1st gen vs 3 gen

[Mhannink]

i like the first and second gens casue they look sweet and u can do ur own tweaking

 

[Buffalo]

I have both 1st & 3rd Gen trucks & like them both for different reasons. The 91. 5 W-250 is a more crude, primitive vehicle but, has more personality. It's kind of like the Harley-Davison of trucks. It's a lot of fun to drive & quite durable & reliable.



The paint on the 91. 5 just falls off. The truck looks terrible but, it's not really Dodges fault. The EPA made all of the manufacturers take the lead out of the primer & go to a water-based color coat. The two just don't bond together, very well, so I've been told.



Regarding the auto trans in the 1st Gen's, they don't work very efficiently but, they seem to live a long life. I know of two of them with over 250,000 miles, without a rebuild.



The problem with the newer auto's (47RE's) was the clutch material in the lock-up torque converter. When it started to slip, it would wear off some of the clutch material and it would get into the trans. That's why so many of them had to be rebuilt at 70,000+ miles. The 1st Gen trans did not have a lock-up TQ, therefore no clutch material to wear off & get into the trans. The down side of NO lock-up TQ is that the engine is never locked up to the rear wheels & you can develope a lot of heat in the trans when towing a load uphill. However, the trans seems to hold up to the heat better than TQ clutch material. I changed my trans out at 150,000 miles & it was running as well then as it was when new. I just wanted a lock-up TQ. Got an ATS trans with a TripleLok TQ. Works great, now, but my wallet is still in shock.



I like my newer '03, 3500, also. But, it seems to be much more complicated with all the electronic controls. You can bomb them easier but, I worry about the long term reliability of all that fancy stuff. The new truck has more power in the stock form 305 HP. vs. 160 HP in the 91. 5. Also, the new trucks exhaust note sounds more like a sportscar than a truck (with the addition of a Magnaflow muffler). The old one sounds like a truck. The new truck definately rides better.



All in all, I like both trucks for different reasons. Would hate to part with either one of them.



Hope this helps.



Joe f. (Buffalo)



PS: MMOYLE installed a DTT trans & 89% TQ in his truck & it seems to be a good alternative between the stock trans & one with the lock-up TQ, & quite a bit cheaper than what I paid. Just a thought.