2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission What gen dodge truck is the best

[Bob4x4]

The only thing the first gen's were best at was fuel mileage :-laf

I did so much warranty work on first gens it was ridiculus. Bad wiring bad switches,broken frames and crossmembers. Broken sheet metal,leaking w/sheilds you name it. As much as I liked the the power plant I refused to buy one.

The specs looked great on the 94 model,I had inside info way early so even being un-sure if I could like the new look I ordered one in June of 93,finally arrived in Dec after many delays with the options I had ordered. Best vehicle I have ever owned. Sure there were many things I would have liked to have been different but after a few(hundred) mods I still love it. Spend way less keeping it up than the newer one.

Sure the newer truck are more civilized and loaded with more creature comforts much improved frame and brakes but at what cost?

 

[SRath]

So the dodge ineptitude for all things electrical extended back to the 1st gens, too, huh?



Then the best dodge of all would have to be that K30 chevy with a P7100 Cummins and NV5600.



And before I'm chastised for being such an anti-dodge troll, I do have such a plan in mind for my old Chevy. I just need a Cummins and my '96 Dodge hasn't quite finished falling off the one in it yet. But it will. And in the meantime, the 454 big block in the chevy is a pretty potent motor itself.

 

[Bob4x4]

:-laf I was a Die hard Chevy guy till I got the 94 and realized how much i was spending to keep it on the road

 

[SRath]

If you had an '88-and -up Chevy you spent too much, but the old ones are very cheap to keep. They just don't break very often and are easy and cheap to fix when they do.



Today we're working on my son's '81 K20 Silverado 4x4 Camper Special (8600 GVW) with some rare options that I rescued from California. Extra-heavy duty everything except for some unknown reason the factory put the wimpier 9 1/2" ring gear semi-floater rearend in it.



My kid discovered a set of 1-ton rear leafs and matching 2 1/2 inch lift front springs I had stashed in the storage shed, so we're lifting and leveling the old girl out today. i had a line on a couple of super-tough 10 1/2" ring gear full-floater corporate 14-bolt rearends for $40 each, so we're upgrading that, too, since one of them has the matching gear ratio. But I know I can kiss goodby the Detroit Locker that fits it that I've had stashed, too. It's a low-cost drop-in upgrade on that axle and will make a huge difference in off-road capability and I know he's eager to put that in, too.



Nope, you just can't beat those old Chevys for interchangeability of parts, or ease to work on and upgrade.



Now my second gen Dodge is an absolute money-pit. I've spent more repairing and upgrading that miserable front suspension and steering than the two entire old Chevy K20's I bought last winter cost me and they'll both outride and outsteer that paintshaker dodge. We'd like to find a nice 4BT cummins to drop in one of them and put a 12v 5. 9 in my crewcab. The 350 and 454 motors in them are great, but it's tough to beat the cummins for fuel mileage.



Chevy used to build a much better truck, but just like dodge, they've changed for the worse with the 1988 and newer junk.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

If you had an '88-and -up Chevy you spent too much, but the old ones are very cheap to keep. They just don't break very often and are easy and cheap to fix when they do.

I didn't pay too much for my '93 K2500 6. 5L auto, but unfortunately the engine grenaded :{ I planned on a Cummins swap, but money/time/place to do it/donor engine were all an issue for me at the time.

Nope, you just can't beat those old Chevys for interchangeability of parts, or ease to work on and upgrade.

I swapped in a set of gears from a '68 axle that was rusting away in a field for free + a little bit of time. They didn't throw in a bolt pattern change just to make it hard on folks to shop in a junk yard.



I like the fact that all of the '70's and '80's models were totally interchangeable and required very little (if any) modifications to swap engines or transmissions.

Chevy used to build a much better truck, but just like dodge, they've changed for the worse with the 1988 and newer junk.

I agree 100% and am a die hard Chevy fan at heart, but I chose to go the Dodge route simply for the fact that it already had a Cummins under the hood.



My ultimate dream truck is an '87 Chevy (or GMC) k3500 dually crew cab with a P7100 12v and NV5600

 

[Grizzly]

I like the 3rd gen with an NV5600 6 speed manual.

 

[BIGNASTY]

The best generation Dodge is the one you have. It's just human nature.



george

Thank you I didnt want to go there because if your opinion differs from some well :-{} and then you have your proverbial #ad
Then the Crap hits the fan

 

[Texis]

I have not owned multiple Dodge Ram Cummins trucks, But I can only vouch for my 375,000 mile 97'. After (11) 4x4 vehicles I can say this is now the best truck I have ever owned. Still runs and tows very well and is very comfortable for the day to day stuff.



The Gen II front axle design is junk (IMHO) until modified with solid axles and lock-free conventional hub assemblies. If you do the mods you will get the best of both worlds... . a Gen I type front axle set up in a Gen II truck (P7100 & charge air cooler). The coil springs provide a better ride than the leaf springs, but the coil linkage system creates more problems. "If" I were to buy another Gen II, I would figure in $2K to modify the front axle right off the bat.



The Gen II body is just better with much less road & air noise and far better overall quality. I doubt the Gen I trucks are very comfortable at 80-85 mph? Areodynamics were somewhat like a brick at that point in history, the quality was poor... but they look cool.



Can't speak for Gen III? I have a buddy with an extremely fast, chipped & tuned 06, but my Gen II's AC will keep you much colder in a Texas August traffic jam!



