Towing Break in?

[NIsaacs]

Actually I think there were quite a few engine mods for the Dodge only. Such as turbo mount, starter location, fan mount/pulley size, grid heater, fuel filter heater and the noise panel on the lifter cover.



Nick

 

[RVTRKN]

Ram Tough Rebuild: Engine Builder



Another good article confirming BSeyler is correct in his post. Well I'm learning more about the 5. 9/6. 7 CTD, these are good articles. Can anyone post the TDR mag issue were the story appeared in TDR?

 

[JRBurton]

Gentlemen I know we are talking about a 2012 here, but a cummins is still a cummins. When I purchased my 2001 I had the same question for the dealer. They told me the breakin was already done in the factory & to just drive it, or tow. I took that advise and never looked back, that was 119000 miles ago and still going.



John

 

[RVTRKN]

Cummins 5. 9 liter and 6. 7 liter inline six-cylinder diesel engines



Another great article.

 

[Bill Stockard]

The B model Cummins was developed as a joint venture with Case - the name given the venture was Consolidated Diesel. It is the same engine that has been used in thousands of tractors. My neighbors have two tractors and a combine with the 5. 9 L Cummins and it basically looks the same as the engine in my 99 CTD. No re-design was needed to fit the Dodge platform.

You are correct. The Cummins 4-cylinder 3. 9L and the 6-cylinder 5. 9L B-series engines and the 6-cylinder 8. 3L C-series engines were first produced by a joint venture that began in 1980 which was 50% owned by Case Corp and 50% by Cummins. The joint venture was called Consolidated Diesel Corp and was located in Rocky Mount, NC. Cummins wanted to get into the mid-range diesel market and Case could provide the numbers since they desperately needed modern diesel engines for their ag and construction equipment at that time.



In 2008 Cummins bought Case Corp's share of the joint venture since Case had joined Ford New Holland forming Case New Holland which was eventually bought by Fiat, the same company that owns Chrysler.



I was at the Cummins HQ in Columbus (on other business) when the announcement was made my Cummins that they had agreed to furnish Chrysler 5. 9L B-series Cummins engines for Dodge 3/4 and 1 ton pickups. I don't remember the exact date, but is was probably sometime in late '87 or early '88.



Bill

 

[NIsaacs]

Don't forget the little A-Series 3. 3 turbo diesel. Also, the early B-Series were manufactured as SAE, not metric.



Nick

 

[Bill Stockard]

Also, the early B-Series were manufactured as SAE, not metric.



Nick

Are you sure? When did they change? The early spec sheets from Cummins that I looked at were metric. I was told by the Cummins folks the B and C series were designed to be "worldwide" engines, thus metric... maybe that was a later decision.



Bill

 

[Bill Stockard]

Harvey,



And I don't mean to hijack this thread.....



What is it about these engines that won't let them overheat? I was just at a campground near Disneyland and ran into a group from Canada that had about 6 Rams. We were talking about towing in the summer etc. and they were saying the same thing. I've also seen this posted numerous times on this board but don't understand what is so unique about them (besides the name) that makes them more tolerant to this than other motors? I know I don't see anywhere near the temp fluctuations with this truck that I saw with my 6. 0.



Craig

Some Cummins engines in the early Dodge trucks did have a heating problem in trucks equipped with down flow radiators. Many owners changed their early trucks with downflow radiators to later model cross flow radiators. There were instructions in one of the first editions of the TDR Magazine showing how to easily make the modification. I had it saved it on my computer and sent it to several members who joined TDR later and didn't have a copy of the instructions. The hard drive on that computer failed and unfortunately, I didn't save a copy on a floppy and no olonger have it.



Bill

 

[NIsaacs]

Are you sure? When did they change? The early spec sheets from Cummins that I looked at were metric. I was told by the Cummins folks the B and C series were designed to be "worldwide" engines, thus metric... maybe that was a later decision.



Bill

I can't for the life of me remember if I read this or it was a verbal from someone. The B-Series/Onan salesman at Cummins Southwest/Phoenix that I dealt with on my research/purchase of my conversion was very impressive. The main guy I also dealt with from their sister store in El Paso, Texas where I ended up buying the engine was also very knowledgable.



Maybe it was of the first prototype? Likely I don't know what I am talking about:-laf Maybe one of you computer research types can help me out and prove or disprove.....



Nick

 

[Bill Stockard]

The B-Series/Onan salesman at Cummins Southwest/Phoenix that I dealt with on my research/purchase of my conversion was very impressive. The main guy I also dealt with from their sister store in El Paso, Texas where I ended up buying the engine was also very knowledgable.

Nick

For all the years I was dealing with Cummins distributors, I had the same impression. They knew their product, were truthful, and with their knowledge of Cummins products made a very good impression on my customers when I took them with me on a sales call or on a customer's service problem. On service problems they always followed up with me and my customer and went out of their way to solve the problem and did what it took to fix it. No other OEM supplier I worked with could get things done like our Cummins reps. However, the Detroit Diesel/Allison reps came close.



