Hey Fellas,
I'm considering buying a new 2010 3500 CTD dually to pull our 5th wheel trailer which weighs close to 13000 pounds. I'm not worried about the Cummins but I am worried about the transmission. Are they a reliable tranny? How do they compare to the Allison and Fords transmissions? Ive never owned a Dodge before and Dodge doesn't seem to brag to much about theirs like Ford and Chevy do. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks.

 

Maximum tow rating for the 3500 is 17,500lbs w/ the cummins. You should be fine and if something does happen you have a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

 

Umm.. last time I checked, power train=engine..

Drive train = Tranny and downstream...

Dodge only warranties their powertrain to 100,000km.. and their drive train to 60,000km...

I could be wrong of course.

 

lol...and you are, Engine, trans, diff covered until 100K.

 

As far as I know the only real weak point in a dodge is their transmissions I got lucky with my 06 when i was hit by a drunk driver because my tranny was starting to slip and studder.

As for my 09 even with the the flawed diablosport programming my transmission functions alot better and gives firmer shifts even with stock programming So they might have finnally got the bugs worked out.

 

My understanding is that when you take your truck to the dealer they verify the Flash memory. If they detect a non factory load, they may invalidate the warranty, especially for the transmission.

To protect the tranny, Dodge has programmed the engine to retard the timing just as it shifts to reduce the torque during the shift, this is why we own trucks that shift they way they do. If you remove that protection, and the tranny fails, then you will be SOL.

 

The transmission in my 06 Ram started to go right as I decided to trade in and purchase my 09 Ram. I was only towing a 2,000 motorcycle trailer and the shifter solenoid took a dump on me. Before then it was the EGR valve (not really a big deal to change myself), and before that the A/C (heater) door broke and I had to pay to get my dash disassembled ($1,000+). The thing that sucked about all of this is that I got my truck serviced regularly and really took care of it but unfortunately it was out of warranty. Now I have an 8 year/120,000 mile warranty and all those things should be covered under warranty until it is time to get a new truck. I don't think I will ever own another vehicle that isn't under some sort of warranty.

 

The truth of the matter is that it is too early to tell whether the 4th Gen RAM transmissions will be bad, OK or outstanding.

Comparison with 06's is not a good indicator, they are very different beasts. It's a bit like saying all Fords are dangerous because some Explorers had bad accidents, or even Pintos went on fire with regularity. The 4th gen RAM has A LOT of Mercedes engineering in it. But that doesn't mean it's foolproof. I had a water pump fail on a year-old Merc. Should I judge all Mercedes engineering by that? No. The rest of my experience was very positive.

The difference between the 3rd and 4th Gen RAMs is extraordinary. The transmission in my wife's (HEMI) Aspen feels very different to that in my RAM, even though they are theoretically similar. The Aspen is 2 years older than the RAM though.

Depending on the model year though, the lifetime warranty gives peace of mind. For those that want to tinker with it, have the tinker-shop back up the warranty. If they won't, ask why. Then consider whether the extra whatever (hp, torque, mpg, noise(!)) warrants the loss of warranty (pun intended).

 

Try a diesel site.You'll get lots more responses.What all I have read is that weak trannys are NOT a issue any more and really haven't been for a number of years and models.The 6 speed auto used in the diesel from what I gather is about bullet proof.