MAC174

I just jumped on the new for 03 Cummins bandwagon and I have to say I was extremely impressed until I towed with it. I just made a 1000 mile trip across I-80 mostly flat land pulling 4 snowmobiles against a 10 mph headwind at almost 80 mph and it was to the floor the entire time and would drop to about 70 or so with the slightest incline. Also, an area of great concern was that I was only getting between 7 or 8 mpg. Then to top it all off there were 2 97' Powerstrokes along as well all pulling the same load, they would blow by me at every little hill and get 2-3 mpg better at the gas pumps. What gives? I thought this Cummins was supossed to be as good as it gets. I have the 2500 QC SO withthe auto an 3.73 gears. I would sure think that I should be able to pull 3000 lbs at 80 mph. At this point I am not sure if its even worth waiting for a computer, maybe I should just sell it and go back to my GMC. It would get the same mileage but at least I could cruise at 80 mph with the rest of the boys. I am new here, so any thoughts would be appreciated. Maybe I expected too much from Dodge!!

robsobx

Don't know what to tell you, I know mine had no problems whatsoever with the mtns in VA, WVA, MD, PA when towing my jeep(5000#) and got 16+ MPG to boot.<br>I do have the HO and 6spd, but never saw a mtn that I had to downshift on(including a few 6%+ grades and 5-7 miles long) ;D

The Boss Hog

Mac,<br> I think you have a great idea. Go back to GMC and be sure to take your fishing pole with you.<br>The Boss Hog<br><br>

TON4FUN

MAC<br><br>I have the same issues!!! I was hoping I was'nt the only one having a bad experience with the SO Auto. I towed 4 motorcycles in an enclosed with all my buddies, our gear and we got 10 MPG. To top that off we could barely do the speed limit (75 MPH through colorado) because the motor was acting like a big terd and did not want to down shift to get up to speed when passing or small grades. <br><br>I'm on the same boat. I'm border line on wanting to get rid of my SO or get a computer upgrade for it. I can say that I'm not impressed with this truck when it comes to towing power. If I had to do it all over again I would prob. get the HO with a stick or wait for the HO auto combo. I don't think the HO guys realize that us SO guys are really suffering in the power department as far as I'm concerned I would not even compare the two trucks. I've driven both and the HO is hands down a better towing truck. Its almost worth it to me to take the hit and get the truck I want, its just to bad I had to experience the true power &quot;said sarcastically&quot; of the SO. <br><br> :'( Crying a river cause I hate my SO

yz

So how many miles do you guys haave on your trucks? Have you taken it to the dealer? Just wondering -Anthony<br>

FiverBob

MAC,<br><br>Me thinks you have a lil problem. <br><br>1) Check the emblem on the front of the truck - - it may be a bow tie or blue oval <br>2) Loose turbo bolts<br><br>I sure hope you didn't take a brand new truck out and blow it out at 80 towing and expect the run around everything on the road.<br><br>None of the rest of us are having problems towing - - we are all elated with ours. Better take it in and have it checked. How about filling out your profile so we know a little more about you.<br>

misterKTM

<br>Mac,<br><br>Just take a look at the engine specs. The standard output is lacking 55 HP and 95 ft-lbs of torqe compared to the HO. Don't take this to personal but you should have your head examined - not the truck - for buying a standard output. The numbers roughly round out to 20% more power with the HO - that is HUGE. <br><br>Since I haven't got my truck yet, I was about in pannick mode reading your post - until I noticed you had a SO. Glad to hear the HO guys are happy

blownbanana

HELP! Something's wrong. I don't have any of these problems or complaints with my SO/47RE. Good mileage, tows 6000lb trailer full of horses up hill and down, like it wasn't even there. Most comfortable, easy to drive vehicle I have ever owned!

Mopar_Mudder

Well all I can do is tell you the experiance I have had with a 2000 SO Auto, that is lower out put then the 2003 SO's. It did have 4.10's which helps the autos out a bit in my opinion. Any way I pulled my truck wich totals about 10,000# between the truck and trailer, it also sticks up about 10-11 feet in the air and is about as aerodynamic as a brick. Went 5000 miles round trip and it averages 9 mpg travelling about 75-80 most of the time. Pulled good for what it was in my opinion, took a good hill to slow it down, but would pull about any moutain at 65 mph

spinlocker

My wife was on my sh... blessed assurance, to get an AUTO with this 2003 of mine. I'm like, yeah, right. But's its another thousand dollars? Yeah, what's your point.... (haha).<br><br>My opinion I'll give you all day long, as advice I will not give to friends. This list has helped me greatly.<br><br>I haven't found much in the way of '03' things, yet, and I dare mention any of the sites I've been on, but you SO guys, you ought to be able to get your machine up to and past the HO output with a whole lot less investment than I did getting the HO outright.<br><br>Good luck.<br><br>

MAC174

[quote author=yz link=board=20;threadid=9858;start=0#94166 date=1043093864]<br>So how many miles do you guys haave on your trucks? Have you taken it to the dealer? Just wondering -Anthony<br><br>[/quote]

MAC174

I have not yet taken my truck to the dealership. I have 4000 miles on it, and was told that there is no break in period for these things. It even says that in the manual. I also have driven my truck around town quite a bit since the trip to see if anything acted up, and nothing. I really like the truck as far as how well it works, it's just embarassing getting hounded by you're buddies who have 97's and they can outpull you and get better fuel mileage when you just got done spending $35+ thousand on a new truck. Also, when I would set the cruise for 80 mph it would drop all the way down to 65 or so and not kick the cruise off or downshift. I noticed that if you turn the O/D off there is all kinds of power but your at redline by 75 mph. Hopefully the dealer can help. I do not want to take the hit on this thing.

