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Visitor,
Isleton, CA, September 30, 2011 11:11
I bought a 1997 dodge ram 3500 12 passenger van with 240,000 miles on it from a church, they said it ran fine. A craig's list special for 2,000 dollars. I drove it around the SF Bay area for a few days before loading it up and heading to burning man in the desert above reno nevada. As I was driving around testing it, unloaded I noted that it was hard to start and it heated up to 4/5 of the temp range on the gauge. I replaced the thermostat and changed the coolant, and changed the oil again (replaced the 10w-30 with straight SAE 40 due to the low engine oil pressure light coming on at idle when warm). I also added a bottle of chemical to the coolant to keep the temp down. Then I loaded it FULL to the top with camping gear (3,000 lbs) for the party. It made it the whole way and never overheated or went above the 4/5 gauge mark. GREAT VAN!! It is still hard to start, leaks steering fluid and A/C problems, but for 2K, what a machine. I'm keeping it for next year's burning man party as well. Thanks to the church for taking good care of it and servicing it regularly. Christian
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Visitor,
Laguna Niguel, CA, August 04, 2011 12:25
I have the exact same Roadtrek. I had the exact same problem. Tried the T-bar, but the Bilstine shocks helped the most. It's not perfect, but tolerable. I have had it with the shocks for 13 years now.
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Visitor,
Lincoln, NE, April 21, 2011 13:03
This 97 Dodge Roadtrek is very stable insofar as "sway" is concerned. The problem is the steering gear cannot hold the vehicle from wandering or swerving when encounering a side wind. I think the problem is the gear and perhaps too much caster adjusted in the alignment.
