I finally LOVE my truck!

[Dieselnut59]

I posted a while back about that annoying dinger/lamp out crap on my '03 and never got any real answers. Yesterday, when driving home (about a 30 minute drive) that damn thing must have "dinged" a thousand times. As soon as I got home, I pulled up to the shop, grabbed a beer and set out to find the source of the "ding". For those of yall who HATE these stupid things as much as I do (like if you want to have the door open and listen to the radio while working near the truck or if like me, you have LED tail lights), I can tell you how to get rid of it.

You must remove the dash panels and the gauge cluster. You will have to remove the outer back of the gauge cluster (torx screws) and the "speaker" is a little black "puck" looking thing on the outer corner of the printed circuit board. I was able to pry up under it and simply pop it off the circuit board. I put it all back together and no more annoying dinger! FINALLY!!!!

 

[Buffalo]

I've been getting the "dinger" warning buzzer about every 6 months, since new, on my '03.



Early on, I read that it was the rear lights on the truck that were causing the warning. The fix was to take out the bulbs, clean them up & re-install. That's what I have done. I use a rubber eraser on the end of a pencil & then put some di-electric grease on the contact points & it's good for another 6 months. The contact points are very small diameter wires on the bulbs. Not much contact, in my opinion.



I'm quite dissapointed in some of the engineering that goes into these trucks. Way to much "frilly crap" that doesn't last very long. A truck should be quite durable & be something you can count on. There are way to many "bells & whistles" on these things.



The ergonomics of the seats is another area that needs to be thought out, again. Dodge has been building trucks for nearly 100 years, now. So far as I know, all of them had seats, in them. With 100 years of experience building seats, how can such uncomfortable crap be installed in these trucks. I've been a dental technician for 44 years, not a seat engineer, & I was able to fix my seats so that I can sit in them for more than 1-1/2 hours without a lot of pain in my right leg. To be honest, I got the idea for the fix from guys on the TDR, which, is a great resource for problems like this. None of us should have to re-engineer these trucks, unless we want to. We have already paid for the engineering.



Well, that's enough preaching from my soapbox for today!!!



Joe F.

 

[Dieselnut59]

Joe, I buy a truck to keep till it is no longer road worthy. I would gladly sign a waiver that said I could never resell a truck I order if I could order it the way I want it. No airbags, no antilock brakes, no stupid chimes or buzzers, no stupid seat belt man light, no daytime headlights, no clutch/starter interlock and no stupid "child restraint/airbag" warning stickers on my sun visors!

 

[CDonaldson]

Glad to hear you solved the annoying buzzer problem and are now happy. I believe someone here (and on other forums) posted information about adding a resistor to the tail lamps that ended the annoying buzzer, the circuit has to see an electrical load, LED's don't have much of a load, so the truck thinks you have a burned out bulb.



I too hate the bells/chimes and such. When the disc in the NAV unit gets dirty, I get the bells/chimes, when the weather/temps are really cold, the NAV unit cannot read the disc, bells/chimes. I refrained from adding LED tail lights, didn't want the bells/chimes. I hate listening to them if I have the radio on and the door open. I have ALL the same complaints as every one else. I did manage to use the jumper across the seatbelt circuit to end the bells/chimes when not using the seatbelt driving to my barn from the house.



While they are considered safety features, I can honestly say that IF the guy who engineered this stuff into my truck was standing in front of me, he might fear for his safety.





CD

 

[Quilbilly brian]

The new 2010 dodge truck looks like a friggin space ship on the inside. I guess the marketing boys are still designing trucks for soccer moms and city folks who want a truck to impress their neighbors.
I agree with all the above TDR members. I want a heater. gauges and a decent seat with NO Electrical windows or doors... . My dream truck would be a Ford Frame and a cummins engine. . I guess Chrysler should be happy Ford isnt using cummins engines.

 

[DBentley]

If ford ever gets a cummins in the f250-f350 pickups I will be 1st in line for one.
Cummins=Good stuff
Dodge=Junk

 

[MZupkow]

When I ordered my '97 C&C, I wanted a work truck. I wanted the Cummins engine, manual trans & no frills. I did spring for A/C & cruise, but no power windows, door locks & a rubber mat on the floor. I didn't want a bunch of expensive crap that breaks. Both the salesman & sales manager kept trying to talk me into buying the top-of-the line truck... kept repeating trash about "resale value" & "having an oddball truck". I almost had to walk out before they would order what I wanted. ( They even suggested I go to Ford or Chevy & order a medium duty truck)

As a matter of fact I wanted a heavy duty charging & cooling system. They told me that no heavier duty options were available.

