1988 Dodge D50 Sport from North America - Comments

I had to replace the wheel bearings and auto-locking hub when I bought it.

The carb ran really rich and had to be replaced with a used one, which solved the problem.

Brake caliper stuck and had to be replaced.

It's a really good truck, it gets me everywhere I need to go and it's good on gas. It has better power than most 4 cylinders and it goes really good through the mud.

The sport extended cab makes extra room for more speakers.

These are excellent trucks except for the carb and head gasket problems they have. I'd buy another one if I had the chance.

I whole-heartedly concur with your comment about these trucks! I own an 88 4x4 Sports-cab as well.

Problems with mine were consistent with yours - brake caliper sticking, carburetor running rich (replaced with aftermarket), and a bad jet valve (repaired pretty easily myself).

I love to drive this truck. Although the ride is a little rough, it will haul more weight than some full size trucks.

I have 188,300 miles on mine and look forward to putting another 100K - 200K on it!

OK I am about to purchase a 1988 ram 50 and cannot find any info on the manufacturer. did Mitsubishi still make them for dodge or did dodge take over production. the motor in the one I am about to purchase is fried and I am trying to figure out what to replace it with.

Chris.

Yes, the trucks were manufactured by Mitsubishi for dodge as were the engines.

I used to have an 88 4x4 lwb 2.6, it was very fun in the snow.

Had no real problems with it except for the starter and battery cables constantly corroded, killing the battery (another Mitsubishi quirk).

I had an '88 D50 2wd with the carbed 2.0 and a 5 speed. I'd suggest to anyone looking into these trucks, DON'T get the 2.0!! I never did get the 18/28 gas mileage they claimed it would get, it was more like 18/20. It couldn't get out of it's own way as far as accelerating. I had all kinds of trouble with the carb on that motor always getting out of adjustment, but a new one was always quoted as around $400. It had this really complicated vacuum hose plenum for emissions, and it always was leaking somewhere. Plus the alternator was mounted so low it would wear out prematurely from all the crud that got into it. Once, the gearshift came off in my hands, yes, OFF, and it was because of some dumb plastic bushing that connected into the trans top. The power steering system was a joke, too, I wished it was manual so I wouldn't have had to fix it every year; it was always either the pump shaft or the pittman arm seal spewing steering fluid everywhere. Seems like the 2.6 and the later 2.4 were better, but I replaced it with a Chevy S10 instead because the bodies didn't seem to rust away quite as fast as the import-metal D50's.

I love my old 88 D-50 2.6 5 speed manual (208 thousand miles on it). My dad was the original owner.

It has been a great truck and it will go just about anywhere in mud or snow, even places that guys get stuck in bigger trucks.

The only problem I have had is that there is something with the carb or something, that makes me lose major power on hills, and the spark plugs keep getting fouled, and the distributor cap wears out every six months. It makes me wary of taking it on long road trips, but I wouldn't hesitate to pop it in 4wd and go out in the mud on a friends farm.

If anyone has any ideas or has similar trouble, I would love to hear from you.