Duramax and PowerJoke Suck

[Grizzly]

I was out doing my morning walk today when I saw an acquaintance and neighbor who owns a hot air balloon called, "Smokey", which is very well known and liked at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. I asked him how he liked his new Chevy 3500 Dually. He said the new Chevy, which has a Duramax, is great, as long as he doesn't tow his 5th wheel. He has an enclosed 5th wheel to transport his balloon and gondola to other balloon shows. He said it lacks power for towing. Prior to the Chevy he had two Furd Powerjokes. He said the engines were so bad that they were always at the dealers getting worked on. He decided that Dodge Cummins has got to be the way to go. He knows that's what I have. He knows of the legendary Cummins but wanted to know how I liked the truck. I told him I loved it and told him why. He added that his Chevy really needs an exhaust brake. I told him the Dodge has one as standard equipped.



george

 

[Grizzly]

Today my neighbor told me he's going to the Dodge dealer to test drive a 3500 dually with a Cummins and the new Aisin 6 speed auto.

 

[HBarlow]

Grizzly,

As you and I both know, if he buys one and tows with it he'll throw rocks at his previous GM and Furd. He'll probably want to give you balloon rides for steering him in the right direction.

You said he was going to test drive a 3500 dually w/Aisin. He's apparently interested in a C&C?

 

[Grizzly]

Grizzly,



As you and I both know, if he buys one and tows with it he'll throw rocks at his previous GM and Furd. He'll probably want to give you balloon rides for steering him in the right direction.



You said he was going to test drive a 3500 dually w/Aisin. He's apparently interested in a C&C?

Well, he didn't say anything about a C&C. He was under the impression that the only way he could get a 3500 Dually was with a short bed and he definitely wants a long bed. I told him he must be thinking about the Mega Cab. He said he doesn't want the Mega, he just want a Crew Cab. I told him my truck is a 4 door Quad Cab, which is little smaller then his Crew Cab.



I believe I heard that Dodge will have a 4 door Crew Cab for 2010. Is that true?



george

 

[CurtLee]

Its true George. Its supposed to have the same leg room as a mega without the behind seat storage, but i'm not sure, maybe someone will correct me.

 

[HBarlow]

George,

My point was about the transmission. In order to have an Aisin your friend will have to buy a cab and chassis. A 3500 pickup uses a MOPAR AS68RFE six speed automatic. Only the cab and chassis trucks are equippped with an Aisin.

 

[jeepit]

Well, he didn't say anything about a C&C. He was under the impression that the only way he could get a 3500 Dually was with a short bed and he definitely wants a long bed. I told him he must be thinking about the Mega Cab. He said he doesn't want the Mega, he just want a Crew Cab. I told him my truck is a 4 door Quad Cab, which is little smaller then his Crew Cab.



I believe I heard that Dodge will have a 4 door Crew Cab for 2010. Is that true?



george

With a long bed? Nice... ..... Oo.

 

[Mark31]

Harvey, did you buy a C+C just because you wanted the Aisen over the 68FRE? I had an Aisen in my 97 "square" Cherokee right-hand drive. It carried mail for 78k till I retired in 01 without much more than a hiccup or two. The Dodge service manager got bent out of shape when I told him I had to get a Toyota transmission filter for it! About that time, my local trans guru was servicing a Volvo with an Aisen. Maybe he called it an Aisen-Warner? Mark

 

[Grizzly]

George,



My point was about the transmission. In order to have an Aisin your friend will have to buy a cab and chassis. A 3500 pickup uses a MOPAR AS68RFE six speed automatic. Only the cab and chassis trucks are equippped with an Aisin.

Harvey, I didn't know that the only way you can get the Aisin 6 speed auto was to get the C&C, which is not a bad idea if I were buying a new truck. However I'm not entertaining any thoughts on buying a new truck. I'll let my Smokey balloon neighbor know.



george

 

[HBarlow]

Harvey, did you buy a C+C just because you wanted the Aisen over the 68FRE? I had an Aisen in my 97 "square" Cherokee right-hand drive. It carried mail for 78k till I retired in 01 without much more than a hiccup or two. The Dodge service manager got bent out of shape when I told him I had to get a Toyota transmission filter for it! About that time, my local trans guru was servicing a Volvo with an Aisen. Maybe he called it an Aisen-Warner? Mark

The Aisin was one of the reasons I decided on the C&C. I knew only about Aisins being behind a Cummins in some Freightliners but as I began looking at them a fellow TDR member sent me a link to Aisin.

