Tired of this......

[TGVET]

I would be one of those individuals TGVET is whining about.



Consider this: How ridiculous is it for one individual owner to experience a few problems with his ONE truck out of tens of thousands of Cummins-powered Rams sold every year and hundreds of thousands sold since 1989 and DECLARE that all Dodge-Cummins trucks are BAD? That is a faulty conclusion based on inadequate evidence. Analysis of a sample of at least one hundred trucks under laboratory conditions would be required to draw a conclusion that the product is faulty.



Light trucks are man-made products assembled in an assembly line process using a thousand or more individual components sourced from secondary manufacturers all around the world using union employees. It is entirely possible and believable for an occasional truck to be plagued with more than its fair share of problems.



It is also very possible for an owner to create multiple problems with a truck that would provide excellent service to other buyers. I have seen men who could damage and anvil.

AH64,



I too like my Ram, I just don't "love it anymore". Maybe when I get it back with a new transmission, I will once again "love" it after spending thousands needlessly.



"I have seen men who could damage and anvil. " I am NOT one of those Harvey. Just one of the unfortunate many thousand that got a F'n lemon. You can chalk it up to whatever excuse you like, parts outsourcing, not a "Wednesday build", union sloths (not all union members, just a great many).



You and others minimize the so called "few problems" (a joke in itself) as they are not few by any stretch compared to the units sold and the testimonials of many others here and elsewhere, nor are they cheap to fix. I don't know what your relationship is to Dodge, maybe none other than an owner. I'm glad you have not had any of the "minor and insignificant" problems with your rigs





"Guess what these forums are used for, venting and ranting. The TDR is one of just a few vehicle forums that has more good to say than bad, generally people don't come to forums when their truck is working as advertised, they come when it's broke and need help or want to bash it.

I love my 05, and have not had to spend a penny on it that wasn't self induced, great truck! "



I suppose conservative daily driving and putting more maintenance than really necessary could be construed ad "self induced". You know like, why fix it if it ain't broke ? The many I have talked to have told me that IS the reason I have gotten the miles out of it I have without major problems like so many others with FAR FEWER miles. As if I needed to be reminded. .

 

[HBarlow]

I have no relationship to dealers except that I like and have been treated very well by the sales department and owner at a dealer 300 miles away where I have bought all my Dodges. I am not fond of service departments because of dealership labor pricing but have a personal friend who was a Dodge dealer mechanic when I met him. He has done all my service and repair work since I met him.

Most would and some have accused me of terrible neglect in my maintenance practices. I started out on my '01 with a 5,000 mile service interval using ordinary Rotella dinosaur oil and Fleetguard filters on my '01 through 150k miles but when I started transporting and running in excess of 11,000 miles per month I shifted to a 10k service interval and 50k on differentials. I maintained that for another 175k miles on the '01 then used it on my '06 and still use it on my '08. A couple of TDR blowhards have told me I am destroying my 6. 7 engine with such terrible maintenance practices and it may blow up any day now, blabber, blabber, blabber endlessly.

My trucks have not been abused off road but all three have put in hard highway service towing heavy trailers. The last 175k I put on the '01 and all of the 230k miles I put on the '06 were towing or returning for another load. My '08 tows a lot but not consistently.

I have never changed anything in the fuel system except routine filter changes and have never modified an engine except that Joe Donnelly installed Bosch RV275 injectors in my '01 when it was new. I've never replaced a front end or suspension part.

It's real hard for some of you to convince me the products are inferior and you are good drivers but it is your money you spend and your choice.

Constant complaining about the product is not prohibited here on TDR but is offensive and annoying to those of us who love the products and know better. The primary purpose of TDR is NOT to whine and criticize but to discuss problems and share solutions.

 

[TGVET]

It's real hard for some of you to convince me the products are inferior and you are good drivers but it is your money you spend and your choice.



Constant complaining about the product is not prohibited here on TDR but is offensive and annoying to those of us who love the products and know better. The primary purpose of TDR is NOT to whine and criticize but to discuss problems and share solutions.

