I am going to look at a 05 3500 dually 2wd that has 130,000k(78k miles)The 2 wd doesn't bother me as we will only be doing pavement towing (horse trailer)It has the 5.9L cummins and 2 years left on the warranty. anything to watch for specific to this particular year.


Regards
Fred

 

Look for signs of abuse, lack of maintenance, and programmers being added/removed.


I figured a 2wd would be ok for the time being, and I made it from FL to WA with no problems. It wasn't until I went to back my 24' trailer (at about 12k pounds at that point) into my father inlaw's driveway and I had to pull into the neighbor's grass drive (to their barn) and I got stuck. I had to have him chain his Tundra to the back of my trailer and give me a yank. Granted mine's a 2500, but I don't know that having two more tires spinning out back would have mattered.

Give some thought about where you're going to tow those horses. Chances are a 2wd will be just fine, but if you encounter muddy fields you might be calling for a tractor.

 

Here are some of the comments I have got from people I have talked to about the truck I am looking at.
My son has a Dodge 1500 and his partner has a Ford diesel. His Dodge had the tranny go and he says that the Dodge has a way nicer, and better, interior than the Ford. Says EVERYTHING in the Ford interior is broken-electric windows etc.

Talked to a lady who has a 07 Ford diesel dually who tows a 6 horse trailer who had an older Dodge that required 2 trannys. Loves the Ford but says she heard that Chev Duramax/Alison is the best.
Also have a friend who tows a horse trailer with a Chev 3500 Duramax/Alison flat deck and has had NO problems at all.
I love the Dodge myself but am wondering about reliability although everyone raves about the Cummins but there is more to reliablity than the engine only.

Any comments

Thanks


Fred.

 

The Allison is NO better than a 68rfe behind the 6.7 Cummins. It is better than a stock 47/48RE at stock power levels. Once you start making more than stock power, the Allison is junk like any other stock tranny until you open it up and make some improvements.

For whatever reason, Chrysler decided, on the 727 based transmissions, that trans fluid didn't need to circulate much in Park (which is why you're supposed to check fluid level in N). They also used cheap torque converters, and especially on the gas trucks they don't have sufficient tranny coolers. Oh, and if you have a trans let go, replace the radiator and flush the cooler lines really well.

The Ford 7.3 is a great diesel. Not a lot of power, but reliable. The 6.0 is junk until you open it up. The 6.4 is better, but imho not great. The 6.7 we shall see in due time.

The Duramax has gone through what, 6 or so revisions in the last ten years? That should tell you something, if they have to keep screwing with things. The Allison is built at the same GM powertrain factory as the rest of GMs trannies, the only reason it's an "Allison" is because GM owns the name. It's not the same transmission you find in tanks, semis, or medium duty trucks.

The Cummins has had 5 revisions since the late 1980s, nearly all of them due to emissions requirements. The 24-valve versions I'd say are the most problematic, because of a poor fuel lift pump. Not to say that there aren't quirks from others, but the failure of VP44 injection pumps and lift pumps seem to be the most common failures now.

 

don't forget common rail injector failures...I see more common rail injector failures now than I do vp44 failures.

with proper input fuel pressure, the vp44 is a great pump. But dodge decided to put a weak lift pump behind it and no sensors to monitor input fuel pressure...so when that weak lift pump stops supplying fuel at the proper pressure range, or fails....it happens without warning which starves the vp44 of coolant and lubrication (the fuel) and it eats itself alive like any engine would without oil or coolant.

aftermarket lift pump and fuel pressure gauge will keep the vp44 happy for a nice long life. adding 2-cycle oil at 128:1 helps as well since the ULSD stripped lubrication from diesel fuel that many injection pumps relied on. ULSD is not 100% safe for older diesels no matter how much the EPA wants you to believe it is...all older diesels will benefit from adding 2-cycle oil to the fuel.

 

Exactly.

And one of the reasons I wasn't *too* unhappy to sell my 08. I got a year and a half out of it with increased rail pressures and no cracked injectors, but I always worried about it. Especially since a year or two ago you could see upwards of $9000 for a set of injectors from your dealer.

Speaking of adding 2-cycle oil, I know you've said numerous times that you get ashless 2-cycle oil from walmart. I don't see any labels that mention ashless. 3 tanks ago I bought a gallon of the Evenrude stuff iirc. This time I looked all the way at the other end of the oil aisle and found the SuperTech 2-cycle oil. At $13/gallon, it's not bad.

 

any TC-W3 2-cycle oil is going to be ashless.

 

Good to know. I'll go for the cheaper stuff.