Sam M's new Truck Stinks!

[Sled Puller]

Originally posted by Steve St. Laurent

This thread amazes me. You'd think we were a bunch of ravenous dogs. ... ... ... ... ... ... . blahblahblahI... ... don't have any right now that own a Duramax I'm sure I will. Different strokes for different folks.

Steve you make me sick!!!!



You have spent the last 2years BASHING the Duramax on the Chevy site, but now since Sam has one, it is cool and you would like to meet him!!!!!! ( or is it, you would like to meet him so it is cool?))



Sam is not what TDR is all about, at least I hope not. I suspected before, but this settles it. He can go write for Super Chevy.

 

[MABurns]

Sam wrote in the TDR once that he Loved the truck. How many guys do you know that love their truck, sell it and buy brand X?

I am one of three I know. I loved my last two Dodge CTDs. I had a 94 and 99 and guess what , the Automatic transmission was the wink link. So too was DC's reluctance to make a real crewcab.



I loved the CTD, but am convinced the D/A combo is better and it is in a better riding better equipped truck.



Granted there are very few people on the planet that can say the CTD is not a great engine. but face facts gentlemen, the Dodge Ram is not perfect.

 

[Steve M]

I always thought the show was kinda tacky. I only paid any attention to it when they did some maintenance and a valve adjustment on the 12v Dodge Cummins. I always noticed how they went to commercials when the task got tough. When they came back from commercial break, they were finishing up and touting some new gadget I don't want. The tough part is what I want to see how they handle. Not removing the valve cover, commercial, replacing valve cover, end of show.

He's done and said all he can for the Dodge Cummins. He has to keep his show interesting to millions. Not just us. So it's off to another brand truck. He's a capitalist, not a communist. We can't dictate to him one brand only. He goes where the money is. I'm surprised that doesn't seem normal for most folks here.

I see more bashing, complaining, whining and biching about Dodge and Cummins right here on this sight than I do on any other site I've been on. If a prospective diesel owner browsed the sites of the big three and based his decision of which truck to buy on what he has read, he would likely not buy a Dodge Cummins. I've had three of them. They are great trucks and I've found the automatic to be strong and reliable.

Anything will eventually break if you abuse it. Including loyalty.

 

[Steve M]

MABurns,

Congrats on the new truck. I hope it's everything you expect it to be and gives you years of good service. But I must say with tongue in cheek, none of them are "perfect". You'll find the imperfections with the GM and hopefully you'll inform us of what you find good and bad. I for one am very interested in how they perform.

The other thing I must say is the transmission is the weak link in any truck automatic or standard. It's what wears out first in the drive line. When the power goes up, it's what breaks first. I believe the Allison is a better transmission than my Dodge auto but, the Allison isn't an anvil. If you abuse it, it'll break too.

 

[MABurns]

I did not mean to imply that the Chevy was perfect either, I agree, there is no perfect brand, if there was then it would be the only choice and the other brands would go out of business.



I also agree with your transmission comments, the Allison is not perfect but it handles my needs nicely.



I will also be the first to speak of any problems, but to date (@ 17,000 miles) I have had none. Well... ... a couple of dents but any brand will bend when you do stupid stuff.

 

[Pit Bull]

It's a known fact from poles on this site that the stock transmission works fine until you abuse it or up the power of the CTD. Many members have well over 100K miles of driving with their stock auto trucks. After you start the modifications all bets are off for all the remaining parts of our trucks or any other brand of truck. If Sam wants an Allison and the aluminum diesel that's fine with me, I know that he makes his living hawking cars and truck modifcation to the public. But I have seen the light and he has no creditiblity with me, and sounds like the same for most of the TDR members that have posted here. So please leave him out of our TDR mag. Also quit giving him help to sell his truck. He can put it in the for sale section like any other member

 

[GLASMITHS]

Remove Truck Adv

Pit Bull:



The must have heard you growling-its' no longer there!

 

[lschultz]

You beat to it. Its about time.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I think Steve and a few other miss the point concerning critical comments about Sam - main point being, when you spend a long period of time with readers in a brand-specific environment that THAT particular brand is YOUR favorite - THEN virtually overnite SWITCH brand and loyalties, you come off looking like Benedict Arnold!



Not only has your credibility dropped in your OLD group - it's gotta look sorta shabby to the NEW bunch as well! Who do ya believe - the "old" SAM - or the "new" one when he again starts spouting how much he "loves his truck - and plans to "keep it a LONG time" - as he did EXACTLY a year ago at the end of his column in the TDR Magazine...



I guess a year IS a "long time" to some forms of life...

 

[RamStud139419850]

Not to change the subject, but I recently traded in my Dodge on a new Ford PSD. I can say that I miss my Cummins, but I needed a crew cab for my kids. I will never talk bad about Dodge, Cummins or anything else. I was the best truck I've ever had! I like my new truck, but will never say the PSD is best or any other crap. The person who buys my old Dodge is one lucky dude and I wish him/her the best! That Cummins is a hell of an engine, maybe when my PSD gets tired I'll replace it with a Cummins. After all, I think a Ford crew cab with a Cummins would be in my opinion PERFECT! Anyhow, Sam might be sorry in the long run, but money talks, and B. S. walks. Sorry to see him act so foolish, we all know what the best diesel engine is, but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do! I miss my Cummins but love my crew cab! Stay cool dudes!