Why does it have to be construed as whining when I (we) are sharing our trucks short comings and failures ? And why on earth are you so offended ?



Name calling or personal attacks or being told "go buy a Furd and go to another site and whine" would barely be offensive.



I'm glad for you Harvey and any others that are not owners of a Dodge made with poor QC or cheaply made outsourced parts breaking causing those of us who are to needlessly spend hard earned money to fix/replace them with better than OEM parts if any are available.



If you or others are so offended by those of us who have not had the "good luck" to own a trouble free Dodge and describe the short comings OUR vehicles have, my thought would be self identifying yourself by the truck you own. Its just a truck. I'm not offended by the comments made regarding mine or what I would do to it, alter it, etc. with respect to making it a better than OEM, like "spending needlessly at DTT to rebuild my trans". Some might take that personal, I didn't.



This IS an open forum and if one does not like reading what someone has posted here, choose the IGNORE LIST as I have done. Otherwise, why not try being receptive without being so sensitive or "offended" when someone has complaints about their owner experience. I would hope that by posting a negative experience would give a positive solution for fixing it. Other than, "pushing it off a cliff" as previously suggested here. Again, not taken personally rather simply realized as "the ignorance of some".



Have good day.

 

[mtman86]

I guess I need to clarify my "pushing it of a cliff". I said that as a tongue in cheek, sarcastic comment. Sometimes, when I'm working on one of my rigs, I may find myself wanting to 'kill my truck w/ a ball-peen hammer', or just 'push it of a cliff'. Owning cars can be a love/hate relationship. Usually, the good out weighs the bad, sometimes not. Personally, I wouldn't have hung on to a rig that long if I couldn't trust it, or it was in the shop more than it was on the road. People possess many different levels of patience, as illustrated in this forum. All you guys have a wonderful Sunday, I'm going out to play.

 

[TGVET]

I guess I need to clarify my "pushing it of a cliff". I said that as a tongue in cheek, sarcastic comment. Sometimes, when I'm working on one of my rigs, I may find myself wanting to 'kill my truck w/ a ball-peen hammer', or just 'push it of a cliff'. Owning cars can be a love/hate relationship. Usually, the good out weighs the bad, sometimes not. Personally, I wouldn't have hung on to a rig that long if I couldn't trust it, or it was in the shop more than it was on the road. People possess many different levels of patience, as illustrated in this forum. All you guys have a wonderful Sunday, I'm going out to play.

Understood. Easy to get lost in the forums, I try to re-read posts to reference before replying. No offense taken here, thanks for the comeback too.



Me too, going to be in the low 70's and start to dry out FINALLY in Wet Leftern Wash... Oo.



Have great Sunday!

 

[NIsaacs]

Sometimes, when I'm working on one of my rigs, I may find myself wanting to 'kill my truck w/ a ball-peen hammer', or just 'push it of a cliff'.





Thats funny, and I agree



Nick

 

[steved]

I would be one of those individuals TGVET is whining about.



Consider this: How ridiculous is it for one individual owner to experience a few problems with his ONE truck out of tens of thousands of Cummins-powered Rams sold every year and hundreds of thousands sold since 1989 and DECLARE that all Dodge-Cummins trucks are BAD? That is a faulty conclusion based on inadequate evidence. Analysis of a sample of at least one hundred trucks under laboratory conditions would be required to draw a conclusion that the product is faulty.

Reading this very forum for the past seven years brought me to a logical conclusion that Dodge has/had issues... multiple recalls, many members reporting the same issue with the same owner-supplied fix, multiple issues requiring many dealer trips, etc. . Laboratory condition is useless... results can be manipulated to make them "flawless". This forum has been the best source for seeing what common issues these trucks have... while every brand may have a quirk, seeing multiple owners with the same problem screams manufacturing/engineering/quality control flaw to me.



