Rom ..why do you think Dodge trucks have that reputation? Thats the first thing people say to me when I tell them I have a dodge Ram. I was on some site (dont remember the name) and it was a big bitch fest on how bad the trannys were in Dodge trucks. These were all Ram owners complaining about their transmission and how each one of them should complain to the government (ftc i think) to try and get a recall going. Personally I bought my truck with 62,000 miles on it...it now has 98,000..ive had the tranny serviced twice. My mechanic says he's never seen a tranny in as good as shape as mine considering the age of the truck, its a Dodge, and I plow with it. I also lucked out because the previous owner took excellent care of the truck.

 

For the other side of the story - we had a 2000 Chrysler Town and country - tranny failed at 24k, a 2002 T&C, tranny failed at 19k and again at 29k, and my '01 Ram tranny failed at 40k and 60k.......
the T&C's were the wife's vehicle and I have never done a burnout or towed much with my truck......

Buddy of mine has a '98 Ram he got 160k out of his with no maintenance b-4 it went out....

Get it checked out by a reputable shop b-4 you buy and good luck. If you need good gas mileage and don't really need a truck - go look for something else. Most of these trucks average between 12 and 15 mpg with some exceptions.

 

i have a 2000 quad cab 4x4 with 145000 on it ...i have put a water pump and the tranny just went out !!!!!!!!!!!! other then plugs and wires and mods i have spent $ 00000 except on those 2 things ......I cant complain not even a little

 

Bought my '99 1500 with 80K miles on it three years ago. About a year into it, the torque convertor began to slip - or more exactly, it wouldn't always lock up. I paid $12K for the truck, so putting another $1600 into a trans rebuild was a bit of a gamble - maybe, but I went for it. I bought the truck to pull my boat. My boat and trailer weigh in at about 7000# and this old truck that now has 155K miles on it pulls like nothing I've ever known. I've pulled the boat with a Ford Expedition, and a Chevy 1500, Z71. A Ram with a 360 and twice the mileage is the only vehicle that I've pulled it with that actually stays in OVERDRIVE.

Weak transmissions? Pay attention to what's been posted here. MAINTENANCE.

When I first bought the truck, I swore I'd never buy another one. Now I can't imagine owning anything else.

 

Tow in overdrive????????????

 

When I worked at the dodge dealership they had me working overtime every week because of all the trans in the minivans that needed replaced. I replaced my parents 88 caravan at about 85,000 and there 92 voyagerat 110,000. This was years ago but both were reasonably maintained. At the garage I was changing out trans with less than 20K... But I still wont buy anything but a mopar.

 

My 99 Ram does not want to change gears after it sits for a week or so, after driving it for a while it shifts good until it sits again. Also we have an 89 Grand Voyager with 210k it will still burn the tires when you stomp on it no tranny problems no maintance on tranny.

 

I just bought a 99 ram QC with the 5.9 tow package. The truck ran excellent for about a week and then all of a sudden the trans started hanging when shifting from 2nd to 3rd.I looked for 2 months before picking this truck out. The truck is in perfect cosmetic condition inside and out with 86,000 miles. Previous owner had put on duel flowmaster exhaust, nerf step bars, chrome brush guard, american racing rims, fast back spoiler, bed liner, tonue cover etc...So I expected from the looks and extra's it was indeed well maintained, adult owned & well appreciated.

Thank god I bought a 45,000 mile warranty, the truck goesto the tranny shop tmmr. The whole experienced saddens me as Ive wanted one of this trucks for years and when I finally dig in the pocket, I get into this.

 

I drive a 2006 Ford Explorer (work supplied garbage) It has been back to the dealer 6 times at least and the first three were for the tranny. It ended up being replaced after leaving me stranded for the third time around 4000 kms! The brand new trans still bucks around and doesn't shift right. So I thinks its funny when people say dodge has tranny problems. They all do! Transmissions are complicated if they would stick to a design they would have better luck in my opinion.

 

My dads old 72 D200 had a little over 300,000 miles when the trans went out FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!
I think thats pretty good IMO.
On the other hand, my dads current truck (96 F150) has 100,000 and the trans slips between the 1st and 2nd shift, and shifts like absoulute ***.