Attention: TDR Forum Junkies In late Jan of this year I made a trip from Washington state to Florida in my '01 2500. On the way I lost a lift pump which was replaced by Allen Samuels Dodge in Katy Texas. Then the transmission started slipping in 2nd and 3rd. AAMCO did the overhaul and installed a shift kit. Worked good for a few weeks then started acting up again. I took it in and had it checked out. No problems found, most likely crud in the lines from the old trans and it will work its way down to the pan they said 
. It did shift much better in the next following days. Then the lift pump started getting weak again. I could pull it down to 3-4 lbs under hard acceleration. All this time the steering box was getting pretty loose.
Anyways, this is all leading up to my purchase of a new (leftover) 2004 3500 SLT
. I gave up a few things like the Laramie package and 4X4. And I did not get the 600, just the puny 555. I figure with a 2X4 and rack and pinion I wont have the front end trouble. The 6 speed will easily out last any auto trans. The 4 wheel disk brakes are awesome. The cab has a bigger back seat for the kids. I got 17-19 on the trip back. The 555 has a lot more power than I had before, and still does ok on milage. Overall the new truck is much more refined than the old one. I hope this one will be the last one I will have to buy for a long time. That was the plan when I bought the '01 anyway.
So I figure I have left most all of my last trucks problems in the past with this new one. I have not heard of any major problems to watch for on the 3rd gen models. Any advice on what to look out for?
. It did shift much better in the next following days. Then the lift pump started getting weak again. I could pull it down to 3-4 lbs under hard acceleration. All this time the steering box was getting pretty loose. Anyways, this is all leading up to my purchase of a new (leftover) 2004 3500 SLT
. I gave up a few things like the Laramie package and 4X4. And I did not get the 600, just the puny 555. I figure with a 2X4 and rack and pinion I wont have the front end trouble. The 6 speed will easily out last any auto trans. The 4 wheel disk brakes are awesome. The cab has a bigger back seat for the kids. I got 17-19 on the trip back. The 555 has a lot more power than I had before, and still does ok on milage. Overall the new truck is much more refined than the old one. I hope this one will be the last one I will have to buy for a long time. That was the plan when I bought the '01 anyway. So I figure I have left most all of my last trucks problems in the past with this new one. I have not heard of any major problems to watch for on the 3rd gen models. Any advice on what to look out for?
