What to look for on 2006 CTD
I have a 96 12 valve, 5spd and want to upgrade to a newer truck. The '06 has 92000 miles on it, is completely stock and looks to be in excellent shape, from the internet pictures.
What are the problems with these new ones? My 12 valve has been 100% reliable and I'm looking for the same in a newer one. Any thoughts.
My '06 2500 CTD 2-wheel drive with auto transmission has 101,000 miles on it. Have the PSM intake mods and Smarty S06 for at least the last 60000 miles - no issues with the drivetrain to date. I do not abuse the 48RE with boosted launches, which would not accomplish anything anyway due to item 1. below.
Check your potential truck for:
1. With the AAM rear axle, check to make certain it has that version of positraction, LSD or whatever term they have hung on it. Believe it or not, DC, in their infinite wisdom, actually produced a number of these trucks with OPEN differentials - I ended up with one. Yep, why a 3/4 ton HD truck with the torque monster Cummins (all supposedly intended for towing) would be sent out the gate with essentially one-wheel dive is beyond me... . Yep, the situation can be corrected, but at a cost.
2. Check the A/C system - the year models around '06 are notorious for having the blend door coming unglued. Can be a DIY fix, but plan on a weekend to do something that DC should have taken care of - regardless of warranty, since this is potentially a safety issue in that the de-fogging capability of the system is greatly reduced when this failure occurs. Shame that someone is the TDR membership with the right legal know-how has not pulled CTD owners together on this and several other issues over the years to hit DC with a class-action lawsuit to correct such problems. Search the TDR forums, somewhere there is a good pictorial of the repair process.
3. If the fuel-filler (non) vent issue has not been fixed, be prepared to take forever to fill up the tank, or to install the vent-fix kit promoted by a TDR member. Again -search the forums for a link to this one.
4. While under the truck checking out the vent-filler deal, check to see if the vents on top of the fuel tank have had after-market filters installed. There is an issue with the fuel vents being left un-capped on the diesel trucks and open to the air, which allows moisture & dirt to be drawin into the fuel tank when driving in the rain, or on muddy roads. I believe there is a TSB out for this, and the previous owner may have had this taken care of already. If not - plan on doing it - problem shows up when water-in-fuel filter is indicated on the dash. It is a pretty simple DIY-fix - about 2' of 3/8" fuel tubing, several 3/8" clamps and two small inline fuel filters worked fine on mine.
Actually, other than the issues mentioned, the '06 has been as reliable a truck as I expect.
My previous truck was a massaged '99 2500 CTD two-wheel drive with 5-spd standard and 307,500 miles on it which I was in the process of building into a (at least) 12 second daily driver. Unfortunately, it came to an untimely demise thanks to a wayward 12x35" rear tire/brake drum/axle stub assembly that broke off a 4x4 Furd going the opposite way on the interstate and landed about 30 ft in front of me. At 75 mph, and with an 18-wheeler in the next lane, believe me - hitting/runnning over that can make for an exciting ride. I walked away - thanks to the good Lord, 3/4 ton truck chassis & weight of the Cummins which kept the truck from going over the concrete median barrier and into on-coming traffic. I am forever thankful for choosing to drive such a vehicle in the heavy interstate traffic around Houston, TX. Any less vehicle, and I feel certain I would not be here to write this memo.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
