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I made the worst career decision of my entire life when I turned down a job offer in 1967 from Cummins to become a design engineer in Columbus, Indiana. This company makes the finest diesel engine in the entire world, and they have been doing it for over 70 years.

Cummins Diesel Rocks!
 
Monday I am going to look at a 2004 2500 4x4 Cummins Dodge auto it has 111000 miles is a quad cab short bed, they are asking 14K for it. any thoughts ? This is still the 5.9?
 
2004 could have one of 3 different cummins in it.yes its a 5.9.Depending on when it was built if it was built in 03,it will have 250hp or 305hp.Either of these engines are really good on fuel.04's built on or after 1/1/04 will have 325hp/600 ft lbs torque.They are more powerful,but not quite as good on fuel. Either way,id look good at the front end on 4x4s,u joints,wheel bearings,and ball joint wear is high on them.Also look good at thefront of the engine for fuel leaks,some 03-07s had leaky injection pumps ,could be costly.Also look for indications that its been modified,guages,exhaust,intake,etc.If so,and the owner doesnt tell you upfront,Id stay away from it unless its very clean.Modded cummins are everywhere,most get beat pretty bad.Id preffer a bone stock truck.
 
Monday I am going to look at a 2004 2500 4x4 Cummins Dodge auto it has 111000 miles is a quad cab short bed, they are asking 14K for it. any thoughts ? This is still the 5.9?

My coworker has one and loves it. Tows a 1941 IH military 4x4 brush fire rig with it and a 27' toy hauler with an M151(mutt) in the back. The only way he can tell he's pulling something is the ride is a little more compliant due to the extra weight in back. If he keeps it under 70, he gets 21-22mpg by itself. When towing, he won't divulge what the mpg drops to. 100K and zero issues. No interior rattles, no problems period. Just oil changes, a set of tires at 55k and just last month new shocks.
 
Had the older Cummings 1991 model. Engine great,never any trouble,but the Dodge rode like a tank and started to rust. had over 300,000 on it. In 2001 waited 9 months on my new Chevy Duramax,truck ran like a dream,rode beautiful. after about 60,000 miles started to have all kinds of problems, in late 2003 traded it on a new 2004 Dodge(early model). My new Dodge rides like a dream and I have not looked back. Just went over 102,000,had to change the universal joint around 55,000 miles and the brakes at about 85,000 miles. This truck consistently gets 20, 21 miles per gallon around home,and on a trip I have gotten over 26 MPG. Its a 2500 with single rear wheels. Tows and hauls anything I have thrown at it so far. Love my Dodge have not even considered another truck since I bought it.
 
Monday I am going to look at a 2004 2500 4x4 Cummins Dodge auto it has 111000 miles is a quad cab short bed, they are asking 14K for it. any thoughts ? This is still the 5.9?

That's exactly what I own,if its the early model. Around mid year they came out with the 2004 1/2. The newer one had more horse power,and more smog control,l I believe to pass Ca. emissions. In the end I believe they both put out about the same power,with the early one doing better on fuel milage. The 5.9 is a great engine,old reliable.
 
Go with the Cummins, I have had two (99 & 03), and put some serious milage on both. Never had any problems with either truck, just keep the oil and fuel filters changed and they will run forever. The rebuild on the Cummins is 450,000 miles, from what I have seen they just might do it. Keep it stock and no super chips, seems to be the way to go.
 
Think Fords 4r100 is any better? they aren't. At least the Cummins,(BTW there is no G in Cummins),is a great engine.The 7.3 PSD is a decent motor,nothing next to the 5.9 Cummins,and they still have a crappy transmission.At least you can throw $4000 at the Dodge trans and it will be strong enough to turn up the power a bit.You have a solid powertrain,easy and cheap to maintain.Down the road,if you need a whole new fuel system injectors,pump,transfer pump,your out 2000,if you needed it all.With a PSD,your out over $5000 for the same parts alone,no labor.Labor will be 3x longer ona PSD as well.Same deal for head gaskets,3x the time to do them on a PSD.

Yeah I get that.After being up for over 24 hours Your lucky I Could spell anything right at all. I agree the CUMMIN's is a great motor. The dodge is not. I have seen to many have to many problems.Who wnats to throw $4,000 at a trans? I know I don't
 
Yeah I get that.After being up for over 24 hours Your lucky I Could spell anything right at all. I agree the CUMMIN's is a great motor. The dodge is not. I have seen to many have to many problems.Who wnats to throw $4,000 at a trans? I know I don't

I never owned an automatic transmission truck. My Dodge is a six speed,wish it was a 7 speed. At high speeds an overdrive would be nice,even after 5 years I sometimes think that I am still in 5th and try to shift to 6th. This truck could handle a higher speed easily,and the MPG would be out of site. Had to go pull a Ford out tonight,just love when that happens.
 
