Not happy with my9 95

[MToney]

First of all I love the cummins, but the dodge around it is very, very disappointing. I have had the truck less than 2 months and so far I have personaly replaced all U-joints in the front and rear drive shafts due to failure, truck has a shimmy at interstate speeds that comes and goes, the dealer put over $1000 into the front end just to get it past PA state inspection, new tires, and the truck as a nice shudder when in OD Lockup between 40-50mph when trying to maintain speed. Dealer says its not bad enough to pull the trans under the 3 month engine/trans warrenty I got with the truck, she only has 66K on the ticker. My 95F--- drove and ran better than this, granted it was a 5spd truck and not an automatic. I plan to go have a discussion with the dealer about the trucks continual problems, although it probably wont get me anywhere. I dont have the income to keep thowing money at the truck or upgrade it with trans mods and track bar upgrades. With the rapidly rising cost of diesel localy I am wondering if I am better off to get rid of the truck to someone who can better afford to upgrade her. I dont want a gas powered rig but diesel is now at 1. 79 and is always more than cheep gas where I live. I am not a brand specific owner but prefer the reliablity that comes with specific vehicles. I had a 1990 2wd 7. 3 idi na diesel ford that had the automatic and it drove like a dream, I took her to southern GA for job training several times and I not one complaint about how it drove and rode on the interstate running 65-75 mph. I dont need a truck that is all tricked out mechnicaly, but just runs and doesnt nickle and dime me to death. Will the dodge hold up in the short run without any attention to the trans or the shimmy. I cant do all the upgrade work myself and must pay others to do it for me. I dont need the big arguments about Ford, Dodge and Chevy. I know the good bad and the ugly about each others diesels. I had a 6. 2 blazer that was fine for my use, ran good, but the body rotted away on it. I just see to many issues with the dodge, not the cummins, it runs like a swiss watch, What does everybody think. Or if anybody is interested in making me an offer on a low milage 95 4x4 straight cab let me know. Thanks Mike

 

[Andy Morrison]

You bought a truck that is almost 10 years old .

I think you should expect to have to do some repairs the things you mention sound normal.

I bet if you talk to the first owner he'll tell you that he never had any problems. Now you have the truck and it's time to replace wear items that's the price you pay for buying used trucks.



Also stock powered trucks with auto have sucky power.

My '94 that i bought NEW had poor towing qualities. No more auto trans for me.











Andy

 

[MToney]

I am not complaining about the power, just the damn shudder when in od with the converter locked up. I know is not doing any good for the trans. I do expect some wear items, but everything at once is bad

 

[lil red cummins]

well the options all seem costly. the shimmy probably wont go away on its own. its gonna need looking at.

trans will probably last OK short run if you dont hotrod it.



can you get the dealer to take the truck back or is it too late?



sorry you have these problems. sounds like you two aren't meant for each other.



do you have to have 4 wheel drive?

you might be able to save some money on a newer 2wd.



why did you give up the 95 ford for a 95 dodge? just curious



just a few thoughts.



good luck



jim

 

[ndurbin]

I've dropped about $7000 in my truck since November. Front axle rebuild, new HD trans. , ball joints, and drag link. Since I bought the truck I've put about $10,000 in it. New block from a '96, turbo, and injector tips. I'd be happy to stop seeing $1000 plus bills right now.



The trans shudder isn't good no matter what the dealer says, should be R&R'ed.



And the towing performance from a stock 94-95 auto sucks royally. Can it be fixed fairly cheaply? yeah, I'd rather spend couple 1000 on mods then 15,000 for newr one

 

[Joe G.]

I would think that the shuddering is not acceptable. At the very least line pressure is probably low. That indicates that the trans needs work.



The front end problems are probably caused by lack of maintenance. The shimmy will eventually beat the front end to pieces.



My truck has 228K miles on it. The only front end part changed is one axle U-joint. I have overhauled the transmission. That was a self inflicted wound caused by installing a bad shift kit. The overhaul was 150K miles ago.



I admit to be a bit of a nut about being particular about maintenance.



If you want solid reliable performance you are going to have to rebuild the front end and the transmission. Otherwise it will keep you busy writing checks until you have spent that much anyway.

