Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I'm a former 1st gen owner, and in the past I've owned a '90 and a '92. Those two trucks had a combined mileage of just under 450,000 miles. Neither one of them ever gave me any major problems... In January of 2009 I became the proud owner of a leftover 2008 3500 dually. It now has 23,000 miles, and I'd like to chronicle the problems so far:
1) The anti-theft stopped communicating with the truck, which caused a no start at 14k miles. This left me stranded twice.
2) Both batteries had to be replaced at 20k miles (one no-start).
3) Back to the dealer TWICE for factory recalls, one for hardware (steering stabilizer) and once for software (recalibrate the re-gen software).
4) At 21k miles the clutch started slipping. I was told, by Dodge, that a clutch is considered a "wear item" like wiper blades, and wouldn't be covered by warranty. I replaced the stock unit with South Bend clutch/flywheel at a cost of almost $2000. 00 out of my pocket. There was nothing wrong with the old clutch. The dual-mass flywheel had been the culprit, the two halves were slipping by each other (this WOULD HAVE been covered under warranty, if Dodge had diagnosed it correctly the first time).
5) The tailpipe is already so rusty, I'm waiting for it to fall off.
The truck now has 23k miles, and I'm wondering what's going to be next... Keep your 1st gen trucks, I sure miss mine.
1) The anti-theft stopped communicating with the truck, which caused a no start at 14k miles. This left me stranded twice.
2) Both batteries had to be replaced at 20k miles (one no-start).
3) Back to the dealer TWICE for factory recalls, one for hardware (steering stabilizer) and once for software (recalibrate the re-gen software).
4) At 21k miles the clutch started slipping. I was told, by Dodge, that a clutch is considered a "wear item" like wiper blades, and wouldn't be covered by warranty. I replaced the stock unit with South Bend clutch/flywheel at a cost of almost $2000. 00 out of my pocket. There was nothing wrong with the old clutch. The dual-mass flywheel had been the culprit, the two halves were slipping by each other (this WOULD HAVE been covered under warranty, if Dodge had diagnosed it correctly the first time).
5) The tailpipe is already so rusty, I'm waiting for it to fall off.
The truck now has 23k miles, and I'm wondering what's going to be next... Keep your 1st gen trucks, I sure miss mine.
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Who said I love this truck:-laf 
