May madness 2014

[Bug Out]

For those of you that went, how did it go etc? I really wanted to go this year but only have 1 week for vacation and the wifes trip got the nod.

How was it? Any break thrus on issues with transmission shifting etc or other things that have come up? Any news on the vibration issue etc?

 

[RVTRKN]

I also wanted to go this year, but my birthday surprise got in the way. But I would only have been able to make the weekend. In two weeks I'll be on a two week vacation going through the national parks in Utah.

 

[MJWenrich]

This was my first year and I thoroughly enjoyed the various forums by the factory reps and vendors. Learned a lot about the 4th gen trucks and the previous years. As far as breakthroughs, did not hear of anything that would encourage me to wait to buy a new truck. The Cummins reps said the the current engine will be used through about 2017 without major mods. A new powerplant may be introduced in the 2018 year. Industry and government restrictions are all about emissions and mileage. My guess is that new models then will be lighter with new technology to save on fuel.

Also, no after market vendor has cracked the code to read and modify the controllers now present in the wi-tech on the newer trucks. They are working on it though.

The general consensus on transmissions seems to be that the 68RFE is fine for general use but heavy payloads should be done with the Aison option. I inquired about my Aison lag on launch and was told they are aware of it but do not have a fix nor an explanation of why some trucks have it and others do not. My lag has decreased a little with break in mileage at round 2,000 as of now and the milage is steadily increasing. Went up one mile per gallon just on this trip to Pahrump and back. Running 18.5 now with hills and flat highway mixed in and of course nothing hanging off the bumper.

Really great to see all the years and configurations and mods done to the Dodge trucks. Also listening to folks ask questions I had not considered and getting what would seem to be straight answers, if the information was known or could be divulged. The factory reps, Stan and his female assistant, were outstanding and brought portable computers to hook into some of trucks on the breaks to see if modules needed a reboot or to explain functions. That helped me a lot as I am not a computer guy and still did not know some of the options in my U-connect program. I also found out that I need the fuel heater module reboot.

Some really nice gifts were given away as well. The main sur(prize) was the Cummins 25 year package we heard about on this forum. Cummins gave one of those packages to an owner of one of the six 2014 trucks that attended. I was not a winner but was happy to have that kind of chance. Much better odds than a lottery. Geno's gave out some nice gifts as well.

Good to be home though. My mountain life is a lot less glitsy and one of the casinos tried to poison me with tainted food. Caused me to miss the Sat dinner but not much else.

Mike

 

[Buffalo]

May Madness was just GREAT!!!! Learned a lot about the new trucks through the seminar's and just hanging around in the campground listening to those that have them or know a lot more than I do. In one of the seminar's, they said that the EPA is just about done with trying to make the engines cleaner than they are, right now. They are exceptionally clean. Dodge/Ram/ Cummins has raised the mileage between oil changes to 15,000 miles because there is so little soot introduced into the engine oil.
In the near future, Dodge/Cummins is going to start to concentrate their efforts on power & mileage, since they no longer have to spend valuable time on clean engines.
I was impressed with the new Aisin auto transmission. Joe Donnelly gave great explanations of just what was inside this new transmission & why it is so good. It seems that the GM Allison is having to take a back seat to this new Dodge offering. This is good because, all the truck manufacturers will have to step up their game to remain in the running & be competitive.
I'm very grateful to have been able to attend May Madness, this year. It was a valuable experience, as usual.

Joe Fihn

 

[Walcott]

Hey Joe so good to catch up with you at MM,Let me know which model you end up with.LOL The 1500 we test drove was very nice.send me a pm with your #,see ya Alan

 

[Bug Out]

Hopefully there will be one next year. I went to one WAY BACK when in Long Beach, Ca or Signal hill,Ca. Had a lot of fun and learned a lot.I'll have to bend the little womans arm next year...

This year was important because I wanted to meet the reps and see about some answers but no luck for me..

 

[2rrRAM2nv]

what do they consider "heavy payloads"? a 5er? anything over 12k? any numbers? If I pull a 5er that is just under the towing limit for my truck, will I start to have issues?

thanks

Scot "Z"

 

[Cummins12V98]

I can tell you my 68RFE has been flawless with 50k and 28K combined load with 3:42 gears to boot! But my 15 will have the Aisin.

 

[Bug Out]

My 2012 max tow had the same engine and in transmission as my 2013 does. The only difference being the rear end gears, 342 versus 410s.

So I believe the 68 RFE transmission is good for up to 30,000 gross combined weight based on the 2012 model.

Again that's with 410 gears. My 13 is good for 25 k GCVW . I'm sure the transmission will be fine.

 

[Wingate]

Any news on the vibration issue etc?

I would LOVE to hear about the explanation for this as I am currently researching Texas Lemon Law Procedures.

 

[Bug Out]

Every truck that vibrates has a Aisin. Not saying the Aisin is the problem. Just wondering if the transfer case etc makes the front d/shaft different(longer-shorter-they did not balance the AISIN d/shafts?) etc then the 68 RFE? Maybe one person could pull the front shaft and see what happens? Compare the 68 RFE under carriage to the AISIN? I know the dealer should, but they probably wont happen. Or the rear shaft? Who knows..I never could figure out why my 2005 vibrated between 64-72 MPH. (Anybody remember the 2003-2006 shimmy/shakes-vibration?)Always towed at 62 MPH because of it.. You would think 10 years later the factory might be more interested in the issue.

Sounds crazy but mount a go pro camera to the running board aimed at the transmission, then drive shafts, etc etc and maybe you will see whats shaking under there?


I am certainly not going to upgrade to a 3500 with the AISIN till the vibration deal is figured out.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Every truck that vibrates has a Aisin. Not saying the Aisin is the problem. Just wondering if the transfer case etc makes the front d/shaft different(longer-shorter-they did not balance the AISIN d/shafts?) etc then the 68 RFE? Maybe one person could pull the front shaft and see what happens?

Unlike 3rd gens and earlier 4th gens, the front drive shaft only spins in 4 wheel drive.

 

[Bug Out]

If you have the disconnect. I thought that was a option?