To me the Gen II has a decent body, is a fairly modern vehicle but still had the simplicity of a mechanical 12V. Which one actually looks better is up to the individual.

 

[Mhannink]

based stricly on fact i dont think you can pick the best.



the first gens have the true 60 front with kingpins, but they only have a dana 70 rear. the first gens have a great clutch but a poor manual trans. i wont even mention the auto since they all sucked. first gens interiors seem to have a worse time falling apart then later ones. this is speculation based on murmurs i have heard this is not fact. first gens are lower power then later models. stiff suspension leafs springs on all corners, but no track bars or other suspension problems brought on by the newer suspension styles.



second gens

early ones had the p pump 12v thats supposed to be the best. later ones had the 24v with the vp44 pump and some with the 53 block both big problems. interiors where nicer but still broke apart. clutchs where not as good as earlier models but had better trans. better brakes. had dana 50/60 hybrid front axel with ball joints but had dana 80 rear. more power capibilities. better turning due to coil over suspension but has track bar prone to wear out. steering box was a problem too.



3rd gens

had common rail engine almost as good as the 12v. problematic nv5600 but later had better g56. nice interiors with better built dashes. best brakes. some suspension problems like track bar fixed. has amm axels ( hearing mixed reviews on those)



this is just off the top of my head im sure others can add a lot more then that.



personally i think its the trucks we build that are the best. if you take any one of the trucks and do everything you can to it so that it is its most reliable then thats the best one

 

[SRath]

Your thoughts are right in line with my own, Texis. But I think you need to at least double that $2000 figure to upgrade & repair the front end. You can blow right past $2k without even getting to the hub and inner axle conversion. I have the receipts... Four Moog ball joints, 3rd gen adjustable track bar, DSS brace, complete Moog T-style linkage, new RS9000X shocks and aftermarket steering stabilizer and custom brackets, aftermarket poly-bushed tubular adjustable control arms, new axle ujoints and axle seals. It adds up painfully fast. And you haven't yet touched the CAD & unitized hubs & scrawny multi-piece axle shafts.



It will never be a strong as a kingpin D-60, but you can get it close once you do ALL of this and the live-bearing hub, lockouts, and 35-spline axle conversion for another $2000 or more. So it will take at least $4K get you "as good as a 2nd gen gets in front", and that's a tremendous amount of money for just the frontend, imo. And don't forget the $500 to $600 cost of two new front tires that are surely trashed from the old frontend.



And I really have to dispell the myth about coils riding better than leaf springs. All you need do is ride in my Dodge then take the same ride in my K30 with SoftRide, flexible 2 1/2" lift leafsprings all the way around (NO rear blocks). Heavy loads are handled by the Ride-Rite air suspension in back. That truck rides and drives like a dream on 35" Mud Terrains for less than $1200 back when I did it, including RS9000 shocks and dual stabilizer. And it already has the real-deal Dana 60 with kingpins, live bearing hubs, lockouts, and 35 spline inner shafts (outers were upgraded to 35 spline, too). Simple, tried, and true and MUCH less expensive to lift, modify, and maintain. Its never had a shimmy, shake, death wobble, or trashed a tire in 23 years.



Someday, it would be very interesting to get a 2nd gen dodge extended cab chassis and a K30 chassis side by side in my shop and get to work with the welder and torch and plasma cutter and put leafsprings and a chevy D-60 under the 2nd gen like is so popular to do to the newer chevy's with replacing the crappy torsion bar suspension with ford leafsprings and dana 60 solid axle.



The guy that comes up with a "kit" to do that on a second gen Dodge could make some money marketing it. I realize I would then have a passenger side drop axle like the 1st gen dodges and older chevys did, but that's perfectly OK since I could use an NP205 behind the NV5600 to make that work and gain a tougher t-case in the process.



We do all have our different ideas of "the perfect truck" and its really cool when every now and then someone actually builds their dream truck. I love the old Chevy styling and how they "feel" to drive. I like the little things like vent windows and rain gutters, too. A bigger box. Reliable power accessories that don't require microchips. You don't get those anywhere anymore. I especially like my 4-door crew cab single rear wheel K30 with it's straight-from-a-Texas-ranch custom cowboy-cadillac leather & oak interior. Wow! Those Texans sure know how to make a man-cave out of the interior of a truck!



It would be a significant task, which has been done many times before, but putting a 12 valve and NV5600 in it would probably be a lot cheaper and easier than putting a leafspring kingpin D-60 under the dodge. For me personally, much as I like some of the things about my '96 Ram very much, I would then have my own idea of "the ultimate truck for Scott".

 

[Olmsted]

I like my 12 valve '95 manual trans for ease of modification / repair, simplicity and mileage. Mechanical injection never lets me down. It's my cost effective way to tow, haul, camp without a car payment. 200K miles and no major problems! It's the only Dodge / Cummins I've owned but here in California we're getting smog checked on '98 and newer diesels. Mine was the last year the California model Cummins had no smog equipment at all. I'm sticking with this one!! Only complaint would be peeling paint and some folks don't like the engine sound - too bad for them.



I did have a 4wd super duty 2007 that was a real piece of crap compared to my much older Dodge 2500 2wd manual.

 

[rodneync]

OK, now I'm going to probably get eyes rolling, but since we are talking about early model rebuilds -- I'm thinking of and EMP resistant/proof truck. What would it take?