 

[Sled Puller]

Gary,

DITTO. .



Did I just say that?

 

[rob10858]

i'll be more brand specific. we have the isb the psd and the duramax, not to mention a 3126 cat in our fleet. they all have their strong and weak points. some of y'all sound like someone that has had their dates stolen on prom night. so far the duramaxes have done a fine job, the psd's have given more problems than we like, and the dodges have been true "worktrucks" for our money, we will try anything new and improved, and the duramax has, so far done well for us. like an old sales manager once told me, dont ever criticize the competion, you might be driving it one day.....

 

[DavidC]

I do not really care where he went to or what he owns or comments on. What I do care about is if you own a ford or chevy you do not get involved in Dodge affairs or writing for columns such as the TDR. I have owned Chrysler vehicles my entire life mainly because I work on my own vehicles and did not like the way other manufacturers assembled components that are almost impossible to access without tearing the vehicle apart . I am very well satisfied with what I have. I have read that the Dodge Transmission is under rated and with a little work can be made bullet proof which is the direction I will go. I have also heard that the allison has shifting problems on grades ( in and out of gears) I do not know this as fact because I do not own one, do not plan on owning one and do not care. As far as Sam's comments I consider the source and in my opinion not a very good one.

 

[NOMOFO]

Seems like he has/is developing all the character necessary to run for public office. :--)

 

[MABurns]

I have also heard that the allison has shifting problems on grades ( in and out of gears)

Yes it is absolutley horrible, at 70 MPH going up a 7-8% grade with an 11,000 pound fifth wheel it kicks out of overdrive (5th gear). What a piece of crap!!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

MA Burns sez:



"Yes it is absolutley horrible, at 70 MPH going up a 7-8% grade with an 11,000 pound fifth wheel it kicks out of overdrive (5th gear). What a piece of crap!!"



UMMMmmm - sorry Charlie - we're not ALL from the back woods, didn't just fall off a turnip truck either!



We DO get around - and even a BASIC Allison search over in the GM group turned up an immediate 10 threads on a SINGLE page concerning various Allison failures and assorted problems, and over 200 Allison related threads posted by users - here's just a COUPLE of them:



http://forum.62-65-dieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001894&p=



http://forum.62-65-dieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=002317&p=



So, before ya get TOO deep in passing out snow jobs, ya gotta realize that those "perfect" GM DM's *do* have their own set of design errors and weak links - just as ALL vehicles do!



Yeah - that most certainly includes our own beloved Dodge/Cummins!

 

[M Barnett]

I could care less what Sam does as I don't care for those type shows that boil down to nothing more than a one hour comericial. But I insist, get him out of the magazine!

Michael

 

[MABurns]

Yes, I have seen much of the Trussman saga... . 15,000 pound trailer and he can't get the truck to hold 5th OD. On the 01's there was a problem with it hunting while in OD with the cruise control on, but it was fixed for 02 and a reflash available for the 01s. I do not have any hunting between gears.



Sorry Gary no snow job the only time my truck down shifts is under the load of my fifth wheel on long 6 or 7% or more grade. at which time it can maintain the same speed.



And I never said it was perfect. I know you really want it to be a lemmon, but it is not. Sorry.

 

[Hammer]

What he says or said on that TV show never influenced me in any purchases anyway,,He is free to drive whatever he wants and point out any shortcomings of his former product as he sees fit,,The only thing that would concern me is if he has the kahounies to do the same to the Duradud he is now driving,,If he's giving the same honest report across the board then there is no reason to down him,HOWEVER,if he does not report honestly on the Duradud then its a different ballgame,,Heck of it is,he did not point out anything we did no know already about the transmission problems,,These were the reason for so many of Steve's nightmares and the reason we lost a good technical transmission man and his informative posts... ... . Andy

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

MABurns sez:



"Yes, I have seen much of the Trussman saga"



YUP, i'm sure you HAVE!



MY search in the GM site brought up over *200* Allison-related threads in ONE category ALONE! And MANY of them were hardly what a GM lover would call complimentary...



Is a new truck a "lemon" when it insists on kicking down into lower gears when faced with a moderate hill or headwind, then requiring the engine to scream along at 3 grand or so to maintain resonable speed, delivering the SAME putrid fuel mileage the new owner bought the new job to ESCAPE in his previous big-block gasser?



Apparently, LOTS of new GM DM owners sorta thought so... And so would most HERE, if their Dodges provided performance and economy that wasn't much better than a MUCH cheaper gas rig!



You like your GM, and probably still would in spite of various ills steadily appearing over in the GM group - after all, places like there, and HERE, are heavily populated by folks with random problems looking for answers - the fact that various repeat problems keep being seen over and over merely reveal where the more significant weaknesses are - but hardly indicate epidemic-level problems or failures - any more than the relatively high occurance of similar transmission or lift pump failures HERE in this group mean that extremely high percentages of OUR trucks spend much of their time in Dodge service departments being worked upon!



Enjoy your excellent truck - I've seen them, owned MANY GM (and Ford!) products in my past, including the all-aluminum engined '98 Camaro SS I just traded in on my new Dodge - and virtually EVERY one of my past GM and Ford vehicles delivered operation I never had the slightest complaint about. Perfect? NO WAY - but certainly well above any minimum expectations *I* about them!



Pretty much like my Dodge...