Seems like "real trucks" are a thing of the past?

Oh, I love my "Little truck"!!

 

[Dieselnut59]

I love the power windows and locks. It is especially nice in bad weather when you can let the other windows up from the driver seat if it starts raining and you can open all doors at once if coming out to your truck in a parking lot in the rain. I never use cruise control, but I do love a good sounding sound system, although I mostly listen to AM radio.

Bottom line is I believe, as long as we sign a waiver when we order a truck that we will never resell it to anyone else (or never to anyone without them signing the same waiver). This waiver would allow us to order our trucks as WE want them to be equipped. Of course there are requirements we all would have to live with, such as federal emission laws, federal safety laws for bumpers, lights, turn signals, etc, but when it comes to air bags, dinger chimes, clutch interlock, antilock brakes and the other "standard" frills, we should be able to have a choice. And even worse, how about the folks that can't even get a manual transmission?? Chevrolet supposedly does not offer a diesel with a manual transmission and I heard Ford is going the same way? That is CRAZY!

 

[Quilbilly brian]

I looked at Toyota Tundra's but they dont offer a manuel trans. either... I guess we just take what they give us and shut up... . They dont listen to the user just what the market analysis tells them... That is why the truck has gone from a work machine built tough to a wossy soccer mom SUV... I do like the power windows as long as they continue to work... Now if Toyota Tundras had a manual Trans and a cummins Diesel. . Ohh baby. By the way in Argentina the Toyota trucks DO have diesel engines. I dont know who make the engine but they also run a lot of their rigs on Propane.

 

[amsoilman]

I ordered all of my Dodge/Cummins trucks with what I wanted on each of them... ... ..... EVERYTHING that I could order! I have loved every one of them, and would never consider a Ford or Chev Diesel... ... period!

 

[AWise]

Just remember that all those dings/bells/chimes are not because Dodge engineers are bored, they are federally mandated... blame Uncle Sam, not Dodge for those annoyances.

Also, the seat belt chime can be disabled with a certain key, door, seat belt sequence, no need to jumper wires (its in your manual). I disabled mine on day 1, no chimes since.

Love my truck and would not consider a Ford or Chevy.

 

[Dieselnut59]

Just remember that all those dings/bells/chimes are not because Dodge engineers are bored, they are federally mandated... blame Uncle Sam, not Dodge for those annoyances.



Also, the seat belt chime can be disabled with a certain key, door, seat belt sequence, no need to jumper wires (its in your manual). I disabled mine on day 1, no chimes since.



Love my truck and would not consider a Ford or Chevy.

I did that for the seatbelt chime on my truck too, and my Liberty. The buzzer disable was simple on my "96, just unplug a buzzer module. Did that the first week I had the truck!

I would never consider a chevrolet because of the cheesie independent front suspension and low slung frame under the cab and lack of a manual transmission. It would take an offering of an inline 6 diesel and a manual transmission for me to consider a Ford. I would love a smaller truck for a runabout, but only with a diesel and manual transmission.

 

[EricBu12]

Whats the sequence to disable the seatbelt dinger?

 

[Dieselnut59]

I can't remember. I looked it up in the owners manual when I first got my truck. It is a key sequence and series of buckle, unbuckle. It was the same procedure for my Liberty.

 

[EricBu12]

Did it!. . here it is for anyone else. .

close doors, . . key in ignition at any spot except "on" (first Detent). . Buckle belt, Turn key to "on". Wait for belt warning light to go out, then, within 10 seconds, unbuckle and buckle the belt 3 times with the belt ending up buckled. Then turn off the key. . There will be a single chime indicating success. To reactivate the warning dingger, do the same procedure again.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I ordered all of my Dodge/Cummins trucks with what I wanted on each of them... ... ..... EVERYTHING that I could order!

Yep, I've ordered the four CTDs I've owned the same way. I don't buy off the lot.



Bill

 

[MickeyMiller]

I bought off the lot, end of year, from a high volume dealer... got ac/pw/pseat and steering wheel controlled AM/FM/CD... I use ALL the power features but would have ordered a stripper. Why can't we get a truck with roll up windows, rubber floor mats, and an AM/FM radio?

 

[timelessconstructionllc]

joe, i buy a truck to keep till it is no longer road worthy. I would gladly sign a waiver that said i could never resell a truck i order if i could order it the way i want it. No airbags, no antilock brakes, no stupid chimes or buzzers, no stupid seat belt man light, no daytime headlights, no clutch/starter interlock and no stupid "child restraint/airbag" warning stickers on my sun visors!

amen amen amen amen amen!!!!!!!