Alright,
My first cummins was a 2nd Gen and I loved it!!! The only problem I had was lift pump problem and some other minor nickle and dime things that I quickly fixed. Although the problem I did have was the transmission which caused me to part ways with my beloved truck. I wish it would have been a manual something I can work on!!!
What really brings me back to the cummins is its longevity, durability(other than the auto trans),and how easy it was to work on! Anyway my friend purchased an 03 4 door and man what a beautiful rig!! I sat in it front and back crawled all over it and fell back in love with the dodge cummins!!!!
So PLEASE tell me what are the down/up sides to the 3rd Gen trucks. What to expect if I do buy one which reminds me, what mileage is everyone getting and please straight answer it dont inflate it. I never got that good of mileage with my 99. I did have a heavy foot on level 5 though which helped lead to transmission failure.
Thanks

 

I just averaged 16.5mpg for 500 miles. 80%highway at 65-75mph. 20% city at a crawl. This is with an extra 100 or so horsepower. Not the 573 in my sig.
No problems with my 05' cept a minor drivers door issue, so far.

Love every part of my truck....

 

I have a 2007 5.9 it's my first Dodge ever.LOVE IT! Always had Chevy.But one day I heard a CTD drive by my house the turbo was spooling up and I was hooked from that day on.My only complaint so far is that the sheetmetal on the roof seems a little thin.I put a crinkle in it while washing it the other day.Been getting consistently 18.5 mpg 80% highway @63 mph hand calc.The overhead lies by about 10%.Towing gets me about 12.5 mpg with 6500# travel trailer.Hope this helps with your decision.

 

Thanks for your input but is anyone out there experiencing transmission failure?? Are they still using the 47RE? Have they changed it any seeing as how now they are putting more power to the ground?

 

They now use the 48re - a little beefier than the 47 but still the weak link in stock form. They need converter and valvebody upgrades at the least to add more than about 80-100 hp

 

Early to mid year LOW horse 03s had the 47RE. If its a 305 h.p. or greater(marked on valve cover left side of engine) its going to have a 48RE.

 

I went from A 1996 to A 2007 6.7 and I am averging 14.5.The truck only has 580 on the clock. It was like going from A chevett to A corvett for me. Hopefully the milage will continue to improve.