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Dodge Duramax
Ford had some owner ship at one time with Cummins for diesels for Fords tractor line. At no time did they want to get the Cummins for their trucks. There was a page on Cummins web site talking about this a while back.
The "New" Dodge 2500 and 3500 trucks will be out this year and will be a new truck with a lot of the proven mechanics. Same Cummins Diesel with more power. Transmissions have got better since 1994.
We have dicussed transmissions on DiRT many times. Bottom line is its usually the driver that kills the transmission not craftsmanship.
Drivers with Auto's or Manuals usually pull in OVERDRIVE which is the #1 killer of a transmission in any brand of truck.
They also tend to OVERLOAD their trucks and expect them to keep going is not going to happen either.
Also they tend to drive them too hard. I've always been told take off nice and easy and smooth and let the truck do its job and you wont tear anything up. Put your foot into it with a 10000lb trailer behind and the Cummins will put the tranny to its grave.
Also lots of times people dont get the right truck for the job. If you are gonna pull trailers day in and day out and want and auto get a 4.10 gear. If you are gonna pull once a month or the camper on vacation a few times a year you can get by with the 3.54. Shut the OD off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you are gonna grossly overload your truck and generally abuse it get the manual tranny and 4.10.
I know some of you will say I used to have a such and such year + make of a truck and I overloaded it and abused it and never had any problems and so on...........
We all know things arent built as heavy as they used to be built but the #1 thing (Here it is again) you didnt have an OD tranmission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Also the "New" Ram has already been out for a year in the 1500 series so any recalls and problems most likely will have been smoothed out by the time the big trucks are out. The Cummins Engine is proven and is used in many different applications. Not just the Ram. In those applications it is producing WAY more power thenin the Ram. Its tuned down for the Ram and they just keep tuning up a notch or 2 for the Ram. Most of the "new" ram is already proven and reliable. There are a handful of Allison 6 speed trannys in some of the 2000 Rams working just fine. Allison has been around for a long time and th Cummins and Allison trannys have been in MotorHomes and the Medium Duty big trucks for years.
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
I'm looking forward to seeing how the Hemi will do. I am not impressed with its power #'s though. The HP is impressive but the torque is 365lbs feet of torque. Way low of the Diesels and V10 and its grandpa the 426 Hemi. Torque is what pulls the trailer.
An interesting side note a fellow DiRT member saw a new 3500 at an auto show in Chicago I think last week with Hemi badges on it but they did not and would not open the engine so who knows what kind of #'s the Hemi will put out.
Although I am not a mechanical engineer I would think the Hemi Head with todays technology could produce a very good engine with plenty of power,good MPG and good emissions.
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Sounds to me like a bad dealership or a bad rear end housing cast or machined wrong slightly causing rear end failure. I would think after #2 they woudl have rolled an entire new aseembly under the truck.
I have had my 1995 Dodge Ram for almost 7 years now with no troubles at all. I did have the transmission replaced at 30000 miles because the idiot dealiership didnt put enough fluid back in on a fluid and filter change. But thats another story..........
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
They do use a spreader tool to spread the housing a slight bit to get things inside. Could have been overdone originally and the housing is tweaked a little bit.
I would like to think who ever has redone the rear end would look at contact patterns on the gears. That can help determine how things were set last time and could maybe indicate an area of the rear end housing that is bad.
They do have various dial indicators for setting tolerances and I am guessing maybe if the housing was cast wrong or a part of it was wrong then that could throw off adjustments. These indicators are attached to various locations on the rear end when setting things up.
These rear end designs have been around a long time and are proven. They do what they are supposed to do and do hold up well to serious overloading.
I think you should visit this web site and poke around. Maybe it will help you. You may find others that have had this problem or get answers.
http://dodgeram.org/
We all would like to think a dealership is the best place to go for our vehicles but I have little to none in the fiath department with my local dealership. The parts guys at the counter and 2 older mechanics in the shop are the only ones I trust. The rest of them got their start at the local Jiffy Lube 30 minute oil change place and they are now mechanics!
Also 3 rear ends in 30000 miles isnt right. I think I would be talking to the higher ups about replacing the truck under lemon laws or get some big parts trucked in to replace entire areas of the truck. Not the managers at the dealership but make some calls to Detroit!
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Check the dodgeram.org web site. They have all the service bulletins and recalls and so forth on there. A dealership denying warranty work?????????? If it is covered under warrnaty and most things are the dealership gets paid from Chrysler for doing the work. Thats really odd they would deny things.
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Someone on DiRT experienced this with their Ram. They said they had a warped axle housing that caused the wheel/axle bearings to fail and then the pumpkin area bearings and gears soon followed.
Todd
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Found out some interesting information today. Seems the "New" Dodge Ram's will not have any Dana front or rear ends. They are now all American Axle ends. They were having quality control problems with Dana and have done away with them. American Axle was at one time a division of GM?!
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
I found your problem and the Dana information interesting. I have never had any troubles and am a fan of Dana over the years. I got an old 1974 Dodge D200 Pickup with a 440 going to a 4.10 gear Dana 60 and its heavy duty and does real well. I guess times change though.
At best maybe this will give you some good ammo when trying to battle with the dealership for more warranty work.
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Let us know what happens. I was wondering a while back how you were coming along with things.
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Just read yesterday Mack Truck has told Dana to hit the road on making their axles for the big trucks. Seems its not just Dodge having problems with them.
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
I think I would demand an entire new rear end put under the truck. No more rebuilds. Has the same shop did the fix 3 times? Sounds like someone doesnt know whats going on?!
Todd
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Dodge Duramax
Another interesting find on the old dana rear ends.
Taken for DiRT.
Todd
-------------------------------------------------------
o: dirt@mailman.xmission.com
Send reply to: dirt@mailman.xmission.com
Date sent: Fri, 06 Sep 2002 13:24:15 -0600
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My 97 ate pinion bearings on a regular basis. It ended up being a bad
casting and the whole housing was replaced. Before the replacement, 6 sets
of bearings were installed. Not sure if this is relevant to your problem,
but the noise mine made was a very low hum. When the truck was put on the
rack and run in gear while listening underneath, it was quite evident where
the noise was coming from.
Hope it helps.
Jeff
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