Eary 05 Quad Cab 4x4 NV5600 with 559,000 miles

[DPKetchum]

Had a new horse trailer delivered this A. M. from OK. Truck had 559,000 and change on the odometer. Drivers seat bad worn out but rest of truck was in ok shape. Had a front engine oil leak at around 510,000 that required a sleeve to repair. One clutch assembly due to a throwout bearuing failure,one set of u/joints. NO engine or fuel system work,NO transmission or Transfer case work. No front end work. Overhead was showing 18. 8 mpg in my driveway pulling 4600llb gooseneck trailer. Left here for Conyers Ga. to pick up another trailer going to AZ. then dead heading home to OK. He said that 95% of the haulers are using Dodge. Very few Fords and most of them are last of the 7. 3. Only sees a D/Max once in a blue moon. Also said some have fueling boxes,big exhaust,gear splitters on them but all it seems to do is run up operating cost. Says STOCK is the best fuel mileage and least repairs. Also said 70/72 mph was his limint speed wise.

 

[jgillott]

I always love to hear stories like that

 

[JCasper]

Great story.



I wonder how he gets 559,000 out of a transmission and I know a guy with 230K and he is on his 2nd or 3rd NV5600.

 

[HBarlow]

DPKetchum:



I agree with the basic facts the transporter reported. I've seen similar experiences often in the RV transport industry. The driver may have forgotten a repair or two but I'd say he's basically telling the truth.



Ferds and GMs simply don't compete with the Dodge or the Cummins for high mileage commercial work.



I'd go one step further. Many of the Dodge owners engaged in commercial hauling are former Ferd or GM owners. Many of them learned a painful, expensive lesson.



Harvey

 

[HBarlow]

Great story.



I wonder how he gets 559,000 out of a transmission and I know a guy with 230K and he is on his 2nd or 3rd NV5600.

JCasper:



I put 302k on the NVG-5600 in my '01 before overhaul. It was slowly leaking transmission lube out of the top seal where the shifter assembly bolts on to the case and I ignored it, probably too long. I got stuck hauling a heavy fiver in stop and go traffic all the way from Moreno Valley to Santa Fe Springs on the 91 freeway. It took all day to get over there deliver the trailer, and get back where I started. At the end of that day my NVG-5600 started grinding slightly in 1st and 2nd gear. After a few more thousand miles it required a rebuild.



Durability and service life of that transmission are pretty good but dependent on how the driver uses it.



Harvey

 

[JCasper]

JCasper:



I put 302k on the NVG-5600 in my '01 before overhaul. It was slowly leaking transmission lube out of the top seal where the shifter assembly bolts on to the case and I ignored it, probably too long. I got stuck hauling a heavy fiver in stop and go traffic all the way from Moreno Valley to Santa Fe Springs on the 91 freeway. It took all day to get over there deliver the trailer, and get back where I started. At the end of that day my NVG-5600 started grinding slightly in 1st and 2nd gear. After a few more thousand miles it required a rebuild.



Durability and service life of that transmission are pretty good but dependent on how the driver uses it.



Harvey

I think the guy I know probably had his built a bit premature, because it was noisy, but I am not sure.



I have also been told not to pull heavy up hill in 6th and that helps them out. I am only running 400HP and not towing heavy very often so I doubt I will ever see the insides of mine.

 

[LesStallings]

Pay attention if you see a leak from the shifter attachment. I saw some fluid on the garage floor and the area under the shifter was wet with fluid. I found two of the screws holding the shifter to the transmission loose. One finger tight and the other barely sitting there.



These transmissions sling a lot of fluid and will get dangerously low quickly. If I had not seen the leak on the floor, it could have been costly.

 

[tom sweeney]

... . if i had payed attention to the "slight weeping" around my PTO covers,i would STILL be driving my '01,which had 236k miles with no transmission work at all... actually,i only needed to check the fluid level earlier and i probably would have been ok..... oh well,live and learn!!!... ... ... ... tom

 

[rbattelle]

... . if i had payed attention to the "slight weeping" around my PTO covers,i would STILL be driving my '01,which had 236k miles with no transmission work at all... actually,i only needed to check the fluid level earlier and i probably would have been ok..... oh well,live and learn!!!

It weeped slowly until it was nearly dry!?



