck just about ten years ago. His Ram truck has a Cummins 5.9-liter diesel engine. He bought his pickup new after it set on the lot for about a year. Because it had set so long my dad had a few sensor problems with the pickup, but other than that and a regulator going out he has had few problems with it. The pickup truck has 139,000 miles on it I believe it will continue to go strong for a long long time to come. The Cummins diesel engine had a 100,000/ 7-year warranty behind it. It has proven to be an excellent engine.

I have driven this pickup many times over the last ten years. It is pretty easy to drive once you get use to the size. It took be quite awhile to get use to the diesel noise and the heavy suspension system. But once I got use to the idea, hey, I’m driving a truck not a car I have grown to love this pickup.

The truck has been driven in all kinds of weather conditions from very hot to downright frigid. My parents drove the truck from California to Northern Minnesota for my son’s funeral. The truck handled very well on the snow and ice.

He originally bought this pickup to pull a 35-foot trailer. The Dodge Ram D250 had no problem pulling this trailer; it had plenty of power and basically seemed to say I can take on any thing you throw at me! My father had bought the trailer so that they could spend time with us in Northern Minnesota. He parked his trailer in the woods on our property.

One night during one of Northern Minnesota’s notorious storms a very large tree had fallen across the trailer and the truck in the middle of the night. It pretty much totaled the trailer but the top of the truck just had a small dent on it where the main portion of the trunk of the tree had hit it. The sides of the truck had some scratches but all in all the truck took on very little damage considering the size of the tree.

When the truck was first purchased my dad got about 23 miles per gallon. For several years the mileage remained on the average of 23 miles per gallon until he got the valves adjusted. After the values were adjusted the mileage has gone down to 19 miles per gallon.

When my dad first bought the truck it didn’t have cruise control on it. When he inquired of the dealership where he had purchased the truck if it could be added they had told him no. The dealership had been Weil Motors Inc in Lodi CA. They had long since met their demise and I can certainly understand why! When he came up to Northern Minnesota he stopped in at Pine River Motors to check into cruise control they told him no problem and installed it for him. In fact a couple repairs that Weil couldn’t get right was fixed at Pine River.

The truck has an optional four speed overdrive automatic transmission ($887.00), with an anti-spin differential. The transmission also has an electronically controlled fourth gear that automatically will shift from drive to overdrive. The over drive can be blocked out with the OD off switch on the instrument panel. The power train has a 70,000-mile or 7 year warranty.

A Robert Bosch VE fuel injection pump controls minimum and maximum engine speed. There is an internal governor system for speed control.

The truck came standard with a heavy duty, rugged independent front suspension. The shock absorbers are gas-charged long-life. The brakes are power front disc/rear drum brakes. The rear brakes are an antilock system that also is standard.

The color of the truck is bright white. The paint has a clear coat finish. The lower body has an anti-chip protective urethane coating. There is full body corrosion protection. The anti-corrosion has a 7-year or 100,000 mile warranty. The glass is tinted on all windows. The seat is a 3-across bench seat with a cloth & vinyl trim upgrade ($72.00). There are headrests for both the driver and passenger. The seat is really comfortable even on long distant trips. The optional air conditioner had cost $797.00.

The original price of the pickup had been $19,759.23. It has proven itself to be a great pickup. The pickup has handled very well in adverse weather conditions. When driving down the road I have a feeling that I am much safer especially after seeing a tree crash down on the pickup with very little damage. It's a great truck for pulling trailers. If you are in the market for a used truck this truck has proven to be outstanding.