Dodge CTD last place AGAIN, Fordwheeler Magazine

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by dnitzel

After reading all the nasty stuff on thedieselstop.com , I hope the new ford diesel doesn't do to the industry what the GM diesel did in the 70's!

That's a good point. What I don't understand is Ford is replacing/buying back several of these 6. 0's and when you read the posts most of these guys are asking for a new 6. 0 Isn't the definition of "CRAZY" doing the same thing that does not work over and over again??? I would better understand this if it they were driving crew cabs that Dodge does not make, but most seem to be extended cabs. Can't feel sorry for anyone that gets offered a buyout from a problem vehicle and buys another one.

 

[BHolm]

There was another telling thread in General Diesel over there. It had to do with what engine/trans/truck combo you would build if you could pick and choose. I was struck by the number of Ford owners that chose the Cummins. Seems that they KNOW which engine is the best. I always knew it too, I just waited for Dodge to fill my other needs. They have, and now I have two

 

[mikel]

Originally posted by dnitzel

Why do people say "Fords" diesel and "Chevy's" diesel, but when they address the Dodge diesel, they say "Cummins"? It's clear that the magazines like the V-8 diesel over an I-6, but in all reality, for what we do, a big I-4 would suffice, but it would not be very manly!



Most of us all know that Ford's diesel is made by International, or Navistar, and GMs in an Isuzu product. Why are not the real sources of these engines talked about in advertising and mag articles?

While it is true that most of *us* know who makes the Ford and Chevy diesel, I don't believe the average person knows (or even cares). Heck I've even had a Ford owner tell me that my dodge had a v-8 diesel in it...



Dodge puts the Cummins name out there right in the front of buyers intentionally while Ford and Chevy don't, so it really doesn't surprise me that nobody knows who makes what engine other than the Cummins.



I take it to mean that an engine made by Cummins is a selling point, while one made by International or Isuzu isn't.



Just my . 0002



Mike

 

[dnitzel]

My concern is that Ford sells probably as many diesels as Dodge and Chevy combined, and IF they are having a lot of problems (maybe they really aren't), then considering the mentality of the American public, it will reflect upon ALL brands of diesels, and will effect our re-sale value even though the Dodge trucks may not have had problems.



Ford's advertising is EXTREAMLY aggressive and with that the public is led to believe that they (Ford) sets the standard for ALL HD diesel pickups. People believe most anything they see on TV and don't question magazine articles that publishers tilt for revenue (be it any brand).



A vehicle that's been in the shop half a dozen times or so (Ford, Dodge, Chevy or Ya-who-sue) the first 100K miles, many of the owners still think it's a GREAT truck. If that happened to my Dodge, I'd be lookin' at something else. One or two trips back to the dealer for a repair (not a recall) the first 100k, in my opinion is probably OK as long as it's nothing major. More than that, then it wouldn't fit my classification as a "good" truck. I do have friends who have the 7. 3 PS and have has some major motor and transmission issues and bad milage, and they still think it's a great truck.



Dodge does VERY LITTLE advertising compared to Ford and Chevy, maybe that's why their business is down?



Wish I had a dollar for every person who said to me "Boy does Ford have one hell of a new diesel now, most powerful and dependable on the market, you ought to look at it" and they know I have a NEW Dodge. I start talking about the problems described on the PS forums and they look at me like, just what the heck are YOU talking about?

 

[BHolm]

I think you are right, Cummins is a selling point because of the big rig association. If you could get Cat and Detroit Diesel into the fray I bet those names would be thrown about as Cummins is. Navistar to me means schoolbus, Isuzu doesn't do much for me at all. In reality both of the other brands are very good engines, both manufacture tons of diesels. Nobody else though has the connection to the big rigs like Dodge does.



It is a similar deal with the GM's Allison transmission. Nobody else has a big time HD trans company backing their engines. People buy into that name as well. I would kill to have my Cummins backed up by a 1000 series Allison in a big black King Ranch version crew cab Ford. Better yet, I love to see a smaller Cat engine (I-6) backed by an Allison in that truck. Can't have any of that stuff so I'll enjoy what is out there.