Ryan

 

[tom sweeney]

... . sorta,i neglected to chek the fluid level,so it got low enough to ruin a bearing!!... (i discovered that while towing my 5'er back from Illinois,it started growling after a long uphill pull)... mea culpa..... tom

 

[Bob4x4]

Had a new horse trailer delivered this A. M. from OK. Truck had 559,000 and change on the odometer. Drivers seat bad worn out but rest of truck was in ok shape. Had a front engine oil leak at around 510,000 that required a sleeve to repair. One clutch assembly due to a throwout bearuing failure,one set of u/joints. NO engine or fuel system work,NO transmission or Transfer case work. No front end work. Overhead was showing 18. 8 mpg in my driveway pulling 4600llb gooseneck trailer. Left here for Conyers Ga. to pick up another trailer going to AZ. then dead heading home to OK. He said that 95% of the haulers are using Dodge. Very few Fords and most of them are last of the 7. 3. Only sees a D/Max once in a blue moon. Also said some have fueling boxes,big exhaust,gear splitters on them but all it seems to do is run up operating cost. Says STOCK is the best fuel mileage and least repairs. Also said 70/72 mph was his limint speed wise.

I tend to think the driver was exagerating or at least leaving out some repairs,I see MANY of these trucks and quite a few rv/car haulers. The unit bearings are one weak spot injectors are another with the high miles.

I don't beleive the 18. 8 mpg is accurate perhaps a programmer or injectors to change the accuracy a bit. I also see many cracked exhaust manifolds in that line of work.



Bob

 

[JCasper]

I tend to think the driver was exagerating or at least leaving out some repairs,I see MANY of these trucks and quite a few rv/car haulers. The unit bearings are one weak spot injectors are another with the high miles.

I don't beleive the 18. 8 mpg is accurate perhaps a programmer or injectors to change the accuracy a bit. I also see many cracked exhaust manifolds in that line of work.



Bob

Could be a lemon sort a speak on the good side. LOL You never know.



But I have heard of the cracked exhaust manifolds also, that and head gaskets because of the rv haulers running them hot.

 

[DPKetchum]

I asked about injectors. He said all original. No mods and he said his overhead was off 1. 5 mpg. For all I know it drove loose as a goose but he was happy with the truck. Said he had driven big over the road rigs in the past and this type hauling paid allmost as well,was home lots more and the intial cost of the rig was a fraction of a big tractor. He also said repairs had been less on the Dodge. He said last year he grossed $105k and that was down over the year before. I've seen some high mileage Dodges in the past. This was the cleanest of the ones I've seen with that many miles.

 

[HBarlow]

I've never replaced an injector in 550k miles on two Ram trucks. I can't prove it but it seems that RV transporters and other commercial haulers have fewer problems with our trucks than many who drive them as basic transportation with an occasional tow. My guess is that if the commercial hauler buys only clean truck stop fuel and performs regular filter service he has fewer problems because he starts the truck once or twice a day and it runs at normal operating temperature and mid range power all day for 600 miles or more. He also is operating on-highway only and making very few stops per miles traveled so brakes and front end parts (2wd) last almost indefinitely. 4wd is another story but most transporters don't buy 4wd. I never replaced a front end part in my '01.



I was also cautioned not to pull grades in 6th gear by friends whose opinion I respect but I did it anyway. My little 5. 9 ISB in my previous Dodge had 275hp Bosch injectors and would pull most moderate grades in OD. When the transmission was disassembled for overhaul at 302K sixth gear showed wear. The hardened outer surface of the gear was showing a lot of wear and was replaced. Failure would probably have resulted in another 100k miles or so. I attribute the gear wear to my stubborn insistence on running it in OD as long as it would pull. Live and learn.



Harvey

 

[Buffalo]

Bob 4X4,



What are "Unit Bearings"?



Are you a believer in over-filling the NV-5600 transmissions? Do the aftermarket trans filters work? Any trans fluids you recommend?



Thanks.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[HBarlow]

I won't take a personal position on the overfilling issue because I don't know but I will tell you this. Standard Transmission and Gear in Fort Worth, TX, a TDR advertiser and the company who rebuilt my NVG-5600, believes strongly in overfilling to combat a design flaw on those transmissions that allows them to run low on fluid and self destruct. They overfill the ones they rebuilt and urge owners to continue the practice during future drain/refills.



They are, in my opinion, a great company. They treated me great when I needed an overhaul and the final price was very fair.



Harvey