Houston

I'm looking at buying a one owner 2002 Dodge 4wd dually cummins with an automatic, 3.55 gears and 67,000 miles. I'll use it mostly for a town truck for my wife, but will also use it to pull stock trailers and small equipment trailers. The price is $22,250. No dents or dings, and the interior is like new. I'd prefer a manual transmission, but my wife will be happier with the auto, although she'd drive the manual if I found one. One of my goals is to get better fuel mileage than my current Chevy 2wd 4-door 1500HD 6.0 gas truck (which is 16 hwy, 12-13 town), get 4wd, and be able to pull a bigger trailer if needed.

Any advice?

Stormin_Norman

The milage you stated for your chevy is about what I get with my 3500 4x4 CTD (auto/3.55). Unless I was towing a lot, I would stay with your gasser. I get about 10MPG towing my 32' fith wheel(little over 10K loaded). Flat highway at 60MPH empty I can get 19MPH, but average closer to 16MPG at 65-70MPH.

bcool

You will get better mileage all around with the CTD. Stormin_Norman, I think his milage amounts were unloaded, i'm sure pulling something with a decent amount of weight would give him sub 10 mpg. I get 17-20 around town depending on how nice i am to it. Since you tow its a whole other benefit to switch over to diesel. The autos on these trucks aren't bad at all until you start getting some extra power in front of them.

duner

personally i find mine a bit large to use as a town truck. it sticks out on both sides of most parking spaces.

dssimecek

Welcome to the site, a wealth of information here. Very helpful and riendly.
We have a 2002 with 4:10 rear end. Great truck, the last of the 2nd generation. It is used for some towing, cargo trailer and a 34' 5th wheel. Have not made any trips with the 5er. Towed the 5K cargo trailer from WA state to AZ, TX, AZ. No problems. It is also used around town, A bit big to parall park and tight in most parking spots, and have to watch the overhead clearance in parking garages, won't go into most garages.

When and if you get it install a fuel pressure gage, pre turbo egt and tranny temp as a minium. A boost gage is nice, I don't have one in yet.

You have to get accustomed to letting the engin cool down after running. Your truck will have a block heater to warm it up in cool weather. And "wait to start" It is a great truck.

Keep us posted what you get.

Howy

Ive had my 2001 for about 3 years now and after 40k miles we still love it. We test drove a couple 06's this year new and used but couldn't bring ourselves to trade ours in yet. Weve been very happy with it. You mention milage and that is one reason I cant even go back to a half ton. I get about 15-16 in town and 20-22 on the Hwy depending on wind and how fast Im going. Everything is completely stock for now. Its just been a great truck, hauls anything, rides pretty nice with the RS9000's I have on the rear, and just cant be beat I believe. I drove a 2005 Ford, which was nice, but Ive worked on them and they're just a pain to work on IMO. The Dodge is simple and easy to maintain. Keep in mind that it is going to probably cost a little more to maintain but once you have one and really get to use it, you'll never go back to a little half ton!

Oh yeah, Ive looked at duallys, and unless you really need it for heavy hauling, I wouldn't bother. Theyre a pain in town and just not necessary unless you really do a lot of hauling/towing.

Well theres my .02 for ya! Good luck.

dhughe2

I just bought almost that exact same truck two months ago. My trucks a 2002, it had 71,850 miles on it at the time of the sale, and the guy had it listed for $22,750. it sat in the paper for a long time at that price, and then one day it was listed at $20,750. Hardly a scratch, came with everything in my sig except the straight pipe and intake. I took it home for $19,000. I think i may have been able to get it for a little bit less, but i thought i got a really good deal. So definately talk the seller down from that price!

Stormin_Norman

I've never beat 14 MPG city driving, and 19 MPG was about the best I've done HWY empty. The only reason I was able to squeek 19 MPG out of it was traffic was heavy and I was only going 50 MPH average speed. With my 10' 3300LB camper on, I did manage 14MPG on a long road trip were I often ran at 70MPH. My old Ford 7.5 would have averaged 9 MPG on that trip.

I really don't think a dually 4x4 will beat his current MPG with a gas engine unless he is loaded. The added cost of a diesel + the added cost of fuel and you will never get the payout unless your towing a lot of the time.

Just my 2 cents.

Howy

I will say that you can never really base your purchase of a vehicle on fuel alone anymore, unless its for commercial or you do a heck a lot of driving. I have found the thing I do like about my truck is that unloaded, I can make a trip from Rapid City, SD to Omaha, NE on one tank of fuel. Sometimes I need to stop and fill up just to be safe. I get pretty low once I hit Sioux City. However, I do not have a dually and usually dont haul heavy loads since I sold my camper.

Im sure a dually isnt going to quite get the milage of what I have. Now, for comparison, our 1994 Grand Cherokee with the V8 has a small tank and has to stop every 4 hours to fill up. Granted a pickup would have a larger tank, but the half tons usually dont have the tank capacity the 3/4 and 1 tons have. I just like to be able to go for long periods of time in between filling up when traveling.

Now as always this is just my .02 and what do I know?