FiverBob

Man, don't scream so loud until you give the dealer a chance to look at it. You may have some little thing wrong, like a quick workover on the computer or tighten a bolt. Who knows? <br><br>Breakin? The manual suggests no towing above 50 mph for the first 500 miles. Common sense tells you let the thing work itself in before ramming (hey, I like that, RAMming??) it too hard. Too much money invested. Give them a chance - - all the rest of us are quite happy and you will be too. If not, I know where you can buy a real nice 97 Ferd <br><br>Just teasin' ya a little. Relax, it will be OK. Welcome to our world.<br><br>Bob

TON4FUN

Its funny, well not really, that MAC and I are having the same issues everything down to the downshifting and cruise control. The first trip I took in my truck was to Colorado fully loaded my buddies were looking forward to taking the trip in my truck as much as I was. On the way home I was so embarassed because the cruise was acting funny and the darn truck just didn't act like it had any power. My friends were even making fun of the truck, I was truely embarassed. I went as far as pulling off at a truck stop and weighing the truck to see how much weight I was pulling. The scale tipped out at 15,567 lbs total weight thats all of us our gear and our load. I still found this to be a huge dissappointment that the truck could not even pull this load. I'd hate to see it close to max. <br><br>The very next day I'm at the dealership raising a big ol stink about how I was unhappy with the truck and that it did not pull worth a cra*. The regional rep was there and said that the truck should pull fine. I think the BIGGEST and I mean BIGGEST misconceptions is that everyone that has driven an HO assumes the SO is not far behind, well it is far behind way behind. So I ask the rep if he has ever driven an SO with 8000 lbs strapped on the back, he said no and I said &quot;lets just say you would be surprised that this truck is not all what it is cracked up to be for a SO&quot;. That very afternoon after being assured that it was something with the computer the shop diesel mechanic at the dealership takes my truck and me for a ride with the shop computer hooked up to the ECU while we are driving. <br><br>The diesel mechanic says everything looks fine, nothing is wrong with the truck. He then goes on to tell me that the he has alot of guys with older SO's that have piggy back computers they leave hooked up and that he would turn his head if he ever saw one in my truck. In my eyes he was saying your stock ECU is cra* and needs some help. I told him about the cruise and the downshifting and he says thats common with the SO and I'm standing there looking like ??? I spent 40K on this dump to find out I'm stuck with it. <br><br>I start doing some research and learning a ton about diesels and break in periods and what not. So now I know more about these trucks before I bought one and now I wish I had done my research ahead of time. I went to the dealer this afternoon, after reading this post and dreading my next trip with the boys which is in a few months, and told the sales manager that I wanted to trade my truck in for a HO 48RE and what my issues were, mind you I have 12K on my truck and I have yet to see any gas mileage improvements and the mechanics say my SO is fine, and he agreed to sell me what ever I wanted at there cost. He said he had two guys already trade their SO's in for HO's because of the power issues, thats even more reassuring. So I did the math this afternoon and I am looking at a $6000.00 hit just to get what I want. <br><br>After doing the math I have decided to keep my SO and get a piggy back and blow trannies either till my warranties out or I am not so much upside down where I can get a new one with what I want or just get a new beefier tranny after a few years of these suckers being on the market. For those who say they are having no issues with driving there SO's I say go strap on about 7500 lbs and drive across Kansas and have small grades kick your rear and the cruise act up its not a reassuring feeling that you made the right choice, especially after a ford with the same load passes you up and he is sporting an auto as well. I apoligize for the long reply but this topic really brings me down in the dumps, if you could'nt tell. I thought the SO would have been fine for my situation and now I'm finding it to be fine for those who don't plan on pulling more than 3000 lbs. In that case a 1500 would have done just fine.

cp

It would be interesting to see what your truck is putting out on a rear wheel dyno. I think both Midway Ford and Cummins have them in KC and cost about $100 for a run.<br><br>If your mileage is also bad, I would suspect some power is not making it to the ground. It could be that the transmission or axles (Dodge wastes a lot of horsepower turning the front axle on 4x4's) or even bearings and brakes are robbing you of much needed horsepower.<br><br>Bottom line, though, if I'm hauling someone's *** to Colorado and he complains or laughs at the ride--he'd be riding his thumb back home.