Considering a 3rd gen diesel soon, what do i need to know

[Austin-591500]

hey all,
so even though i have a 2nd gen gasser, im slowly realizing that it may be too much trouble to make it an efficient truck for college in a year or two. I figured since i will be graduating high school next year and i may have to move for college, i might be better off getting myself something a little nicer and newer. i decided that in the event i do, i would get a diesel just because ive wanted one for a while, just havent had the money. What should i look for when out shopping for one? would i be better off with a 5.9 or a 6.7? what are the most common issues in this generation? any advice you have will be helpful.

 

[ramportin1]

You need to know that the front ends on them babies are a disaster waiting to happen so I would highly recommend researching the dodge death wobble and all the famously problematic front suspension issues or the 3rd gen HD ram trucks and how much itll cost to correct it and then consider if that's worth it to you. My buddy owns two mechanic shops and he sent me a picture of one that got towed into his shop and the front shaft had basically turned into a helicopter blade and you can imagine the damage that caused, but in the trucks defense he admitted that it was making bad noises for a few weeks and he just neglected to do any6about it.
Not to try and sway you from buying a 3rd gen Cummins, they are awesome trucks and can be amazing if taken care of and some money invested in the commonly problematic areas (front ends.)

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[ramportin1]

And you cant go wrong with either of those motors they are both bulletproof

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[Oliver Closehauf]

So, one thing I wasn't prepared for was the whole block heater business. The service manual says any time the temp is below 40 degrees F you should (must) have it pugged in. That's if you plan on driving it. So, if you plan to drive it somewhere where it's cold and it's going to sit long enough to cool off, you may have some trouble on start up unless you can keep it plugged in.

That being said, I left mine unplugged unless I was planning to drive it and then I plugged it in for a couple hours and it fired right up. The block heater is 700-750 watts and it's costing you money the whole time it's plugged in. If you are going to college anywhere it gets cold in winter, keep all of the above in mind.

Third gens apparently have auto trans issues. I bought mine with a rebuilt tranny, have had no issues, but I do have a noise in park/neutral that may or may not be the trans. Will be taking it to the shop that did the rebuild and service here soon just for a checkup.

There are plenty of upgraded parts for the death wobble, but you need to find a truck that doesn't have the death wobble yet and you need to address it immediately if/when it occurs. Don't let it go.

The P.O.'s of my truck were friends and were on top of every maintenance item. Stay away from something that was ignored. I've got the 5.9. It will do more than I will ever need, but don't let me talk you out of more.

 

[MikeT]

Be prepared for significantly higher maintenance costs. The best advise I can give you is, if your not towing something that your gasser struggles with then a diesel is really not economically a good idea. Everything about them costs more, even used you can get a $5K nicer gen 3 gas for the same price of that not so nice diesel. Honestly I love mine, but I tow a toy hauler and my previous 1/2 ton gas got an average of between 5 and 6 mpg towing it. The clincher was a trip back to AZ from Moab UT, against a strong headwind I got 60 miles to a tank of gas, a little over a week later I had my Ram. BTW: the gasser was not a Dodge.

Mike

 

[ramportin1]

Fully agree with the above post, just don't bother saying it anymore because nobody cares anymore as long as they think they can get a couple more "followers" on social media [emoji23].

Also you have to keep in consideration the common issues vs the common trends and if you see a pattern that's not the trucks fault but what the owner did to it to apparently look "cool." You might get 100 more things to look out for posted here and 98 of them are just stupid owners [emoji2955]

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[Smokeybear01]

I love my 3rd gen 5.9 Cummins with auto trans. I plug it in for about 30 mins if the temp drops below 32° F. But even those times where I've been hunting or somewhere I can't plug it in, I've never had a starting problem down to 10° F, it will just rattle and shake and smoke for a few minutes while it warms up. Good luck, and BTW-I find maintenance on a diesel to be the same or less than a gasser unless something breaks.

 

[Austin-591500]

You need to know that the front ends on them babies are a disaster waiting to happen so I would highly recommend researching the dodge death wobble and all the famously problematic front suspension issues or the 3rd gen HD ram trucks and how much itll cost to correct it and then consider if that's worth it to you. My buddy owns two mechanic shops and he sent me a picture of one that got towed into his shop and the front shaft had basically turned into a helicopter blade and you can imagine the damage that caused, but in the trucks defense he admitted that it was making bad noises for a few weeks and he just neglected to do any6about it.
Not to try and sway you from buying a 3rd gen Cummins, they are awesome trucks and can be amazing if taken care of and some money invested in the commonly problematic areas (front ends.)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

ive had a bit of time working with death wobble after learning to drive in my grandfathers late-model 2nd gen 2500 diesel. my dad also has a late-model 3rd gen 5500 that i have tried to drive once or twice but im *pretty* sure he had the front end redone. ive seen others buy a 4th gen style steering rack and solve the problem mostly. but assuming thats not possible how much would i be looking at to fix it.

 

[ramffml]

If this is your college daily driver, why not go for 2nd gen eco diesel in the 1500s? It's a much nicer truck all around than a 2500 (of course it can't work nearly as hard but its a daily driver).

 

[Kerry Yushchyshyn]

The front end issues / death wobble can be fixed with a DSS (Darin's Steering Stabilizer - $125) and Timbren Load Blocks (~$200). My 3500 is on its 15th year. Front end has been done only once - 2 years ago. The aforementioned products were installed right after taking delivery though.

 

[Austin-591500]

If this is your college daily driver, why not go for 2nd gen eco diesel in the 1500s? It's a much nicer truck all around than a 2500 (of course it can't work nearly as hard but its a daily driver).

2nd gen never had ecodiesel if im remembering right. however if you meant 4th gen i considered it, but seeing as when im home my family has me doing a lot of heavy work and would LOVE to have another person who had a pickup that can pull loaders, i wasnt too sure. plus ive heard mixed reviews of the ecodiesel motors. on top of the other reasons i just have wanted a cummins for a while now, and i always saw commercials for 3rd gens as a kid and wanted one. so reallly its a mix of ive wanted one and i can justify it by using it for its intended purpose.

 

[ramffml]

2nd gen never had ecodiesel if im remembering right. however if you meant 4th gen i considered it, but seeing as when im home my family has me doing a lot of heavy work and would LOVE to have another person who had a pickup that can pull loaders, i wasnt too sure. plus ive heard mixed reviews of the ecodiesel motors. on top of the other reasons i just have wanted a cummins for a while now, and i always saw commercials for 3rd gens as a kid and wanted one. so reallly its a mix of ive wanted one and i can justify it by using it for its intended purpose.

I meant "2nd gen ecodiesel", which is what they put in the 4th gen Rams (2014 - 2019). First gen ED didn't come to America, and third gen ED is what they're putting in the 5th gen rams.

I think you're going to regret daily driving a 2500 diesel, unless you're really into lifted bro trucks etc. If you're into luxury or comfort (like most 1500 owners), the 2500 is super overkill.

 

[Oliver Closehauf]

Hey, some times "I wanted one" is all the reason you need. What I needed was an old 2wd Dakota. What I wanted was a hemi 1500 Ram 4x4, at first. Then the words of Mel Gibson in The Road Warrior started echoing through my brain. " Two days ago, I saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. You want to get out of here? You talk to me." And all of a sudden, even though I knew nothing about diesels, I knew I wanted one.