More Dodge Ram Fun

[Arizona_928]

Bah humbug. T444E. I have one. Good engine.

But that's it. Emissions killed the reliable diesel. Even class 8.... Emissions...
Won't touch the new fords. As mentioned above, and even on other tech forums. Pull the cab.

[Brando]

Originally Posted by RWebb

this thread could be a Ford commercial...

Funny you say that Randy - a coworker/friend of mine tried to sell me his 2010 F-150. It has 1/3 the mileage of the RAM 1500 I bought, but way more issues. He brags about having deferred every major maintenance, plus 1 door doesn't open and 2 doors won't unlock with the power locks. He put off getting the spark plugs replaced for 20k miles.

When he said "You should have bought my Ford!" my response was "So I could be locked out of it while it's broken down?"

I think if any of us bought a used and well-maintained truck it would have far fewer issues than what I am dealing with. Just having this conversation with my cousin: Vehicles manufactured in the last 10-15 years are more reliable than ever - when they are regularly maintained and inspected. Most people skip on even the regular simple maintenance and it is cumulative over time.

[VincentVega]

Love it

I want a new truck in the worst way but just about everything I read says stay away. My rusty old chebby just keeps trucking, at the current rate it will rust apart before the old 5.3 craps out. Sure, not the power of a big diesel but you can buy a LOT of 5.3 trucks for the buy in and maintenance of a diesel. For the time being I dont mind the slow lane, overloaded, but running...

[RWebb]

[QUOTE=Brando;10769501 Vehicles manufactured in the last 10-15 years are more reliable than ever - when they are regularly maintained and inspected. Most people skip on even the regular simple maintenance and it is cumulative over time.[/QUOTE]


No no - the vehicle is supposed to write you a little note on the dashboard when it needs attention!!


I know this because a high school English teacher told me that.

[Brando]

Oh man, I about spit my coffee out reading that...

Originally Posted by RWebb

No no - the vehicle is supposed to write you a little note on the dashboard when it needs attention!!

I know this because a high school English teacher told me that.

[RWebb]

True story - he's a nice guy tho

Has a BMW wagon and a sail boat...

[berettafan]

computer controlled seatbelts? Is that common?

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

I reached out to the mods to see if they would start a off topic sub forum for Chrysler vehicle issues... I guess they are concerned with data and bandwidth limitations...

Anyway, best of luck with your Ram. My 03 2500 diesel cost me $30,000 in 2.5 years of ownership and sat parked for 1 of those 2.5 years... it was clean and well maintained but made out of broken...

Good gosh man, what in the h3ll happened to that thing for $30K worth of repairs?

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by berettafan

if you can get a Ram to last 400k miles you won't just be happy, you'll be famous.

I’ve got 325k on mine so far, still not famous.

[sammyg2]

LOL I wondered who ended up with the good one.

[asphaltgambler]

Afterburn- if you know someone that has access to a scan tool t get 'see's' the body control module - you're li kg ely to find what's wrong

[Arizona_928]

I've used HPtuner to flash ecms on the cheb 5.3's. Literally a click of a button and you can turn off emission equipment, change injector cc size, ect. I'm not sure if they work with older injection pump trucks.

[Brando]

Is there a tuner for 3rd gen Rams that can disable the EGR, re-map the engine tuning, and re-map the transmission shift points?

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Good gosh man, what in the h3ll happened to that thing for $30K worth of repairs?

Let’s see...

Front driveshaft broke driving through snow my first weekend living at our farm.
Transfer case went and needed to be replaced.
Front wheel bearings.
Death wobble - I rebuilt much of the suspension sorting out this disaster.
Steering box broke one day.
Throttle servo.
Transfer case exploded which took out wiring harness going to back of truck, brake lines, fuel line, front drive shaft, transmission, pounded hell out of floor.
New tranny installed at dealer not installed correctly and failed first weekend 300 miles from home because the bell housing bolts came out.
2 warrantee torque converters later, I sold the POS as a big loss.

I’m sure there was other stuff but now I need a drink.

[DanielDudley]

I usually keep a truck around 10 years, and sell it still running with some rust and high miles. I have gotten rid of a few that just seemed as if they were never going to be right. If the last one had been as good when I bought it as it was when I sold it, I would have kept it. If it had been a weekend toy, I would have kept it. But a truck is a tool to me. I decided that to bite the bullet and get a better truck with lower miles was going to be the better option in the long run.

For me it was the better option, and the new(er) truck has been flawless for 2 1/2 years. The real kicker was that even though I took a loss when I sold, I figured that after five years the newer truck would still have lower miles than the current miles on the one I was selling, which would then have over 200K on the dial. So even if I took a loss, it should be made up for in the long haul.

Of course, the real reason I got rid of it was that I was sick of unexpected repairs, inconveniences and down time. The truck was an unpleasant distraction that was making my life harder, and taking up head space.

The new owner is probably happy. He got a new motor, and a great deal. I was never going to be happy with it, and it wasn't fitting in with my long term plans. I loved that truck, and I loved driving it, but it wore me out. My parents are in their 90s, and live one state away. I need a truck that I can just turn the key and go. It isn't like me to give up on mechanical things, but here we are, and I'm happier for it. Emotionally, I just wanted that truck to work. Rationally, it wasn't doing what I needed it to do.

The Truck from the Twilight Zone. Only you can look at it with a cold eye and balance out the pluses and minuses.

[rfuerst911sc]

Sorry to hear about your truck issues , it's a shame the consumer has to deal with poor engineering . I have owned a 2001 GMC diesel dually 4x4 and other than a faulty magnesium transfer case half it has been rock solid. I replaced the mag case with an aftermarket aluminum one and good to go.

I bought the truck with 99k miles and I am at 175k at the moment . She has been rock solid . I have no idea if previous owner dealt with injectors or not but so far she runs great. I like this model year due to no emissions crap . I am completely stock other than I removed the muffler . I plan on hanging onto her for a long time .

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

No you don't, not a second-generation...
You must be old and senile and just don't remember (understand this is humor)
But seriously which year?

So I can't name a specific aftermarket brand for that but you could make a few calls to independent shops that have a scan tool that can access the body control module. Sometimes you don't know if it will until you plug it in and see if it recognizes the body module. If so you could at least see what if any fault code(s) that may be present.

Last place would be the dealer- again to find what the cause is. Most all shops charge 1 labor hour to scan / report.

[Arizona_928]

Isn't the computer that hard writes vehicle parameters(speed, seatbelt use, brake application) during an accident?

[Brando]

Continuing this adventure... On to the next project. The truck is running along just fine, no codes, no problems so far (knock on wood). Now to quiet down the interior and cut out some of that dastardly road noise. I purchased about 118 square feet of Noico black 80 mil mats and 72 square feet of red 150 mil mats. So far the rear bulkhead and floor are done, got most of the roof done yesterday. I won't have it all done by next weekend since doing the front half of the cab requires removing the front seats all as one piece.

[Brando]

Great idea for my next manual trans vehicle. This one's an auto, and I'll be laying down both kinds of matting over the center tunnel too.

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

If you have a standard, fill the area around the shifter with your favorite sound deadener.
The difference is MORE then noticeable.

And some pictures. The brownish squares on the front part of the ceiling are the factory sound and heat insulation which were like roofing tiles and fell apart when removing them. A little bit of acetone to clean up the gunk and I was well on my way to lining the roof. I'll leave the holes on the cross-members uncovered for ventilation and prevent bubbling up behind the mats.