 

[MToney]

I kind of figured on that joe, I plan to tell the dealer to fix the trans under thier trans warrenty or give me my money back. The 95 PSD I had was an early powerstroke and had a lot of bugs in it. I was having constant glowplug and injector problems. The only thing I can think of that might be causing the shimmy is the track bar, the rest of the joints, ie, ball, tierod ect were checked for state inspection. If I set up a toggle switch to keep the trans from going all the way to lockup around town it will be good for awhile, but that is band aid fix that I dont want to do, espicaly when I just paid 10,000 for the truck. Cheers Mike

 

[MToney]

I had the psd a few years ago, I was driving a 94 land rover discovery before the dodge, it developed engine probems, I am starting to wish I had had it fixed instead, it drove so much better than this one, to bad land rover doesnt bring the diesel version to the states.

 

[Joe G.]

Mike,



The shimmy might be caused by a worn steering shock, especially if the tries are wider than stock. I've seen that a lot on many vehicles. So far I have no detectable wear on any of my front end parts that help keep the truck between the fences. If they are tight now and get a shot of grease EVERY oil change they should last a long time.



The transmissions in these things are not designed for the torque that even a 160 HP Cummins makes. When I did my overhaul I used a heavy duty transmission kit I got from TST Products. That was before DTT was in business. So far I have had no problems that indicate wear. I installed a DTT VB and TC about a year after the overhaul. I guess what I'm saying is that if the dealer overhauls the trans with stock parts it will last quite a while, but not as long as you would like. Better to use heavy duty parts if possible. If you keep it then you should make plans to replace the TC and VB eventually. The stock TC is not getting the power to the ground for even a stock engine.



Just a remark or two about older Fords. My brother-in-law has an old one in great shape. '84 I think. Great truck except for glow plugs. He does laugh about how slow it is. Claims that if he is in a hurry he would be better off on a bicycle. It has hauled a lot of stuff since he bought it.

 

[Andy Morrison]

I thought about that shimmy. Try rotating your tires. Years ago I cured a shimmy or two by rotating.



Andy

 

[MToney]

I plan to check the steering shock as soon as weather improves, it finaly is, It got new tires, stock width and height, new front shocks, and a left lower ball joint when I bought it. Tires dont show any ill wear other than the normal rounding on the edges from 4x4 use during the winter and all trucks I have had do this, I plan to rotate them soon. As weather improves I will check the track bar ect. I will see what the dealer will do with the trans. I agree the TC does a poor job of getting the power to the ground. I just dont have the funds for an expensive TC like suggested. Cheers Mike

 

[dpuckett]

Mike,

I'm sure the dealer isnt real fond of having to rebuild a transmission right after you buy it, cant really blame them for not WANTING to; but a deal is a deal, and they should just pony up and get it straightened out. You are going to have to fight tooth and nail to get ANYTHING out them. Went through the same thing with my roommate's 93 Ranger with 50K in 2000. She was real big on low odometer numbers; she passed up a 92 for half what she paid for the 93; it had too many miles at 100K I personally wont own a vehicle with less than 15K a year on it; maintenance, despite what the owner will tell you, tends to get put off beacuse it is driven so seldomly, it never gets loosened and oiled up well enough. Seals dry rot, clutches dry out, and dont function well. I have no idea why low mileage older vehicles go for so much when they have more headaches than a high mile vehicle, plus you are out an extra $3-7K upfront for the zero on the front of the odometer.



ANd just beacuse it passed your state's "safety inspection" means diddly squat, esp if the dealer is an inspection station. They brag about stuff around here "passing inspection" and it still falls outside factory spec; Mom's passed and needs ball joints. Irony is, Colo has no inspection, and vehicles on average are in better shape than states that do have them.



Hope you get it all figured out.



-DP

 

[MToney]

I got mine inspected at my mech. and not at the dealer. It did need one lower ball joint but the rest were good, all the U joints were shot, the only good ones are in the front steering kunckles. She never fails to start though, even sitting for 9+ hours, no block heat, at works, just hit the intake heaters and she fires up. Cheers Mike