Bill

 

[MA2LA]

I wouldn't worry to much. I only had maybe 250 miles on my 2011 before I had to hook up and hual about 12k in a tall trailer over 1000 miles. . and now with over 53k on it I haven't had problems and when I finally did service the rear at 50k the wear on the gears looked good and so did the oil

 

[hitchjnj]

I want to thank everyone for their help and advice. It was all good advice and helped me

with my decision on how to make that first tow.

John



2012 3500 DRW Auto Tramsmission

 

[Patty]

New member... first post! You had me concerned so I pulled out my manuals to see what you were refering to as I towed within days of picking up my new truck. In Canada anyway and I'm sure it's the same in the US, my truck came with 2 owners manuals (a thick one for all RAM's but it mainly refers to gas engines, and a thinner DIESEL Owners Manual Supplement). I think your concern came from the generic RAM manual for gas engines. The DIESEL supplement manual says "The CTD engine does not require a break-in period due to its construction. Normal operation is allowed, providing... (insert common sense). It goes on to say that engine run-in is enhanced by loaded operating conditions. Great post... I think we're fine... they're made to work.

 

[AH64ID]

New member... first post! You had me concerned so I pulled out my manuals to see what you were refering to as I towed within days of picking up my new truck. In Canada anyway and I'm sure it's the same in the US, my truck came with 2 owners manuals (a thick one for all RAM's but it mainly refers to gas engines, and a thinner DIESEL Owners Manual Supplement). I think your concern came from the generic RAM manual for gas engines. The DIESEL supplement manual says "The CTD engine does not require a break-in period due to its construction. Normal operation is allowed, providing... (insert common sense). It goes on to say that engine run-in is enhanced by loaded operating conditions. Great post... I think we're fine... they're made to work.

Correct the engine does not, but the drivetrain/ring & pinion is what the break-in requirement is referring to.

 

[HBarlow]

It's the AAM axle that requires 500 miles of break-in, not the engine.

 

[Gonzo 1066]

I might have been wrong, but my 04 with the AAM rear had MAYBE 50 miles on it before I started to tow heavy with the rig. . It now has 127,000 towing miles on it and I just serviced the Differential. Everything looks great inside, gear wear is perfect, no unusual wear patterns. I may have got lucky,but I would assume the 500 mile no tow is just to make sure that even the odd out of perfect adjustment new gearset has a chance to break in. . I would just drive the thing normally. . Slow down on any steep hills, change the diff oil at 15,000 miles to check for undue wear patterns or wear metal in the oil. .

 

[HBarlow]

I've never heard of a new differential failure and most buyers never read their owner's manual and are never aware of the caution.

I've been changing differential fluid at 50k intervals beginning with the '06 I used for transporting. About 350k miles total now on the two trucks and I haven't seen any signs of wear or failure using the 50k service, Mag-Hytec covers, and ordinary synthetic lube.

I didn't tow during the first 500 miles but only because I've bought my Dodges at a dealer 300 miles away from home and had no need to.

 

[craiggo]

New member... first post! You had me concerned so I pulled out my manuals to see what you were refering to as I towed within days of picking up my new truck. In Canada anyway and I'm sure it's the same in the US, my truck came with 2 owners manuals (a thick one for all RAM's but it mainly refers to gas engines, and a thinner DIESEL Owners Manual Supplement). I think your concern came from the generic RAM manual for gas engines. The DIESEL supplement manual says "The CTD engine does not require a break-in period due to its construction. Normal operation is allowed, providing... (insert common sense). It goes on to say that engine run-in is enhanced by loaded operating conditions. Great post... I think we're fine... they're made to work.

You can't come to an argument like this with reasoning and factual information, it's simply not allowed.

 

[Patty]

Thanks for the info guys. My truck maybe had 100 miles on it before I picked up my 10000lb 5th wheel and towed it another 150 miles on the first trip. I'm not worried about the driveline as I'm not hard on things to begin with and the trailer isn't that heavy.



The main owners manual does contradict itself in the caution statement, stating that the "engine, axle or other parts could be damaged" if you tow during the first 500 miles... but then the diesel supplement manual says "the CTD does not require a break-in... ". Depends how you interpret the information, I still think these are tractors made to work on day one and those statements apply to the gas model 1/2 tons.



Harvey, I did have a complete rear diff failure on my 2011 Ram 1500 at 1 month and 3500 miles... different rear end of course! Lack of lubrication, the dealer had it for a month as parts weren't yet available and Chrysler replaced the entire housing... and later issued a recall on those diffs.

 

[Patty]

You can't come to an argument like this with reasoning and factual information, it's simply not allowed.

I'll soon learn!