Just purchased a 2003

[Dodgeramking]

Hi,

I haven't been on this forum for awhile, I still have my original 96 with 445,000 miles on it. Anyhoo, a family friend just sold me his beautiful 2003 mega cab 4 X 4 - 2500 with 175,000 miles on it, that he just dropped a rebuilt 48 Re transmission into. I got this jewel for $8000, I consider a it real steal as its very clean. I only need to clean the dog smell out as he took his old Lab everywhere with him. I have nothing against dogs. I have a beautiful black Lab myself. So here I am researching mods for a 24 valve because its bone stock. My 96 is highly modified and a lot faster than this truck. I'm going to sell the 96 I think as I really only need one truck. its ugly and 20 years old, but its one hell of a truck with plenty of engine life. My 96 has about 200K miles on the DTT transmission I put into it and it is a hell of a lot crisper than the rebuilt trans in this 2003 that was purchase from some place called Jasper.

 

[Killer223]

no mega cab in 03,
get a shift kit int eh trans, then look into HP tuners, get more fuel filtration ASAP.

 

[Dodgeramking]

Slip of the tongue. I guess they called them Club Cab in 2003. My local trans guy who I trust , told me that there is a screw in the trans that you turn 1/4 to 1/2 and it will raise the line pressure enough. And from what I can tell, Jasper uses a Billet front cover on the Torque converter

 

[cerberusiam]

The 4 door version are a quad cab, club cabs went bye bye in 1998. Swap the transmissions then you will be a lot happier.

Jasper is pretty much refined OE junk, IF it lasts you got a good one but it is a crap shoot. You can't raise the line pressures with the adjusting screw enough to bother with, it needs springs on the PR valve to raise it enough to do any good. A billet cover stock TC is still a stock TC, they were sloppy to the nth degree and not really long lived under any hard use behind a diesel. You need something like DTT you have or Goerend TC to really make a difference.

14 years old and 175k, unless it has had a steady diet of additives and extra filtration plan on injectors. You are in the replacement zone at this point. If the truck has been garaged or kept in a dry area the next issue is the electronics and connections. If it has been close to the ocean any length of time that is a concern. They were, and are, a solid truck but age has a way of making that moot when things start going wrong.

 

[Dodgeramking]

The 4 door version are a quad cab, club cabs went bye bye in 1998. Swap the transmissions then you will be a lot happier.

Jasper is pretty much refined OE junk, IF it lasts you got a good one but it is a crap shoot. You can't raise the line pressures with the adjusting screw enough to bother with, it needs springs on the PR valve to raise it enough to do any good. A billet cover stock TC is still a stock TC, they were sloppy to the nth degree and not really long lived under any hard use behind a diesel. You need something like DTT you have or Goerend TC to really make a difference.

14 years old and 175k, unless it has had a steady diet of additives and extra filtration plan on injectors. You are in the replacement zone at this point. If the truck has been garaged or kept in a dry area the next issue is the electronics and connections. If it has been close to the ocean any length of time that is a concern. They were, and are, a solid truck but age has a way of making that moot when things start going wrong.

I guess I'm trying to compare this to my beloved 96. I have had 0 engine problems with it except replacing the turbo at 200k after I put a plate and governor spring kit in it which probably hastened its demise. And I have run Amsoil in it since the first oil change.*

 

[cerberusiam]

Don't try to compare the CR trucks to the 12V's, that will just lead to severe depression. Think comparing a Model A to a Porsche, equivalency other than it burns gas\diesel is hard to find.

The drive-by-wire electronic HPCR engines, and the truck wrapped around them, are different animal completely. They have idiosyncrasies that are unique unto themselves.

 

[MarkEkberg]

The 03 I have was my first. I have driven the Gen2 and the Gen3 is soooooo much better.

Front ends fall apart on a regular basis. I grease the wheel bearings, joints, religiously and they still fall apart. Ive had a few electrical gremlins, but nothing that stops the truck.

I think the big problems are as follows:

Fuel pumps on engine.
AC flapper door in dash
Door wiring breaking
Injectors quit around 150K to 200K. Mine are at 230 and need to be replaced.

 

[Dodgeramking]

The 03 I have was my first. I have driven the Gen2 and the Gen3 is soooooo much better.

Front ends fall apart on a regular basis. I grease the wheel bearings, joints, religiously and they still fall apart. Ive had a few electrical gremlins, but nothing that stops the truck.

I think the big problems are as follows:

Fuel pumps on engine.
AC flapper door in dash
Door wiring breaking
Injectors quit around 150K to 200K. Mine are at 230 and need to be replaced.

that's interesting. I had none of those problems with my 96. I did replace all the front end parts, idler arms, Pittman and ball joints at 360,000 miles. No problems with the injectors or pumps. It's at 445,000 and still going strong .

