When did it bite you?

[JeffWhite]

When did you first decide you couldn't live without a Cummins powered

Ram? For me, it started in about 94. I'll never forget my first test

drive - me and my Dad were in town for what I don't remember, but

there was this truck at the dealer, a 3500 DRW automatic. It was

the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen - black over red w/ red interior.

It was Saturday morning, so I thought it would be safe to stop and

ogle the truck without getting hassled by salesmen, but they were

there and forced the keys into my hot little hands... Dad used to

be service manager at the Chevy dealer next door and knew the

salesman - I'll never forget the salesman pointing next door and

proudly proclaiming {They ain't got NOTHING like this!} I'll never forget

the "shudder" when I turned the key off - thougt the thing had blown up,

but then remembered that big farm tractors do the same - Cool - a "real"

diesel! The next year a 95, white with red interior near gave me heart failure, I wanted it so bad. Then a buddy let me drive his Dad's 95 5spd with 4. 10 gears, and it was a permanent addiction. Took me till 02 to finally save up

the money to get one of my very own, but it was worth all those years

eating baloney sandwichs and driving other (cheaper) stuff! I bought

from the same dealer - that forced test drive finally paid off for them,

albeit a little later than they probably expected. Dad's buddies at the

Chevy place were always trying to get me to test drive a Duramax,

but I never did, told them that if they got one that rattled like a Dodge

to call me, I might think about it. Who the h*** wants a quiet diesel?

I used to be so envious when at 70 mph in my 6. 5, windows up and

A/C on, I could I. D. a Cummins about to pass in the left lane before

he even got beside me, just from the sound! Bye the way, what ever

happened to the "waterfall" two-tone paint and red interiors? Mine is

Agate, and sure is dull. Not sure what two-tone would look like on a

Quad cab - anybody got or done this? Pictures? Jeff

 

[SRadke]

94 when they came out with the new body style. I was 12 years old and knew I would have one. Bought a 96 in 2000 right after I graduated high school and a couple years later the 03 new. What a great ride



-Scott

 

[JeffWhite]

School bus makes me think of a laugh I had when I turned wrenches for my Dad -

Had just serviced the trans on a really LOUD PSD and test drove it after.

Went down in a little subdivision to turn around, and all the kids were running out

to the curb with a puzzled look - heard the bus coming, where is it? Was so

funny, I went through several more neighborhoods for a repeat! It was a '99

I think and sounded like ball bearings in a pea thrasher.

 

[DWeiler]

In FEB 2002

I was driving around delivering bread for a living and there it was sitting in the far corner of the lot calling my name . I had a 98 gasser--Dodge 360,but one of dads friends had a 95 CUMMINS ,since then i always said i wanted a CUMMINS. When i bought the 98 gasser i couldn"t afford the diesel option,but things got better as time went on. One day i stopped to kick the tires and by the end of the day we had a deal,pending the "BETTERHALF" get a new vehicle as well. Dealer gave me what i wanted for my 98 and knocked off $8000 from the invoice cause it was an 2001. 5,this was feb 2002. The truck was a special order that was never bought(previous buyer had a change of heart),his loss,my gain,bin happy ever since. :-laf :-laf :-laf DW

 

[4xquadrod]

I remember first seeing the 89 at the auto show in San Diego, it was a red and silver looking two tone. I was freaked seeing a real diesel in the truck. Later I bought a used 96 with 40,000 miles on it for my Superintendent. At the time I found it real strange to have such low RPMs and feel that pull. Really strange when it shifted into overdrive and really pulled. So soon after purchasing the 96 for a work truck I just had to have a 03 when they came out. Then... ... ... . Greg Boardman popped up and boiled his tires from here to the moon and I was hooked. I had to have me one of those!

 

[NPloysa]

Scott, you are a youngin' man! I graduated H. S. in 99 and thought I was young, haha. Just proves some guys on here are more mature then their age would lead you to believe



Well, for me I thought they were pretty cool when I first saw the 2nd gens come out in 94. Then I dated a girl a short bit in H. S. who had a 97 reg cab and my dad had an '84 Centurion F-250 dually 6. 9. I drove it to school once in a while but it sure wasn't a Cummins. I bought an '86 F-250 6. 9 to suffice my wants until my 6. 9 finally gave out and I was tired of fixing her.



So, I went out and got my 99 and love it. I know some of you may have seen that I wanted to sell it for my bike, but I got a second job to help pay for the bike, and after being in town hearing a few Cummins, I know I would be very sad if I sold her. So, I am going to do my best to keep my 99.



Nick

 

[SRadke]

Don't worry about the age thing Nick, around here you gain respect from what you have to offer and what you know, not your age. Some of us just learn faster than others How old should I be? Young enough to enjoy life and my CTD I hope!