Yeah I get that.After being up for over 24 hours Your lucky I Could spell anything right at all. I agree the CUMMIN's is a great motor. The dodge is not. I have seen to many have to many problems.Who wants to throw $4,000 at a trans? I know I don't

how many of these trucks have you owned? were the ones you saw modded was regular maintenance done? I had one as a company truck and it was great. My dad has had an 02 since new and he has had 0 problems. My friend uses one on his seed farm to deliver seed with a tri axle trailer 6 pallets on the trailer and sometimes one in the bed of the truck (almost 3000lbs per pallet) and he has had no problems. There is one common factor we all do maintenance according to the book.

On the other hand a guy I know hauls cars from the auction to car dealers all over the state and he has had 2 transmissions in his but he is the kind of guy that just drives until it breaks, maintenance is not in his vocabulary.
 
I never owned an automatic transmission truck. My Dodge is a six speed,wish it was a 7 speed. At high speeds an overdrive would be nice,even after 5 years I sometimes think that I am still in 5th and try to shift to 6th. This truck could handle a higher speed easily,and the MPG would be out of site. Had to go pull a Ford out tonight,just love when that happens.

I hear ya on that. I should have clarified that it is the auto trans that have(or at least had) a problem. Not sure if they ever fixed it of not
 
I never owned an automatic transmission truck. My Dodge is a six speed,wish it was a 7 speed. At high speeds an overdrive would be nice,even after 5 years I sometimes think that I am still in 5th and try to shift to 6th. This truck could handle a higher speed easily,and the MPG would be out of site. Had to go pull a Ford out tonight,just love when that happens.

You could put a "GearVendor" or US Gear overdrive in it and you'd have an 11 speed, or a 12 speed with about 33% higher gearing in overdrive. I had a gearvendor and it was great for mileage. It wouldn't hold up to the loads I pull though. I talked to a guy who had the US Gear and he said it was great with heavy loads, said it was just like an auxillary transmission in a big truck.
I sure miss the mileage I got on the road with that GearVendor.

Andy
 
2003 and 2004 are the best years for common rail cummins. stay away from 98.5 to 2002 cummins.

$14k is a bit high... prices have really cratered for big diesels. I've seen 2004 cummins go for under $10k on craigslist.

I've got a 97 12v... which is the best year for 12v. it's value has dropped in half. doesn't really matter as there's no way I'm selling.

Monday I am going to look at a 2004 2500 4x4 Cummins Dodge auto it has 111000 miles is a quad cab short bed, they are asking 14K for it. any thoughts ? This is still the 5.9?

manual tranny is preferred, but auto tranny in dodge are not as bad as folks make them out to be. for normal duties... dodge tranny will do fine... it's when you get to pulling 20k+ lbs all the time and/or boost your HP to 450+ . then no stock tranny will hold.

stock dodge torque converters slip all the time... you'd pick up 2-3 mpg in town vs manual tranny. if you have a choice go stick.

that said... my 97 12 w/auto routinely yanks 20k+lb loads with no sweat. dead reliable... would not hesitate to jump in my 97 12v and drive to Alaska and back.

. I agree the CUMMIN's is a great motor. The dodge is not. I have seen to many have to many problems.Who wnats to throw $4,000 at a trans? I know I don't
 
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You could put a "GearVendor" or US Gear overdrive in it and you'd have an 11 speed, or a 12 speed with about 33% higher gearing in overdrive. I had a gearvendor and it was great for mileage. It wouldn't hold up to the loads I pull though. I talked to a guy who had the US Gear and he said it was great with heavy loads, said it was just like an auxillary transmission in a big truck.
I sure miss the mileage I got on the road with that GearVendor.

Andy

Andy,What kind of mileage did you get,also any idea what it would cost to have it fitted on my truck? Thanks Dave
 
Hey Tim(OP),

Have you thought about converting your 1 ton with a Cummins? There are guys that have put a Cummins in their unit. You could put a 4BT or 6BT in. The 4BT is from the cube vans with either a Ford or GM manual trans behind them. Oh the 4Bt is a 4 cylinder. 6Bt is the 6 cylinder and more known as the 5.9 cylinder.

I remembered a video I have seen on youtube with a Chev truck with a Fuller 10 speed behind it.

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Just trying to give you some more options.

Don't mean to be a pest, but I am a gearhead and love messing with peoples minds with things out of the ordinary.
 
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Hey Tim(OP),

Have you thought about converting your 1 ton with a Cummins? There are guys that have put a Cummins in their unit. You could put a 4BT or 6BT in. The 4BT is from the cube vans with either a Ford or GM manual trans behind them. Oh the 4Bt is a 4 cylinder. 6Bt is the 6 cylinder and more known as the 5.9 cylinder.

I remembered a video I have seen on youtube with a Chev truck with a Fuller 10 speed behind it.
Just trying to give you some more options.

