One year later...

[12ga diesel]

A year ago Sunday I bought my Cummins. 26,056 miles and 960 miles later I can say I have been pretty happy with my purchase. Bought the truck May 9th, 2009 with 53,556 miles on the truck. As the truck sits in the garage tonight there are 79,612 miles on the odometer. Outside of a couple electrical, fuel pump and u-joint issues that I had to have fixed (electrical/fuel pump issue I had to pay out of pocket, u-joints were covered under my extended warranty). Drivetrain wise, this has been one bad mofo. No engine or transmission issues what so ever. After putting in my Smarty Jr. tuner, the trans was shifting a little hard, but it went away fairly quickly.

Adding the FASS fuel pump I think made a big difference. I picked up about 1 mpg after the install. One of the best aftermarket pieces I could have put on this truck IMO. Other aftermarket parts I put on the the truck have been and AEM Brute Force cold air intake system, 5" MBRP turbo back exhaust, and a Smarty Jr. programmer. When I bought the truck, average mpg was around 14.7 mpg in the city with the truck bone stock. Around 20 mpg on the highway. With everything that I mentioned on the truck, I am getting on average 16.5 mpg in the city and 23 mpg highway. Not all that bad I think for a 8500 lbs truck.

There are still some things I would like to do to it. I want to add a triple gauge A-pillar pod, steering stabilizer, a leveling kit or a 2" lift, Banks intake manifold, upgraded intercooler and a set of 40hp injectors. All in due time I guess... Maybe this up coming year.

All in all, I have been pretty happy with this truck. It's been a good worker for me. I have taken it to all places as far north as Duluth, Minnesota and as far south as Tulsa, Oklahoma; been in 100 degree heat and -25 degree winter mornings; 800 plus miles, 12 hours straight highway driving to off roading on pipeline right of ways through mud and water up to the middle of wheels and never getting stuck. Me and this truck have been all over these past 365 days, it's treated me well and I think I have done the same to it. A big thanks to all you guys on here that have helped me out as well with any and all questions I have had. A big thanks goes out to Rich, our Cummins guy on here, for all the help he offered me when I called on him as well.

 

[john65td]

nice to hear i can't wait to discover my cummins power. the swap is almost complete very fue cummins guys here

 

[btfarm]

Glad to see it worked out for you Dave. I know plenty of us questioned you at first but turns out it was unfounded.

 

[12ga diesel]

Glad to see it worked out for you Dave. I know plenty of us questioned you at first but turns out it was unfounded.

Mike, I'll be honest, I think I questioned myself a few times, but I really wanted to drive and work on a Cummins as I had a few Duramaxs before.

Outside of a few little things, this truck has been good. If there was one thing I could swap out and make sure I didn't ever have a problem with would be the electrical crap. November I had a headlight go out, and after swapping both old bulbs and both new bulbs, all four worked on the driver side headlight, but not the passenger side. Long story short, the was some short in the ecm that controls the headlights and cost me $240 to replace. Now a little more then 5 months later, same problem, same headlight, I think I need to call and raise some hell at the service department. I don't really feel like spending more money on something that should last more then 5 months, IMHO.

 

[Cumminalong]

Dave,

Glad to hear that for the most part it's treating you well.

As these trucks get more and more electronically controlled and more and more integrated, you run into those annoying little problems that seem to cost big bucks to fix.

Remember when a set of head lights not working was nothing more than replacing a relay or tracking down a bad ground? And hour of your time and a few dollars at the parts store. Them days are long gone.

What complicates the process on your truck is that it's a pre-CANBUS truck. Dodge didn't start using the CANBUS electronics (much simpler, but more integrated) until 2006. For the most part, the CANBUS electronics are pretty damn good......until the TIPCM goes on the fritz. Then you have to replace that very expensive power control module....to the tune of almost $2K. Very rare though.

Otherwise, u-joints, ball joints, wheel bearings, steering boxes, etc.......lots of normal HEAVY truck stuff that goes wrong and needs maintenance.

It's funny when I get guys that come into the shop wanting hot rod parts, but totally neglect the basic maintenance items. "I want 9 milllion HP".......Yeah, well, how about you replace the ball joints that are about to fall out first and then we'll talk HP.

Good luck and hope you get many more good miles out of her.

 

[searstractorfan]

Hows the smarty jr. treat ya??? im getting one in week or so(hehe cumminalong is fixing me up!!!)....

 

[hoot]

I just rolled 100,000 miles late last year. Had it since new. Also a previous Duramax owner. I love my Dodge. No electrical problems to speak of. She is ready for front U-Joints. The ball joints were replaced around 80,000 with Carli uppers and regular lowers. Lots of mods. I'll be doing the lockup switch soon. I wasn't too happy with how this trans handles 10,000 lbs up steep inclines. If it's not locked it will get real hot.

 

[12ga diesel]

Hows the smarty jr. treat ya??? im getting one in week or so(hehe cumminalong is fixing me up!!!)....

Sears, I am a big fan of it. I hope to maybe this summer, upgrade to the big boy Smarty. But for right now, the Jr. definatly gets the job done! I run the 70 tune the majority of the time. This very moment, I'm running the 40hp tune until I get the fluid changed in the trans early next week.

 

[12ga diesel]

I just rolled 100,000 miles late last year. Had it since new. Also a previous Duramax owner. I love my Dodge. No electrical problems to speak of. She is ready for front U-Joints. The ball joints were replaced around 80,000 with Carli uppers and regular lowers. Lots of mods. I'll be doing the lockup switch soon. I wasn't too happy with how this trans handles 10,000 lbs up steep inclines. If it's not locked it will get real hot.

The last month or so I have been hauling a lot more weight (firewood, one cord in the bed, and 1-2 cords on a dual axle trailer) then I have since I bought this truck. I can tell going up a decent grade, the trans leaves a little bit more to desire. Again, I think draining the tired trans fluid for some fresh stuff will make a difference. But a new TC will be in order if I keep hauling like I have been. I have always dreamed about swapping out the 48RE for a NV5600.