truck falling apart, dodge never again

[Cummins Cowboy]

I am pretty upset about spending so much money keeping my truck going, its an '06 with 68k miles. in the last year I have spent 3k in repairs mainly suspension and steering components, all ball joints replaced, front u joints, front driveshaft replaced, steering shaft bad, new tie rods, steering wheel leather peeling, bumper rusting just out of warranty.



the interior plastic scratches with your fingernail or essentially anything that rubs against it, the seat material is cheap and looks like it came out of the base ST models and stains with rain drops hitting it, its no wonder chrysler is in such trouble money wise even though their union burdens are not nearly what the others 2 had.



fact is all these parts that went bad should be 100k parts, there is no excuse for bad ball joints at 30k, they put the cheapest parts they could find in. I have been driving dodges for nearly 15 years both personally and at my work, ALL of them have needed front end work before 100k miles, weather its pathetic school bus steering that the 4x4 second gens had or chinese made 3 dollar ball joints, dodge does not know how to make a truck with a front suspension that both lasts and works well. I hate to say it but my next truck will probably be a duramax, it can't get much worse than dodge they continue to suffer the same old issues that dodge never seems to ever be able to get right, steering wheel leather was a problem on my old '02 and we all know how they didn't even fix the lift pump problems with the early third gens. sorry for the rant

 

[BILLVO]

Well let me be the first to let you know that the front end components on the GM's will leave you with just as much of a head ache as you have now.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I already had a Durasmak. That's why I'm now driving a Dodge and I love it.

 

[Jefff929]

CC did you try a DSS, while you were throwing money at it?

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Yea. Go ahead and buy a double a-arm POS.



I've got 140k+ on my 04. 5. Replaced ball joints once. And still have the OE steering stabilzer. No front end problems whatsoever.



Every guy I come across that gripes about their truck (reguardless of brand) abuse their trucks and hardly ever complete regular mtce.



I even have a NO mtce Uncle in the family. He exspects his trucks to last forever without mtce. No oil change-just ad more, no tire rotations, dosen't lube chassis etc etc . . . .



You can be mean to a truck but you have to take care of it as well and spend a little to save a lot.



My 3rd Gen has been the best of them all. I just spent 5k to turn my 2500 into a dually. I'll run this one untill the wheels fall off.

 

[firemansdiesel]

LOL... . GM 3/4 ton diesel truck frontends are just as bad if not worse w/ more parts up front. Factory parts wear out then get better aftermarket parts for replacement. They are out there... ... That goes for any make/model.

 

[jgillott]

Well let me be the first to let you know that the front end components on the GM's will leave you with just as much of a head ache as you have now.

Let me give you my shining example of GM quality. I have just shy of 65K on our 2005 Silverado. It started shaking at 13,000 miles. To date it has had 4 steering shafts, ball joints twice, tie rod ends, right front axle bearing and seal, and a second set of wheels to try and get the thing to quit shaking. Just for kicks, it has now started frying Airbag sensors. The first one was under the drivers seat and I just replaced one behind the bumper Monday. The dual zone air conditioning will just start blowing cold air on the passanger side and hot air on the drivers side. You have to pull over and shut the truck off to get it to reset. And finally, I just had to replace both front door speakers. Both of them went out within the last month.

 

[DBentley]

I feel your pain brother.
Im with you on the 06 being a work in progress.
My 06 is at 38k and has had many failed parts already replaced.
I do still like the truck and love the cummins.
Hope to get 4-5 more years of service from it.
Im going for a new F-350,4x4 v8 gasser @10-12 mpg base model when this truck is worn out or starts killing me in repairs.

 

[TFucili]

I've owned 'em all, and they all are shoddily built for what you pay. Only one has the Cummins, though. Still, I am very unhappy with having just put all ball joints, and both uni-hubs at 37K miles. The stutter shifting 48RE just drove me to have a shift enhancer installed, as it seems to get worse with time. I do not abuse my truck, and the maintenance is up to snuff on all of my stuff, unlike what a previous poster insinuated. I don't buy(intentionally)throw away stuff, and I take care of it all. They've utilized their engineering prowess and technology to cheapen things, not improve them, and I am not singling out Dodge on that.

