Hey DC, Are Ya Reading This?????

[Cattletrkr]

http://www.chevrolet.com/mediumduty/kodiak/c5500/



This officially makes Dodge the last ones to the party. I don't know how long these have been around, but I wouldn't have bought my dodge had I known these existed (April 04). I knew the trucks were around, but now THEY'RE AVAILABLE IN 4WD. It's time we start beeaaaaaching and pressing DC to come out with something. That way next time around I can spend $60k instead of $35k , maybe that's not all good...



I really should have bought a Furd 550, but I couldn't force myself to buy one of them. A Kodiak... Oh yeah, in a heartbeat. Maybe someone can chime in with prices and calm me down a little. Anybody have any experience with these? Am I getting all worked up over nuttin'? I know the Dmax and Allison aren't perfect, but man I'd love to have a TRUCK rather than a PICKUP.



Thanks for letting me vent a little.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Wonder what transmission options are abailable with those - a TRUE Allison A/T would be sweet! Sure would make a great RV tow setup...

 

[Chipstien]

Wonder what transmission options are abailable with those - a TRUE Allison A/T would be sweet! Sure would make a great RV tow setup... .

Why would Dodge want to get into a market just to please a handful of people. Sure it would be nice but... ...

 

[Andy Perreault]

Why would Dodge want to get into a market just to please a handful of people. Sure it would be nice but... ...

I doubt if DC would be interested in making something like this because they own Freightliner. A 4X4 version of the FL-50, -60, etc. would be interesting, though.

Andy

 

[WDaniels]

ifn it's a hefty transmission you want, there is a guy here on the site that posted awhile back after he put a 13 speed road ranger behind his 5. 9 cummins. Said that the it fit the bell housing perfectly. Only a moderate amount of modifications and easy ones at that. Hope this is information to your liking.

WD

 

[QRTRHRS]

You may want to read this recent thread. https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121297 I realize this is 4500 and not the 5500.



Andy nailed it with the 4x4 FL. But then you would have a Freightliner cab with it's cheesy hardware.

 

[SGibson]

Another GM product that should come w/a tarp to hide it's hidousnus, I wish DC would come out w/a med. duty as thiers were as good as any and better than most when they made them, I know they stopped the class 8 because of safety issues,now none of the big three make any, maybe the med dutys were stopped(1977) because of chryslers dim future @ the time, or the rumour of an aggreement w/ I-H, or investing capitol into omni/horizon, I thought they weren't making any now to elimanate redundancy w/FL but after 300c and especially the srt-8 model they must be comfortable w/ overlapping product lines, I see so many f450-750's and them dogbarking ugly gm's plus all those jap coe's in my line of work, there is a big market there.

 

[JUeckert]

Wonder what transmission options are abailable with those - a TRUE Allison A/T would be sweet! Sure would make a great RV tow setup...

gm pickups come with a true allison transmission!

 

[Cattletrkr]

There are many guys out there pulling way too much weight for a p/u, me included. There is a huge market for these vehicles, they just gotta be smarter when they build them.



I went back to that site and found out a few things.



1. 4x4 comes with ONLY a 5. ? rear end. Way too slow to be useful over the

road.

2. Numerous trans choices. I think three different versions of the Allison

1000 series.

3. No air ride available.



I know they (chevy's 5500) ain't the perfect solution. What I probably need is two trucks. Something like a FL70 when weather permits and my Ram3500 when I need 4x4. That's really the only way I'm gonna get what I need. I just think it sucks that DC is the only one of the three w/o a bigger 4x4 option. We'll see what comes in '07.

 

[DBoyd]

I saw one of these rigs in the Rio Grande Valley and it had the air ride on the rear with the pickup bed and a fifthe wheel hitch. Anyone seen the International medium duty built along these lines. I think they are listing for around $80 to $100K!!!

A lot of folks here in the RV park are going to the 2005 F350 with the Tow Boss package. Gets the GCVW almost up to the F450 and 550 range without the horrendous ride.

 

[AfterBurner]

Have driven both F-450 and F-550. Very nice trucks! If only they had a cat or cummins option :{

I like the fords over the chevy, cause they still give you the pickup feel, but give you a stronger suspension and drive line. The chevy 4500 and 5500 feel really big.

Maybe D/C will offer a C&C with 19. 5's. That would be nice.

 

[DBoyd]

Hey Afterburner, were these Fords 2005 models? And if so how was the ride with the new front suspension??

 

[QRTRHRS]

Will this do?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6737&item=4522522004&rd=1