As you mentioned, Aisin was formerly Aisin-Warner which resulted from our fine old American transmission builder Borg-Warner setting up a factory in Japan. I don't know if it was originally a 50-50 joint venture with Aisin-Seiko or it was established by Borg-Warner but in any case, Borg-Warner joined with Aisin-Seiko to become Aisin-Warner. Aisin-Warner became successful and expanded and eventually became Aisin.

Aisin makes the tranmissions in almost all the Japanese brands we know like Toyota, Mitsubishi, etc. and it also supplies the transmissions in Jeeps, smaller Chrysler/Dodge cars, some German name plates like BMW, and many others. It is apparently a very strong reliable automatic. It uses unique ATF available from Valvoline as Multiple Vehicle ATF (JWS-3309). If you read the bottle label it lists many of the applications which give an idea how many cars and light trucks use an Aisin.

Another primary reason for buying the C&C was I consider the Dodge Ram 3500 drw pickups rear suspension too soft for heavy RV towing. They ride great but as the miles accumulate under heavy kingpin weights they sag and rebound violently through highway dips. The C&Cs have stiffer suspension.

I really started off planning to buy a 4500. I was impressed and excited when they hit the market. My enthusiasm quickly dimmed after I drove several of them. A 4500 C&C makes a great tow vehicle for a heavy fifth wheel but I couldn't live with one as a daily driver and occasional tow vehicle. The ride is too stiff for me.

 

[Grizzly]

The Aisin was one of the reasons I decided on the C&C. I knew only about Aisins being behind a Cummins in some Freightliners but as I began looking at them a fellow TDR member sent me a link to Aisin.



As you mentioned, Aisin was formerly Aisin-Warner which resulted from our fine old American transmission builder Borg-Warner setting up a factory in Japan. I don't know if it was originally a 50-50 joint venture with Aisin-Seiko or it was established by Borg-Warner but in any case, Borg-Warner joined with Aisin-Seiko to become Aisin-Warner. Aisin-Warner became successful and expanded and eventually became Aisin.



Aisin makes the tranmissions in almost all the Japanese brands we know like Toyota, Mitsubishi, etc. and it also supplies the transmissions in Jeeps, smaller Chrysler/Dodge cars, some German name plates like BMW, and many others. It is apparently a very strong reliable automatic. It uses unique ATF available from Valvoline as Multiple Vehicle ATF (JWS-3309). If you read the bottle label it lists many of the applications which give an idea how many cars and light trucks use an Aisin.



Another primary reason for buying the C&C was I consider the Dodge Ram 3500 drw pickups rear suspension too soft for heavy RV towing. They ride great but as the miles accumulate under heavy kingpin weights they sag and rebound violently through highway dips. The C&Cs have stiffer suspension.



I really started off planning to buy a 4500. I was impressed and excited when they hit the market. My enthusiasm quickly dimmed after I drove several of them. A 4500 C&C makes a great tow vehicle for a heavy fifth wheel but I couldn't live with one as a daily driver and occasional tow vehicle. The ride is too stiff for me.

Harvey, you got the best combination one can get in a truck. A Dodge with a Cummins, an Aisin 6 speed auto and a 3500 DRW C&C. What else is there?



george

 

[HBarlow]

My little C&C does a good job with my fifth wheel but at 14,000# the trailer is the maximum size and weight I would want to pull with a Ram 3500.

If I was a full-time RVer I would have an IH 4400 LoPro with a BIG inline six. Is that a sacrilege to speak on TDR?

 

[Grizzly]

My little C&C does a good job with my fifth wheel but at 14,000# the trailer is the maximum size and weight I would want to pull with a Ram 3500.



If I was a full-time RVer I would have an IH 4400 LoPro with a BIG inline six. Is that a sacrilege to speak on TDR?

They're nice, but at $110K? Click here.



Besides, you wouldn't be happy without a Cummins under the hood.