 

[Regcabguy]

I've owned 'em all, and they all are shoddily built for what you pay. Only one has the Cummins, though. Still, I am very unhappy with having just put all ball joints, and both uni-hubs at 37K miles. The stutter shifting 48RE just drove me to have a shift enhancer installed, as it seems to get worse with time. I do not abuse my truck, and the maintenance is up to snuff on all of my stuff, unlike what a previous poster insinuated. I don't buy(intentionally)throw away stuff, and I take care of it all. They've utilized their engineering prowess and technology to cheapen things, not improve them, and I am not singling out Dodge on that.

Motorhead's got his low mileage hubs for sale in the classified's. Be prepared.

 

[MustangDiesel004]

If you are running oversize tires on your Goat that might be part of the problem with the frontend. If it is the bigger tires then a Chevy or GMC with Inferior Front Suspension sure wont handle it. I've been running my 04. 5 since 47000 miles with 33x12. 50R17's and havent replaced any frontend parts so farand it just turned over 108000. Friend of mine bought an 05 with 35's on it and she needs upper& lower balljoints, steering stabilizer, and her tires balanced and the truck doesn't even have 100k on the clock yet.

 

[kkreigh]

Mine is 01 125 K lots of off road in Rocky mountains and Missouri foothills original ball joints, u joints and all else still stock and tight. DSS and 3rd gen track bar replacement helped loose steering. Great truck I'll drive till t drops.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Biggest issue with premature failure of steering/suspension parts, seemed to start with the infamous "lifetime lubed and sealed" components - many/most of those seem to come empty of grease - and fail quite early. On my "greaseless" '02, I immediately started greasing my suspension parts by use of a piercing needle (available at NAPA), and inject grease annually into each component - at 65K miles, all my steering and suspension is tight as new...



#ad

 

[Wiredawg]

Sorry to hear about your troubles w/ Dodge... I just purchased my 10th Dodge since 1974 and all have been great vehicles. They all have not been trouble-free, but the all have delivered excellent service. I had great service from Toyota too, but they don't produce anything in the US to match the Dodge heavy duties. You can say I even have enough faith in Dodge, that I just purchased an '09 4500.



I know folks who have had bad Chevies and Fords. When I was active duty, my folks got two new F350 4X4s w/ the 6. 0. The grab handles in the back kept breaking off, the trannies on both had to be rebuilt and I heard one of them caught on fire. A friend of mine just bought a used Chevy 2500 w/ Duramax/Allison. Seems like a nice truck.



Whatever you figure out, good luck w/ it.



Wiredawg

 

[domehead]

Sorry about your troubles but all makes and models have their fair share of issues. Besides having 09 3500. I also own a 05 Excurisson with the 6. 0 in it. No major problem with the X but if you look at the reports from emdunds to consummer reports excursion and one of the worst out there. With 110K on it still runs like its brand new. You may have got one of those trucks thats overall has issues but it seems you have repaired or update the weak parts which by your post is not the engine.



Before you leap think about what you may be getting into.





Hope you can get your truck running the way you want it.

 

[MMeier]

Everything original... with the exception of shocks on my '03. Just hit 217k coming back from Oklahoma this morning. Most of those miles towing/hauling way above manufacturers specs.

 

[KLauber]

Just crossed 183K with my truck and all the suspension parts are original, replaced a front wheel bearing at 140K, might do the other one before towing the family to AZ and back. Of course all the miles we do are on paved roads, maybe the difference is bouncy dirt roads in your case? Hard to say...

Ken

 

[Grizzly]

Cummins Cowboy, if your Dodge was produced in St Louis, may be the problem. Dodge trucks made in Saltillo, Mexico are more reliable and have less failures.



I'm on my second Dodge/Cummins without one issue. Both of my Dodge trucks were made in Mexico.



I also agree with other posters in that if you mistreat any brand truck, you will have problems. Replacing tires with oversized tires can result with ball joint failures.

 

[RDHamill]

I sure hope that with the restructering of GM & Chrysler, they are able to start to design future products to better instead of engineering for costs.
As it is today, my practice is to replace parts with aftermarket,just as soon as they show signsof wear. While I don't think I should have to replace a ujoint at 50,000 miles, I know the replacment unit will last almost forever.
I beleive that the lubricants we can buy today are better then ever, you just can't put them into the
OE parts of our trucks.
good luck with yours

 

[MA2LA]

I have 125k on my 06. it has had all joints and wheel hubs replaced under warenty and had the tierods done under a recall. most of that was done at about 75k. I am very hard on my truck and do alot of driving in washington dc witch has some of the worst roads around and I don't exactyl baby it while driving up there. other than that I did have some injector issuses due to bad fuel and i just finaly replaced the trans but thats all on me putting way more power through it than it was intended.