 

[Killer223]

that's interesting. I had none of those problems with my 96. I did replace all the front end parts, idler arms, Pittman and ball joints at 360,000 miles. No problems with the injectors or pumps. It's at 445,000 and still going strong .

Your 96 was a second gen. We are talking about 3rd gen cr trucks.

 

[Dodgeramking]

Your 96 was a second gen. We are talking about 3rd gen cr trucks.

So it sounds like the 3rd gen trucks have more problematic issues than the 2nd gen.

 

[cerberusiam]

that's interesting. I had none of those problems with my 96. I did replace all the front end parts, idler arms, Pittman and ball joints at 360,000 miles.

Well, if you replaced all those then you did have problems like that.

The fact you made it to 360k without doing means you weren't using the truck hard at all. The 3rd gen suspensions are better than the 2nd gen by far but they still are not up to the beating the 1200 lbs of engine will give it on less than adequate surfaces.
If you never reset the injectors or worked on the pump if 400k there were issues and you lost a lot of efficacy in the injection system. Just because it runs doesn't mean it is optimal. Vast differences from a P7100 to a CP-3. Your 96 like never saw injectors pressures in excess of 6k, a CR idles at about 6k of rail pressure and will max out in the 21-23k range. A CR injector cycles 2-3 times in an injection event where a jerk pump has one cycle per event. A CR injector will go +400k with adequate filtration and additives to combat the crappy fuel we have, that is the equivalent of 800k in a 12V at about half the HP of a CR.

Straight line comparisons fall apart when put in the context of what the engines are and what they had to deal with, can't just say the 3rd gens are more problematic without qualification. The fuel composition has changed dramatically in the intervening 20 years and that has had a direct effect on fuel systems. A 3rd gen is rated to tow and carry a lot more than a 2nd gen and has a lot more power to do it with in a heavier truck. The advances all come at a cost which makes comparisons hard to quantify.

 

[DaveHess]

I have owned my 2003 since day one and it has been the best vehicle I have ever owned. Just rolled over 95K on the clock and it has been trouble free. The water pump was replaced at 5,000 and the lift pump went out at about 15K. Nothing since. There are all the little things that require attention but I wouldn't trade my Ram for anything. I also maintain mine (probably over-maintain) IAW the owners manual buying the best of whatever it is that needs maintained. Drive it and enjoy it!

 

[Dodgeramking]

Well, if you replaced all those then you did have problems like that.

The fact you made it to 360k without doing means you weren't using the truck hard at all. The 3rd gen suspensions are better than the 2nd gen by far but they still are not up to the beating the 1200 lbs of engine will give it on less than adequate surfaces.
If you never reset the injectors or worked on the pump if 400k there were issues and you lost a lot of efficacy in the injection system. Just because it runs doesn't mean it is optimal. Vast differences from a P7100 to a CP-3. Your 96 like never saw injectors pressures in excess of 6k, a CR idles at about 6k of rail pressure and will max out in the 21-23k range. A CR injector cycles 2-3 times in an injection event where a jerk pump has one cycle per event. A CR injector will go +400k with adequate filtration and additives to combat the crappy fuel we have, that is the equivalent of 800k in a 12V at about half the HP of a CR.

Straight line comparisons fall apart when put in the context of what the engines are and what they had to deal with, can't just say the 3rd gens are more problematic without qualification. The fuel composition has changed dramatically in the intervening 20 years and that has had a direct effect on fuel systems. A 3rd gen is rated to tow and carry a lot more than a 2nd gen and has a lot more power to do it with in a heavier truck. The advances all come at a cost which makes comparisons hard to quantify.

guess I'll reserve the cash when I sell my 96 with the thought in mind that I'll need some heavy maintenance on this 2003. The guy who owned it was very easy on it from what i can tell. I don't think he ever towed with it, and I can see from maintenance records it was checked about every 3 months. I'll will be easy on it also as I no longer have my trailer. But thanks for helping with all this information, it's very helpful .

 

[TConver]

guess I'll reserve the cash when I sell my 96 with the thought in mind that I'll need some heavy maintenance on this 2003. The guy who owned it was very easy on it from what i can tell. I don't think he ever towed with it, and I can see from maintenance records it was checked about every 3 months. I'll will be easy on it also as I no longer have my trailer. But thanks for helping with all this information, it's very helpful .

Best thing you could do for it would be to put something heavy and wide behind it and run the egts up to about 1000 degrees for a couple of hours to clean all of the carbon out of it. THese things do not like to be babied. THey are work trucks.

 

[Dodgeramking]

Best thing you could do for it would be to put something heavy and wide behind it and run the egts up to about 1000 degrees for a couple of hours to clean all of the carbon out of it. THese things do not like to be babied. THey are work trucks.

that's a great idea. With my 96 I wait for some snowflake in a convertible to tail gate me on the freeway , then I step on it and they get a mouthful of soot