 

[BHolm]

dnietzel,



What makes you think that Ford and Chevy trucks are so unreliable and the Dodge is so great? My '92 Dodge went through five, count em five manual transmissions. After each replacement I would then battle the dealer to get the speedo working. The brakes never ever worked correctly and the body was a hunk of junk. The Cummins was the ONLY part of the truck that wasn't total junk. I switched to a Ford. I still have that truck and it shows 220k miles now. It was in the shop one time at 35k miles for a leaking water pump. It has never ever had a failure of any kind since. This is a work truck with multiple drivers. It hauls 15k lb loads almost daily and plows snow in the winter. I did have to replace the torque convertor at 120k and I had the rear end rebuilt at 210k along with a reman trans. I consider it to be one of the best vehicles I have ever owned, especially considering the abuse it takes. I had some computer programming related issues with the Allison in my Chev. Allison sent a tech and we had it reprogrammed. That truck saw similar use. I had it to the dealer twice in the last 3000 miles, between 94k and 97k. I traded it because my research indicated some guys were having injector seals fail. I didn't want to replace the engine out of warranty. It certainly wasn't like I was fixing the truck all of the time. It hauled my butt cross country more than once with no problems.



I see it on each site, you have guys that just bury their heads in the sand thinking they have found the holy grail of trucks and the rest are nothing but trouble. In this day and age, if that were true, the others would die a quick death. They are all good trucks IMO. They all have good points and bad. You will definately hear from me if these new Dodges have problems. I was booted off the Chev site when my Allison was acting up. The site owner just couldn't bear to hear dissent about his brand. Ironically, I have an '03 Chev D/A at home that I love. I just realize that it serves a little different purpose than my Dodge trucks.

 

[dnitzel]

I guess we shall see just how good the Dodges are after say, 100k, 200k, 300k.



Some of us were surprised about the number of problems described on the ford diesel site with the new PS. I'm sure if the Dodges were having the same problems, or shows problems down the road, it should be (I hope) talked about here in this forum as strongly as the ford problems are there. I'm on my fourth Dodge since 1995, none have ever been back to the dealer except for a few recalls and scheduled maintenance.



As I have mentioned before, I think some people still think a vehicle is great, be it a Dodge, Ford, Chevy or Ya-who-sue, if it's in the shop half a dozen times or so the first 100K miles. To me, with modern tech, it shouldn't happen as long as they are maintained well, etc.

 

[Blue2002]

Originally posted by BHolm

dnietzel,

My '92 Dodge went through five, count em five manual transmissions. After each replacement I would then battle the dealer to get the speedo working. The brakes never ever worked correctly and the body was a hunk of junk.

The Cummins was the ONLY part of the truck that wasn't total junk. I switched to a Ford. I still have that truck and it shows 220k miles now. It was in the shop one time at 35k miles for a leaking water pump. It has never ever had a failure of any kind since. This is a work truck with multiple drivers. It hauls 15k lb loads almost daily and plows snow in the winter. I did have to replace the torque convertor at 120k and I had the rear end rebuilt at 210k along with a reman trans. I consider it to be one of the best vehicles I have ever owned, especially considering the abuse it takes. I had some computer programming related issues with the Allison in my Chev. Allison sent a tech and we had it reprogrammed. That truck saw similar use. I had it to the dealer twice in the last 3000 miles, between 94k and 97k. I traded it because my research indicated some guys were having injector seals fail. I didn't want to replace the engine out of warranty. It certainly wasn't like I was fixing the truck all of the time. It hauled my butt cross country more than once with no problems.

I see it on each site, you have guys that just bury their heads in the sand thinking they have found the holy grail of trucks and the rest are nothing but trouble. In this day and age, if that were true, the others would die a quick death. They are all good trucks IMO. They all have good points and bad. You will definately hear from me if these new Dodges have problems. I was booted off the Chev site when my Allison was acting up. The site owner just couldn't bear to hear dissent about his brand. Ironically, I have an '03 Chev D/A at home that I love. I just realize that it serves a little different purpose than my Dodge trucks.