-Scott

 

[ndurbin]

I always wanted a diesel pick-up for as long as I can remeber. I got this one the start of my senior year of high school in 01 as a gift from my dad. I found it one morning while in Wichita, I was back that afternoon with the money to buy it. That was prior to knowning about the TDR and it sure could have saved me some money on the transmission (as it was freshly rebuilt when I bought it).



As for the red interior you guys can have it, my 94 has it and I'm not to crazy about it. Looks weird with a tan headliner, overhead console, and sun visors.



Nathan

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

I got hooked on the Cummins about 1990. I was into the diesels since I was about 10 years old. I remember taking pictures of the coal trucks that ran in front of my house. Still have some of those pics. I also remember a tanker truck that had to stop on the hill past my house , ( missed a gear and couldnt find the nest one ) when he let the clutch out, the one tire about came off the ground. I can still see it in my mind, it was COOL.

 

[metal tech]

The TDR helped convince me my next truck needed to be a diesel. I've always like the sound of a rig's diesel. My old GMC only got 10 mpg, and you guys showed me that modding a diesel doesn't kill fuel mileage like a gas burner. The new Duramax wasn't out yet so I only drove a Ford & Ram 6 spds only. The Fords parking brake pedal whacked my shin b4 I got backed out of the lot. Then at the red light the transmission crunched when I went to put into 2nd gear from neutral, 2 strikes your out. The ram was just smoother, and had almost the same throttle response as that ford v-8, choice made. 6 months later I special ordered the truck.



AL

 

[Bill Stockard]

I was on a tour of Cummins "big engine" factory in Columbus with a group of International truck dealers when Cummins announced that they were teaming up with Dodge to offer the B-series engine in a pickup truck. When I got home, I told my wife, "We got to get one of these!"



At that time, we were towing our 5th wheel and hauling our Lance slide-in truck camper with a Ford 6. 9L diesel with a Banks turbo kit on it. My friend bought a '91 Dodge CTD D250 regular cab 5-speed to tow his 5th wheel. One day, I hooked up his truck to our 5th wheel and drove the combination about 20 miles... that did it!



We waited until Dodge offered the automatic transmission and Club Cab D350 dually version with the Cummins before we ordered our first Cummins in early 1992. Since then there's been a '97, a '00 and now the '03... been "hooked" on 'em ever since!



Bill

 

[bmoeller]

I bought an '86 F-250 6. 9 to suffice my wants until my 6. 9 finally gave out and I was tired of fixing her.

Same here. Before the Ram, I was looking mostly at Fords with the 7. 3 PSD. Hadn't ruled out Dodge. Had driver the gassers and really liked them and knew the Cummins was a great engine.



Couldn't find a pre-'99 Ford that fit my list. The newer ones were to expensive and had less space in the engine compartment. Found the Ram on Ebay. It was a local truck and went to look at it. You could probably say love at first sight. :-laf



Another advantage with the Cummins, whenever it comes time to pull the head to replase the gasket, there is only one, not two. Went through that on the 6. 9. Wasn't looking forward to it again.



I'm not a fan of the cab-forward design of the newer vehicles.

 

[klenger]

I was bitten when I found out that I needed to replace my Jeep Grand Cherokee with a larger vehcicle if I wanted a bigger trailer. Started looking at trucks and landed on the TDR. Never looked at anything else after that.

 

[Bill Stockard]

Another advantage with the Cummins, whenever it comes time to pull the head to replase the gasket, there is only one, not two. Went through that on the 6. 9. Wasn't looking forward to it again.

We had a technician in our International truck shop who specialized in head gasket replacement on the 6. 9L and 7. 3L IDI diesels in Ford trucks. He made a good living out of replacing head gaskets on these diesels. He had his system of replacement down so well that he could do two engines (4 cylinder heads) a day.



Yep, he did my Ford 6. 9L head gaskets too... and replaced the plastic advance ring that deteriorates in diesel fuel in the Stanadyne injection pump... and that's not counting the handful of glow plugs, glow plug relays, and coolant temperature sensors for the glow plugs.



Bill

 

[EBottema]

I never really paid much attention to newer diesel trucks, always into older vehicles. It was one early morning at the kern river around 2000 or 2001 and i was woke up by this loud nasty knocking noise in the next campsite over. I was like what the hell is that outside? it sounded like a semitruck. I looked through the window and it was a dodge. In my area dodge diesels, or anything diesel is pretty hard to come by. I talked to the guy with the truck for a few days, i inspected the truck, nice dana axles and nice NV transmission, i was amazed that dodge could build such a nice drivetrain. I came on and found TDR and other sites, started reading and working on some. I fell in love

 

[KBennett]

My Dad bought a '95 in '97 and took me for a ride in it. I wasn't really impressed with the ride (it was stock) but when I popped the hood when we got home everything was built BIG!

I got to drive it once on a trip to Iowa pulling a trailer and I was pretty impressed with the power.

When we got a 4500 pound travel trailer given to us I knew the Toyota was not going to cut it.

The rest is history