Don't mean to be a pest, but I am a gearhead and love messing with peoples minds with things out of the ordinary.

Geez, that guy likes to shift. I usually start out in third on flat ground and skip a few on the way up.
 
You could put a "GearVendor" or US Gear overdrive in it and you'd have an 11 speed, or a 12 speed with about 33% higher gearing in overdrive. I had a gearvendor and it was great for mileage. It wouldn't hold up to the loads I pull though. I talked to a guy who had the US Gear and he said it was great with heavy loads, said it was just like an auxillary transmission in a big truck.
I sure miss the mileage I got on the road with that GearVendor.

Andy

Gear vendors are nice,but the fuel payback is usually 150000 miles+.In that time the GV unit will fail if you tow heavy,On top of that they cannot be used with an exhaust brake,which is way more valuable than a GV.Anyone who tows should have an exhaust brake on there manual cummins.I had one on my auto for 2 yrs,I loved it,I put \ one on my dads auto as well.
 
2003 and 2004 are the best years for common rail cummins. stay away from 98.5 to 2002 cummins.

$14k is a bit high... prices have really cratered for big diesels. I've seen 2004 cummins go for under $10k on craigslist.

I've got a 97 12v... which is the best year for 12v. it's value has dropped in half. doesn't really matter as there's no way I'm selling.



manual tranny is preferred, but auto tranny in dodge are not as bad as folks make them out to be. for normal duties... dodge tranny will do fine... it's when you get to pulling 20k+ lbs all the time and/or boost your HP to 450+ . then no stock tranny will hold.

stock dodge torque converters slip all the time... you'd pick up 2-3 mpg in town vs manual tranny. if you have a choice go stick.

that said... my 97 12 w/auto routinely yanks 20k+lb loads with no sweat. dead reliable... would not hesitate to jump in my 97 12v and drive to Alaska and back.

I'll argue the 03-04 are the best,they are known for dropping valves,and valve seat failure.I have heard of a many failures,and then seen one myself when I built a DTT trans for a friends 03 3500,and it dropped a valve a yr later,destroyed the engine, i think it was #3 cylinder,it took Chrysler 13 days to even approve it for warranty,they fought it because he had an exhaust brake,and another 3 weeks to do the job.2 months later the replacement engines freeze out plug fell out at 60 mph on the interstate and overheated the new engine w 0nly 1500 miles on it.
The 04.5 325hp has a much better head,with better valves and seats.Although it doesnt get the fuel mileage of the early 04 and 03's.
There's nothing wrong with the 98.5-02's at this point,when they were new,Vp44 failures,and some #53 blocks,but all the bad vp44s have failed already,and the bad blocks have cracked,and been dealth with.My 2000 has never let me down,original Vp44 w 140+K on it,and 75K of that at 500+RWHP.I made 663rwhp in june of 03 on spray,and 603hp to the ground back in June of 04 with diesel only,at thunder in Muncie.Back then that was a lot of power.I built transmissions for many of my friends most of these trucks are 98.5-02s,they are good trucks,and a great used truck value now.biggest downside IMO is the fact that the quad cab is small,not much room in the truck.My 96 club cabs interior had a lot more room in it than my 2000 quad cab.
As for stock Dodge TC slipping all the time,that isnt true at all.starting in 94,they all have lock up TCs,and they lock above 30mph with OD off,or 45 mp with OD on.Once they lock,they are locked solid,and combined with the autos steeper .69 OD ratio,they will match a 6 speed trucks highway MPG because the engine is revving 150rpm lower than a manual trans truck at the same speed.This offsets the transmissions front pump,and ATF fluid friction which robs a few hp to run. In the city,and hills,the manual will get better mpg everytime,unless you get a built trans with a good convertor,my DTT torque convertor stalls about 600 rpm lower than stock,and it doesnt slip,it just pulls when you mash it,the stock torque convertor is built for the V10 gasser,thats why it feels like its slipping,its stall speed is way to high for a Cummins.A good torque convertor totally changes the way an auto drives,if anyoen wants i can post a link to a video of my truck pushing a 10ft blade full of wet snow,just off idle,with a DTT modded automatic I built.The amount of snow the properly set up Dodge Cummins will push is amazing.Throwing 4000 at a Dodge auto is well worth it if you plan it use the truck and the stock trans is worn out or in need of rebuilding.
 
When they reprogrammed them they took away some power and fuel economy on most of them. Just as mentioned above we have alot of them with problems and some have never had a single problem.

this is exactly why ill never buy a ford again. they reflashed it, told me they didnt, and it didnt even fix the problem. and even after they did fix the problem 2 or 3 trips later (a tube with adhesive on it) they still wont admit they took the power away and wont set it back. and this is just one of many issues ive had. its the only diesel ive had but not the first ford and they all have had egineering and service issues, so never again.:censored:
 

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