Sound like you had a very bad experience. I do wonder why i have not heard of others replacing this many transmisisons in one truck. It would not take me too many times to start looking for another dealer. I do not wish any misfortune on you or any other Ford or Chevy Owner. Most of us work hard enough to pay for these vehicles

I know that our Dodges have issues just as the Chevy and Fords have issues. I have owned 20 + vehicles and only one was a Dodge prior to this, a Van that turned me completely off to Dodge.

But... . when the time came to put down the cash, I had done my research. My friends own Ford, Chevy, & Dodge Diesels. I heard no problems from friends with the Dodge Diesels (the majority I do admit). I heard major problems from friends with Fords and Chevys. I do know people who took a loss to dump their Ford to get the reliability of the Dodge. That change to Dodge was a major shift for me but I went for reliability of the Dodge Cummins.

Most of the folks on this site are probably not here to bash your Ford or Chevy, We are concerned about own issues, knowing what they are and how to fix them with minimum impact to out itme and wallet. All of us should expect quality when spending the amount of money we do for our Trucks, especially Diesels.

I wish you continued luck on your vehicles.

(Keep the rubber side down)

George

 

[Dean Upson]

I never heard any thing good about the pre 94(?) Getrag manual transmissions. Lots of people had problems with them and it is my understanding that it was the transmissions and not the dealers that were not up to par.



Dean

 

[dpuckett]

Originally posted by Dean Upson

I never heard any thing good about the pre 94(?) Getrag manual transmissions... ...

I had heard that too when I bought my first CTD Dodge. I got an auto and sold it 10 mo later. I havent had any problems with the Getrag. Most of the problems were associated with lugging the p!$$ out of it when loaded, coupled with low oil levels. Mention changing manual transmission oil in some areas, and you get a STRANGE look. The one I have right now is original, along with the clutch. 255K and counting. I'll admit, the Getrags may not have been the epitome of design, but check the oil level every engine oil change, and dont lug them, and they'll do as well as the NV4500 behind the Cummins (remember the 5th gear nut?). THe reason you dont hear of the V8s trashing transmissions is because they generally dont make enough low end torque to wreck anything.

 

[RussW1911]

A PROUD MOMENT!! Towed a Ford

Was in town last saturday and came upon a Travel Trailer that was over 30 foot. Well it was stopped in the middle of main street and I was hailed down to help. It was a frazzled owner of a F250 with a rear bumper on the ground. Seems he and his brother didn't like the ride and pulled the overloads off and did something to lower the rearend. Long story short, he broke a spring or the hanger on a bump (Had to be a heck of a curb) and bent/broke his rear axle,we unhooked and the mighty HO was more than happy to drag the poor FURD off to the side of the road and then I went back and pulled his TT off as well. Needless to say he wasn't to impressed when I offered to drag him down the street less than a half block to the local Furd dealership. Said his brother and the other family furd would come to help... . offered my cell in case that one broke too. Now I know it was modified but the hundreds of Fellow dodges and Furds that drove by didn't know that. Swelling with pride and a S*** eatin' grin... ... Maybe I did go real slow, didn't want to do any more damage and was watching for the ford test drivers to go by.

 

[BHolm]

The final fix for the Getrag was to run 75-90 synthetic oil in it instead of the factory ATF fill. That made it last quite a while compared to when it had ATF, or was it a 5-30 oil? Anyway, they specced something awefully thin. The transmission shop I used on the last rebuild had seen tons of these. Naturally the Chrysler zone office hadn't heard of any failures, yeah right!



My point is that you can get a bad one from anybody. Lots of guys had tons of trouble with the auto trans on the first '99 PSD's too, mine was fine. I was the guy having trouble with an early durapooch while everybody else was praising them.



I expect that the Dodge will be the best one for my work needs. I did the research and have owned the rest. The clincher was the HO/automatic introduction. They got my attention with that and I am very impressed with the trucks. I am so impressed that I feel the need to add a Banks kit to my wife durapooch just to keep up, it just feels so weak down low by comparison.