looking at a 98 2500
 

i'm looking at buying a 98 2500 ext cab with about 200k miles. any advice on what to pay special attention to?

Are you sure its a 12V? If so, they are pretty solid. The most important thing is seeing if you can get maintenance records for oil/fluid changes and things like that. You cannot realistically expect to buy a 12 year old truck without doing some maintenance.

1998 was a split year - Dodge made a few 12Vs which are probably the most sought after Dodge truck ever made and they also made a lot of 24V's as well.

Is it a manual or auto?

I am not 100% sure, I'm in africa right now and my cousin is looking for a truck for me to get when i get home so i dont know all the specifics. but I know what you mean about the maintenance. i believe it is a manual.

The 8th digit in the VIV should be a D if its a 12V. And a 24V will say 24V on the valve cover and door badges. Good luck.

thanks, im sure ill be back with more questions being that i'm new to the cummins world.

No problem.

Personally I would probably find a later - 01 or 02 24V if thats what your after. The early 24V's had some issues.

If it's a 12v, ask if the kdp has been tabbed. It's quite likely to not have been done. If you get a "huh" for a response, either it has not been done or an earlier owner did it. It's not hard to do yourself-you should be able to easily do it in less than a day. You don't have to remove the radiator, or much of anything else other than the fan, belt, shroud, and harmonic balancer to get to the timing cover.

thanks for all the input guys