New Chevys

farmboy12 · Dec 29, 2008

Builder said:
I think he means the name of the transmission, not the engine,.

Well, I was kinda askin' about the engine. But later I reread your post and wanted to know the transmission too. Your both right.

farmboy12 · Jan 3, 2009

As we're looking at a new truck, I'm gonna look at some trailers too.

Now, this isn't as serious as the truck, but I wanna look at them. We know the exact truck we want, and just need to go to the dealer and buy it. Anyway, we currently have an 18'+4' bumper pull deckover. It has two 12,000# axles.

There is one we're looking at. It has three 7,000# axles, so it can't handle as much of a load as ours, but it's only by 3000#, and we've never even gone to 15,000# I believe. It's nice, and it's good to have a tilt deck, because we have antique tractors that are tricycle. It is longer than our current trailer. I don't know about the big drop off at the back when it's down, a little jump. Nothing a tractor can't handle, but more than we want. How does it look to you guys?

Kyle

farmboy12 · Jan 24, 2009

Never mind that last message.

We were pretty sold on that Ford. Last night, however, we drove a Dodge Cummmins w/ the Asin auto. It was AWESOME! They come standard with an exhaust brake, and this one had an on-board compressor, and you can adjust the amount of pressure in your tires. It didn't have quite as nice of an interior, but rode better than the Ford. An unrealistic power advantage over the Ford. The tranny was also great. It was very comparable the Allison 6 in our motorhome.

Now, can anyone tell me of any other problems with the Dodge, other than the DPF crap?

We love Cummins, but thought that Dodge fell behind. We don't think that anymore!

Next, a Duramax/ Allison test.

Kyle

Builder · Jan 24, 2009

Between the Aisin 6 and the exhaust brake, Ford just can't compare to Dodge right now. GM has a 4500/5500 that can be had with an exhaust brake, a 360HP DMAX and an air ride seat with compressor. You can even get an even bigger ally, an RDS (rugged duty series) 2230 6 speed auto.

Never knew the tires could be inflated in the Dodge, I thought the compressor was for an air ride seat.

Diamondpilot · Jan 24, 2009

The problems I had with my 2500 Dodge was everything Dodge made. It was just cheap and did not hold up. All the little things broke but the powertrain and running gear were fine.

Chris

farmboy12 · Jan 24, 2009

DP-
That's what we were thinking. However, back in 2004, we bought one of the Durango's when it first changed style, and it held up great. We used it daily, we sold it to my aunt and uncle, and they still use it everyday, with no problems.

Kyle

Builder · Jan 24, 2009

Everybody's experiences with trucks, tractors, etc. varies. Just because one guy has trouble doesn't mean everyone else will, too.

farmboy12 · Jan 24, 2009

That is true. Very true in fact.

Kyle

Diamondpilot · Jan 25, 2009

That is very true. It was a Hemi and while I love the HP it was not a good tow vehicle. I would rather tow with a 5.4 Ford or a 6.0 GM. The best mpg I could get was 12 and I saw 8 alot of times in just town driving. The Hemi should not have ever been put into a truck, it makes the HP but the torque is made at way too high of a RPM for good towing. It makes a awesome engine in a street car like a Challenger.

I did see things start to fall apart on mine in the 2 years we had it. We go it new and had to have the AC compressor replace, 2 trannys repairs(traded with a bad tranny the second time), power steering pump, radiator cooling fan, and a few other small items. I dumped it before the warranty was gone at the time of the second tranny problems and never looked back.

Chris

farmboy12 · Jan 25, 2009

All in all we have a pretty good experiences with Chrysler-

3 Jeeps- Wrangler, I was never alive for it, so I don't know.

- Grand Cherokee, 1995, ran great, got stolen

-Wrangler, 1999, still runs great with only about 40,000 miles on it.
8 Dodges- 1988 Dodge 3500, first year with a Cummins. It was used by my dad as a service truck. Ran great.

- 1991 Dodge 3500, Cummins ran terrible.

-Grand Caravan, 2001, used by my aunt and uncle til 2007 when they got our Durango

-2004 Durango, you already heard about that, runs great.

-2008 Grand Caravan, just bought as an extra vehicle by my grandfather. Runs great!

-2005 Sprinter, runs fantastic.

-2006 Sprinter, terrible issues. But, it was the motor, which is made by Mercedes. Chrysler even brought in two German mechanics, top notch, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then the gave us a new Sprinter.

- 2008 Sprinter, runs great.

Kyle