My own truck sees 99% highway, gets way better maintenance than required, and I've still dumped loads of $$$ into it to make it reliable. Case in point, the 70mph vibrations that some of the early 3rd generation truck have (and cannot be fixed)... a new truck should not come from the factory with a drive train vibration. It took me over $2500 of my money (including driveshaft repair and DynaTrac hubs) to fix this issue alone (all the time while the truck was still under warranty!). I almost cringe every time I think of the personal time and money I've put into this particular truck trying to get it just right, reliable. While this 2004. 5 is fun to drive, it hasn't been that fun to own... its had more issues alone than my 99, my dad's 89, 95, and 99 have had combined. For the record Mr. Barlow, I have well over half a million miles on personally-owned Cummins-powered Dodges. I have well over a million miles of experience with Cummins-powered Dodges in my immediate family.



I test drove a 2500HD Silverado this past weekend, probably going to pull the trigger over the next couple weeks on a 2012 6. 0L/auto. I need to strip all the goodies from this 2004. 5 this week, then off it goes. I may regret buying a gasser, but I really doubt I will regret not buying another Dodge/Ram. I never thought I would ever say that. While this 2004. 5 sits with 267k on the clock, and is now pretty darn reliable; I don't want to go through the same exercise with a new-to-me truck... I'm just not confident in the Dodge brand anymore.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I'm just gonna sit here all fat and sassy because I didn't have any major repairs (injectors) untill 183K miles. Ya, I've rebuilt the front end on my truck a few times after 100K miles but the 3 of those rebuilds are cheap to me as I do it myself. I change the bearings out everytime because I figure if I'm going that far into it, I might as well change it all.



I look at my trucks like marriage because these trucks are just as expensive as being married. Ya gotta stick with it through the good and bad.



211K and counting..... Thank you Dodge and Thank you Cummins for the best Dodge truck that I have owned since I first became an itch in my daddy's drawers.

 

[HBarlow]

Reading this very forum for the past seven years brought me to a logical conclusion that Dodge has/had issues... multiple recalls, many members reporting the same issue with the same owner-supplied fix, multiple issues requiring many dealer trips, etc. . Laboratory condition is useless... results can be manipulated to make them "flawless". This forum has been the best source for seeing what common issues these trucks have... while every brand may have a quirk, seeing multiple owners with the same problem screams manufacturing/engineering/quality control flaw to me.

My own truck sees 99% highway, gets way better maintenance than required, and I've still dumped loads of $$$ into it to make it reliable. Case in point, the 70mph vibrations that some of the early 3rd generation truck have (and cannot be fixed)... a new truck should not come from the factory with a drive train vibration. It took me over $2500 of my money (including driveshaft repair and DynaTrac hubs) to fix this issue alone (all the time while the truck was still under warranty!). I almost cringe every time I think of the personal time and money I've put into this particular truck trying to get it just right, reliable. While this 2004. 5 is fun to drive, it hasn't been that fun to own... its had more issues alone than my 99, my dad's 89, 95, and 99 have had combined. For the record Mr. Barlow, I have well over half a million miles on personally-owned Cummins-powered Dodges. I have well over a million miles of experience with Cummins-powered Dodges in my immediate family.

I test drove a 2500HD Silverado this past weekend, probably going to pull the trigger over the next couple weeks on a 2012 6. 0L/auto. I need to strip all the goodies from this 2004. 5 this week, then off it goes. I may regret buying a gasser, but I really doubt I will regret not buying another Dodge/Ram. I never thought I would ever say that. While this 2004. 5 sits with 267k on the clock, and is now pretty darn reliable; I don't want to go through the same exercise with a new-to-me truck... I'm just not confident in the Dodge brand anymore.

Steve,

Since you implied it was addressed to me I will respond to your post.

Please don't let the door hit you in the axx as you leave.

 

[steved]

Steve,



Since you implied it was addressed to me I will respond to your post.



Please don't let the door hit you in the axx as you leave.

Your typical run away response when you don't have all the answers... you're one I won't miss. You think you're the only one who has been there, done that; and you give responses like this when confronted with facts that you can't just BS away.

