5th Gear Nut

[RedRam1]

Sorry for posting on a subject that has already been beaten to death, but I'm trying to help out a buddy. Here's the situation:

My buddy is looking to get into a diesel Ram. He's looking at a nice, low mileage '99 2500 4x4 5 speed. He considers me to be a Cummins/Dodge expert based on my owning a CTD truck for 18 months or so! I have been advising him on what to look for in a used diesel Ram. I mentioned the 5th gear nut problem to him, but could not remember all the particulars... since this problem was not an issue with my truck, I never really dug into it. Here are my questions:



1. What year did DC "fix" this problem on production trucks? I'm thinking 2000, but am not sure.

2. What is the situation regarding DC fixing this under warranty? My buddy is being told by a dealer in his area that DC will fix under warranty only during the normal, 36 month warranty peroid. Is this right?

3. I know towing, and especially lugging the motor will cause this problem to occur sooner, but isn't it pretty much a "given" that this will eventually occur on all 5spds? For what it's worth, my buddy will probably remain stock (well maybe an EZ), and will be carrying a big slide in pulling a 21'bassboat.

4. If/when you do lose 5th, what are the odds of damaging the output shaft on the transmission, or having to do anything other than the normal 5th gear TSB?

5. For those of you who have had this done, if you had to pay, how much did it cost you?



Sorry for the lengthy post. I know I could probably do a search, read for a couple hours, and find answers to my questions, but in addition to being lazy, I'm really covered up today at work, and don't have time to search the archives.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

AFAIK, DC has never fixed it.

I wrote about the nut in two TDR issues a while back (issues 30-31). Most dealers will do it under warranty only for 3/36. Even so, if the nut came off, the mainshaft was probably hurt and another nut won't be a permanent cure. Go to Standard Trans for their mainshaft kit. www.standardtransmission.com or 800-std-tran

 

[Deezul1]

I just fixed mine, when it came off it is like having a second neutral. No noise, and when I took it apart no damage, it looked like someone unscrewed it and let it lay there. I drove it about 600 miles mostly around town as I was waiting for my new clutch to come and was going to do it all at once. There was no visible damage to the threads. I called Standard transmision to see if I could afford to do it right (not right now anyway) and asked about damage if I drove it and the guy I talked to said it very seldom hurts anything. I stuck a big magnet on the PTO cover right after it happened and when we took it apart for the repair there wasnt any chips on the cover at all.

 

[Sled Puller]

I had mine apart at like 88,000, fixing a bad 3rd gear went ahead and did the mainshaft, but the old one was FLAWLESS. 5th gear was perfect.

I did not lug the engine though.



www.enterpriseengine.com did the transmission rebuild, in Ohio.

They also have HD input shafts available, another nice upgrade to handle the TQ of BOMBed Cummins.



Gene