doug

Well guys today I did it. ordered brand spank'n new 04! Sorry Scotty its not black, though.

Just had to share ;D

3500 QC 4WD short box SLT
patriot blue
ETH/DEE
bodyside molding
power trailer tow mirrors
rear sliding window
fog lamps
trailer tow group
block heater
flat load floor
limited slip 3.73 rear end
security group
suplemental side curtain air bags
6-disk CD
protection group
power adjustable pedals, for the most important women in my life (wife and daughters) who love std transmission trucks and wont have anything less than a CTD.

FiverBob

You is gonna luv it! 8) 8)

bulabula

When's the stork delivering it?

Scotty

Congrats!
That color looks nearly BLACK at night anyway. ;D

Scotty

Festus

There's no EGR until January right?

doug

OK here are the latest hints, which to me are very significant:

1. I called DC to ask about the build progress of my new 04. Having a VON in hand, I asked for the engine specs. the agent put me on hold to call his technical resource pool, then faxed me an 03 engine spec sheet and said "I know this says 2003 but this is what we're building right now."

2. The Dodge customer agent also refered me to Cummins themselves. The Cummins agent I spoke was associated with the Dodge engine line, and was not aware of any changes in the engines shipped to Dodge for the new 04s being built right now.

So there you have it. all indications I have point even stronger now to "no EGR". Personally I'm 95% convinced of it but not willing to say I'm certain quite yet ;D.

so I'm getting the sense that DC is finally willing to admit that the engine isn't changing for the early 04s. At least they're talking about it. But if you really want to hit a brick wall, ask them what engine changes are coming to meet the January 04 standards, and when those changes will be implimented. that information is sacred!

As for MY truck -- my VON is in the DC system, which means that DC is crunching dealer allocation and build logistics data. They tell met I should have a build start date towards the end of next week. nuts, not even a stork date yet!

doug

good point. well the guy I spoke with was careful to ask me what state in lived in. could be that HO engines won't be available until January for some

If I remember the next time I call them, I'll ask about HO in california.

GrandpasRam

[quote author=FiverBob link=board=17;threadid=17796;start=0#msg166539 date=1059685812]
You is gonna luv it! 8) 8)
[/quote]

So are the women in his life! ;D

GrandpasRam

[quote author=Gary - KJ6Q link=board=17;threadid=17796;start=0#msg166952 date=1059752917]

"So there you have it. all indications I have point even stronger now to "no EGR". Personally I'm 95% convinced of it but not willing to say I'm certain quite yet"

HMMMmmm - this may have already been covered in another thread - but if DC is NOT making the switch to the EGR system, what does that do to availability of the HO's in states like California, where the current Cummins doesn't meet emissions standards? I thought that was why the EGR inclusion was being made?
[/quote]

Gary: the last information I saw from the TDR webmaster from Cummins was that they were looking at several possible options to the EGR method of reducing the requisite emissions for states like California having tougher emission standards. They had not yet (2 months ago) selected which path they were going to trod. You California folks may have to keep a close eye on this even yet. They may have an update by now; it has been a little while since I have gone over to TDR's website.

doug

ok I called again, and the word from DC is:

* the CTD engines currently being built right now for the 04 production trucks are the same engines used for the 03 model year trucks.

* California emmissions requirements are still not met with the (HO) engines currently being built right now for the 04 production trucks. That is, the current 04 HO trucks being built right now cannot be sold in california.

* there are no engine changes being considered to meet the california emissions standards for the HO engines currently being built right now for the 04 production trucks.

* there is no information on meeting January 04 federal or california emissions standards with any engine changes.

thats what DC told me. Now here's my opinion: We know that DC cannot meet the federal requirement without EGR. We now know that the first 04s are the same as the 03s engines. most likely DC chose to meet the california requirement at the same time and with the same technology as the January 04 federal standards. ergo, EGR in January or before, depending on DC corportate strategy.

So I'm 98% confident now that the early 04 trucks will be without EGR. can't think of anything that would surprise us all with EGR trucks next month hitting the dealer lot! what I DONT know is when EGR will be introduced, and how they will manage their on-hand inventory and manipulate stock during the transition into January, 2004.
This is just my speculation, guys, but consider that DC isn't going to let any stray CTD engines just lay around without putting them into a truck to sell. know what that means? In my opinion, you might see some trucks manufactured BEFORE JANUARY WITH EGR. It depends on how well they manage their own inventory. After January, any of the non-EGR engines sitting around will just have to be written off or re-worked (changed into EGR engines).

Now then, if Cummins and DC have a just-in-time production thing going, then you'll see the January deadline met pretty close. That is, the engines may be build-to-order from DC and so the DC inventory and production managers are just going to do some fancy planning to make the transition clean. I bet they even have some contract with cummins so that they (DC) won't eat any engines! I'm sure that cummins can re-work any of the old engines an turn them into EGR engines.