 

[HBarlow]

I've answered the whining from you and others 100 times. The most likely difference between those of us who experience very few problems and those of you who do is the driver. You don't like hearing that. No point in reminding you again.

Who cares if you buy a gasoline powered truck from nobama motors? Did you expect someone here to beg you to stay?

 

[steved]

I've answered the whining from you and others 100 times. The most likely difference between those of us who experience very few problems and those of you who do is the driver. You don't like hearing that. No point in reminding you again.



Who cares if you buy a gasoline powered truck from nobama motors? Did you expect someone here to beg you to stay?

Just so we are ALL clear...



1) everyone who has an issue with their ride is because of operator error?



2) everyone who has an issue with their ride and states anything about it is a whiner?



Your holier than thou attitude cracks me up... you basically have alienated everyone who comes to this forum (no wonder TDR needed to have trial memberships), most of us come here for the knowledge base to fix issues that crop up in our rides, not for group hugs.

 

[steved]

I just wanted to point Barlow's viewpoint of the general population of the TDR...

 

[MChildress]

On a serious note I really like my 04. 5. Have been thinking of sending Dodge a check for the education I have received with this truck. I started my diesel addiction in 83 when Ford first started with the 6. 9 and then had to have the PowerStroke in 95 and still have this one. I really do not believe I would of received near the education if I would have stayed with Ford. Well maybe not with the 6. 0.

Don't get me wrong the 04. 5 is not going anywhere. But I have to say a lot of the problems I have read about and experienced over the years should not be occurring and the factory should of stepped up to plate on a lot of them and did not.

This Forum and you fellows have been a world of help on keeping my 04. 5 on the road. Thanks guys

 

[Mark31]

Steved, I've been there, done that. I had a 2001 GMC 2500 that came with a piston slap 6. 0 engine. GMC eventually replaced the engine, but when the torque converter started coming apart, they "could not replicate the condition". I got rid of it with a little warranty left, so the new owner could fight with GM. The piedmont hills on I 26 from Columbia, SC to Spartanburg, SC would really make it suffer pulling a 3 horse slant load gooseneck which weighed under 7k. My 305 hp Cummins is not fazed. A friend from Georgia talked about his 6. 0 having to get back to second gear to climb a hill near him. His DuraMax doesn't break a sweat (according to him!) The independent front suspension didn't sit in the road as my good straight axle Dodge when towing. The lights were better on the GMC, the seats were good, I liked the interior, the mileage was 13-15. It was a good grocery getter. But my equipment trailer, tractor, loader, grapple, and rear blade (gross combined just under 24k) would stake a 6. 0 out like a cow on a chain in some of the places I've been. By the way, unless things have changed, complain about the front end needing to be aligned while under warranty. Back then, if it wasn't done under warranty, the customer had to buy the $60 pieces so the front end could be adjusted. Happy trucking, or I should say--Happy grocery getting!! Mark

 

[SierraRam]

I had my Dodge floor mats wear out after 40K miles, I am ready for a better built truck!

 

[SWithrow]

I had my Dodge floor mats wear out after 40K miles, I am ready for a better built truck!

Mine came with Chevy mats and made my truck run better... :-laf

 

[mwilson]

I am going to jump in to this with both feet,



Steve, I am sorry that you feel that you need to go to a gasser and even though it sounds like a great idea now you will come to regret it.

The issue with running these Cummins engines encased in a Dodge is that you can't go back.



There is nothing that compares.



The first time you hook onto something that has any weight at all and that gasser is spinning about 6 grand going up a grade and the fuel gauge is dropping right along with the speedometer you will kick your ***.



You can tell me you won't, but you will.

As mentioned before, you are buying a grocery getter.





You think Dodge warranty and quality is bad, just wait until you have to wage war with GM.

I have tangled with GM pukes several times during my pre-Dodge days and GM warranty sucks.

They field test on the public, releasing product way before the bugs are worked out of it.

They set this country back 20 years or more on Diesel acceptance by doing that very thing with the 5. 7L junk diesel. They are to blame. Field test it and deal with it as it happens is their motto.



