Well I made the change. We bought our 1st Mopar product (2003 Ram 3500 dualy quad cab) We sold our Avalanche the same day. I have ordered a Airsafe hitch in hopes of dampening the rough ride for the trailer. I will be using our Reese strait line dual cam hitch. I have not towed yet but the power feels great. I am a little concerned about the stiff ride but pleased with the idea of more stability in a panic situation with the dually. The truck has 83,000 miles on it but the old original owner did not tow with it. It is in very good condition and drives great. I changed the oil today. Any comments or recommendations for issues or maintenance other than the recommended? Any one have an extra transmission coolers added? Trans fluid changes? Trans fluid types? And what is the "death Wobble"? (Post 15)
I have a 92 Cummins, 4WD Getrag 5 speed 250. Tough as nails. Noisy buggar since it has mechanical lifters but, after 150,000 miles shows no signs of slowing down. I’ve done a lot of sound damping but the interior is, to say the least “austere”.
As for the wobble, a Borgson shaft and box system will fix it…
__________________ Digger Bear
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
Do a goggle search on the death wobble and you will get days of information to read about.
I believe the Generation 2 trucks (1994 through 2002) had this the worst. It is when the steering components get some wear due to the extremely heavy Cummins engine (1200 lbs) the front wheels start shaking almost out of control. The front wheels will points towards each other and then point away from each other almost shaking the truck apart. The other big culprit is the factory track bar is not heavy enough, use an aftermarket one. This will happen in mainly the 4wd trucks. Keep the front end components in good shape.
The death wobble has been around for 50 years or so - All makes and models have experienced it somewhere along the way - some just worse than others. I believe the old Ford twin ibeam axles are a real treat to keep in one piece too.
This problem has supposedly been fixed on the Generation 3 trucks.
We have a 2003 Dodge 2500 quad 4x4,automatic, cummins diesel with about 110,000 miles. We bought it used 3 years ago, and so far have had great service from the engine. We are religious about oil changes and air filters.
My only concern is the transmission. When it is hot, and we are towing, I hear a slight slip if I accererate from a stop. I just ease off, and it's been doing this for about a year. We also tow an Avion fifth wheel (one time a year)that weighs in around 13,000, so that has probably contributed to the slip. I suppose we will have to address this soon. Possibly the tourqe converter?
The other issue is the heater control in the heater box is stuck or broken, the dealer wanted $1,200 bucks to fix it and I passed. We just don't have heat on the floor, but plenty everywhere else. So I may just buy some of those battery powered heated socks to keep the old toes warm..
As for the ride....it is a 3/4 ton truck and rides like one. I am going to replace the shocks next week.
We expect to get another couple of hundered thousand miles out of the Dodge, and then I will retire it to campground duties.
Most of the mopar forum guys say to change the transmission fluid and filter every 30,000 miles. They say do that, and you'll be fine. I've only got 23,000 on my '04 (bought it during Dodge days when the '05's were just coming out so I've had it just a little over three years) so haven't done it yet, but plan to.
I've been using the Valvoline 15w40 oil and Mopar oil filters exclusively, and I change every 5000 miles. That's probably overkill, but what the hay. I'm still paying on this truck, so it has to last at least 15 years!!!!
I know a lot of guys like Shell Rotella oil. I use it in my tractor and can't say anything bad about it. Just the Dodge guys told me to use the Valvoline that says "Cummins" right on the blue bucket and nobody would ever squawk about me doing my own oil changes while its still under warranty.
I've been thinking of switching to Amsoil full synthetic. It would cost $100 to change the oil, but you could probably go 15,000 miles on one change...
I've heard of a lot of trannie problems with the half tons, but very few with the 3/4. Dad has a '99 that he bought new that he pulls a Holiday Rambler 5er with that weighs over 13,000lbs. It's really too big a trailer for his truck, but he's been pulling it for a good while now and he's had no trannie issues at all.
I'd originally wanted a 6-speed manual, but couldn't find one that the dealer was willing to come down to my price on. Wife can't drive a manual anyway so the automatic worked out OK. And if you burn the clutch up in one, it's $1500 to change that out. So you pick your poisong. I know in '04 they had two auto transmissions available with the diesel; one a heavy duty and one a heavier duty. Luckily mine has the heavier duty of the two. It shifts rough, about like the Allisons in big trucks, but I've not had a spot of trouble with it and I've been towing with it since day one. You do get 7 year 70,000 on the drivetrain with a new one (at least you did in '04) and 7 year 100,000 on the Cummins. If you get a new one, you won't be sorry.
Speaking of Allison automatics, I got a ride in a newer Prevost 45' bus the other day. I would have sworn it had a manual transmission in it and the driver was one of the smoothest gear jammers around. But I took a look and it was an automatic. I'm not sure how many gears it had, but I counted at least seven changes going from a start up to about 50mph. When it shifted, you could feel the throttle lift, the gear change, then the reingagement of the clutch and power restored. All very smooth. Makes me wonder if it's not like those setups that Ferrari uses now where it really is a manual transmission but is computer controlled. So you drive it like an automatic, but it shifts like a manual with an expert behind the wheel. Very cool!
Thanks for the feed back. To bad they don't put an Allison with a Cummings in a pickup truck. There must be a licensing arrangement with GM/Cummings.
Phil
Those of you with the Dodge trucks with automatics would be doing yourself a favor and put in a deeper pan on the transmission that holds more oil. This goes a long way in keeping the tranny cool.
Those of you with the Dodge trucks with automatics would be doing yourself a favor and put in a deeper pan on the transmission that holds more oil. This goes a long way in keeping the tranny cool.
Cn you tell me where to find the "deep pan"? Thanks Phil
My neighbors are serious MOPAR fanatics and they say to change the tranny fluid every 30,000-50,000 miles w/ MOPAR transmission fluid only. If you do this you should have no transmission problems. I put 160,000 miles on my 96 Dakota w/318 with no tranny problems. My Dad did have to rebuild the tranny in his 97 Dodge Ram 1500 at 100,000 miles but he did not use the MOPAR tranny fluid. I will be taking their advice w/ my new to me 04 Ram 2500 hemi hd as both of my neighbors have well over 200,000 miles on their Dodge's w/ no tranny problems and they have 1/2 tons(a 95 2wd and 99 4wd).
__________________
Different strokes for different folks!
I never learned from a man who agreed with me. Heinlein
I have a stupid question...I think: Why isn't the Cummins offered in the Power Wagon?
As I recall, the Cummins won't fit with the standard PowerWagon winch.
Bill
__________________
Bill Kerfoot, WBCCI/VAC/CAC/El Camino Real Unit #5223
Just my personal opinion
1973 Dodge W200 PowerWagon, 1977 Lincoln Continental
1979 23' Safari, and 1954 29' Double Door Liner Orange, CA
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