Drove my first 03 today

[Diesel Dan]

Drove a 1 ton 4X4 dually black beauty today.



It was a beautiful sport/ Laramie w/ leather and the works msrp was 45995 but it was on sale for 42990 but was it a slug calif model w/235 hp) it did have the 48RE though. just not enough power to justify the HD transmission. Here are my observations.



Quiet, you bet, nice change to my 01 beast. but all cummins for sure



Steering is a big improvement. pricise and kinda firm



brakes get mixed reviews. stop nicely w/ the exception to panic stops. Pedal went to the floor. It wasn't to impressive to say the least similar to my 01



Interior was sweet! Seats were kinda firm but the truck had 16 miles on it so I think it will improve. I am not sure of the new style shift lever. (probably not an issue as i am planning to go 6 sp next time )



ride was nice for a 3500 and the truck drove very nicely. went there to drive a 2500 but no 4X4's on the lot



overal i loved everything but the lack of power. I even anticipated this and shut off my comp 10 miles before i got there but still dissapointed.



Oh well, I see an HO in my future, just have to figure out how to do this w/dmv in cal.



Best regards



DD soon in a 03( not soon enough though)

 

[racebeeper68]

I feel your pain I to want a HO also. Don,t want to mess with power adder's on a new truck till it's out of warrenty.

 

[agoldbach]

Sounds nice! I've been offered a test drive of a one ton this weekend up here in New Hampshire on a standard output Cummins. I'm going to try it sunday. That is, if I don't freeze my cheeks to the seat. Temp is -2 right now. With regards to the spongy brakes, my brother's one ton dually 94 ford (sacrilege!) DRW does the same thing. The dealer he spoke to said that this is not uncommon for drum brakes if the shoe adjusters aren't working and allowing the return spring to collapse the brake cylinder. The pedal's first stroke is just taking up all the free-play before the shoes contact the drums. But I haven't heard of this happening on disc brakes because they maintain a residual pressure after you let off the pedal, plus there's no return springs. This is of course assuming that the GenIII dually Dodge has drums out back instead of disks.

 

[MMeier]

Big, I mean BIG disc brakes all the way around!!! Oo.

 

[nickleinonen]

the foot to the floor in panic stops happens often to me in my tahoe. i know the rear brake adjusters suck, but it does it even after an adjustment. i have a feeling that it is the rubber flex lines in the system that cause the problem. that hydraboost that gm uses builds massive brake pressure if you get on the slow peddle real quick. , massive pressure means those little rubber lines bulge. even a little bulge will vastly slow down the flow to the pistons [in calipers or drums]. if the new HD has a similar hydraboost setup, me thinks that some braided SS flex lines for the front and rear would be a good idear

 

[Prairie Dog]

I've only had to do one panic stop but I was totally impressed. Very little effort and only a chirp at the end. I wonder if someone in Mexico isn't bleeding the brakes properly on some rigs. Mine seems to be fantastic .

 

[Barry]

Bob Martin with Mike Brown Dodge(one of the TDR friendly dealers here in Texas) called me last week and wanted to bring a new HO/Auto by for me to drive. Have not had a chance to do that yet but am looking forward to it... ... ... ...

 

[Casey Balvert]

I locked them up to avoid an accident the first week I had the truck. My dogs were not impressed but I was.



Casey