If that is what you want, go for it and be happy.

But don't try to tell me that the Dodge trucks are not worth buying anymore.

After you crank 280,000 miles on that GM (if it makes it half that far) you tell us how it did for you.



Here is a little story for you... .



I needed a vehicle to commute with in December of 2010. My Cadillac (Marvin) tossed a head gasket (Oh look, a known GM issue that they did nothing about on Northstar V8's) and I did not wish to dump any more cash into it as it had 250,000 miles accumulated and was already on it's second set of head gaskets at that time.



I wound up bidding on my '97 CTD on e-bay. After drinking and worrying for several days I got the winning (questionable at that point) bid.

It had 190,000 miles on it at the time. 3/4 Ton 4X4 Auto.



Great, truck is in Massachusetts, won't start. Seth and I figure fuel solenoid was junk.

Got it together, drank a little more and got to it.



Wife didn't leave me so I took that as a sign that she trusted my judgement more than I did. She passed me some cash and said "Go get it!"... .



Rented an equipment trailer, Seth and I took a day off from work, loaded tools and anything else that we could think of and off we went.



Got there, paid the guy and sent him on his way. Body was in very good shape, bumper destroyed because they had pushed it around the yard with whatever was handy. Good tires and glass, figured if nothing else I could part it out and recover my investment.

Had been a plow truck at some point, very brutal duty.



With that being said we lifted the hood, turned the key. sure enough fuel solenoid would not move. Removed the solenoid, pulled lever up. They had molested the fuel lines, simply had no clue what they were doing. Had clear vinyl hardware store tubing on it for fuel line, upside was that you could see the fuel coming up the line as you pumped the transfer pump. You had to pump pretty fast as there were so many leaks it would run back down the line in about 15 seconds.

I unhooked the grid heaters, took the hose off from the intake manifold, waited until Seth had the fuel almost to the transfer pump and hit it with a small shot of starting fluid.

It lit immediately!!!!! Ran like a swiss watch.

Much cheering from Seth and I, wasn't screwed after all!!!!



Brought it home, spent about a month fixing everything up. Had to put a few parts in the front end because it had been operated with a vacuum leak and was jumping out of 4WD.



There was not a thing wrong with the design of the truck, all the issues were caused by lack of maintenance or sheer ignorance by its former owner. #@$%!



Now 40,000 miles later it is cheerfully giving me 700 + miles a week and I am happy with it. Routine care is all it needs now.

I invested some time and not much money, got a pretty nice truck in return.



Now Steve, go find a 13 year old GM with 190,000 miles on it that took the beating that mine did and try to bring it back to life.

It won't happen.



JMHO.



I didn't get any floormats at all with it, bummer... .



Mike.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Actually I'm curious if the gassers are so bad now that they have 6 speeds and more.

I agree with steve with respect to issues out of the factory with totally stock trucks. Although as others have said, there is no where to run to.

I had the 70 mph vibe (stock tires) and then death wobble when I changed to bigger tires.
My steering box is shot... due to big tires too.

I have a buddy on here that always jabs me when I have an issue. No matter what it is he says... it's those big tires LOL. I had a bad rear hub seal. He said... those big tires...

Anyway he's got an 03 with twins on it and an exhaust brake. He runs a fully stock drivetrain. Uses the truck for work everyday. pulls heavy and sometimes way heavy. Over 200,000 on the dial and I think he's done the front end once... bj's, u-joints, bearings. He took a max loaded trailer with two jeeps on it out to Moab from Delaware. He said he was runnin 40-50 psi boost continuous... this is with a truck with over 200,000 miles on the clock!

They are pretty amazing trucks.

 

[mwilson]

Speaking of "Death Wobble", the '97 should have been a prime candidate when I bought it.



But no, even with a worn out tie rod end there was never any instance of "Death Wobble"...



You know why??



It has Michelin tires, 265/75R16 Load Range E.



I think it is that simple.



JMHO.



Mike.