hoot

I'm not saying the 48RE is better than the Allison but what I am saying is the Allison isn't what it's all hyped up to be in some respects.

I will say the 48RE is a great transmission since the 03 model year upgrades. But... it's still an automatic.

I put 65000 on my stock 48RE with over 400 rwhp. Never broke it and I pushed it. Since going up to 540 rwhp I upgraded the trans because it's the smart thing to do AND I wanted the power to the ground sooner.

Coolride

You should probably buy a Ford, because AAM builds the axles for GM&Dodge.

sallyman1

i did all 4 ball joints 10 months ago. all u joints seem tight. what else do i need to check? i had wheel allignment done 10 months ago also and i always drive nice on pavement. i do notice steering wheel somewhat wondering lately.

AH64ID

Your truck doesn't care about windchill, whats the ambient temp?

Is your fuel gelled? Are you getting normal LP and RP readings during cranking?

Check the IAT on you EJA, is it rising with cranking, telling you the grid heater is working.

What is your coolant temp after 9 hours?

My guess is its the batteries, the charger will help.

What oil do you have? If your getting close to the pour point it could be making the starter work very hard.

Do you have a winter front installed? That will make the block heater more effective, and prewarms the intake air.

Fern

Track-bar, or tie rod ends maybe? My buddy rebuilds front ends for a living when he quoted me a price on parts, I checked out Thuren Fab and it was about half the price and ugraded to cross-over steering. Less moving parts and way better built. JMHO

sallyman1

i have cardboard winterfront covering entire rad area. i can hear my grid heater cycle for 15 seconds. battery charger is on. ambient air is -31 celcius now. it was -35 earlier. i put charger on 10 amps, i would opt for 2 amp charge but i dont have all day to wait. block heater is working because when i touch cylinder head on exhaust side its kinda warm compared to frame of truck.

FMB

Have you pulled both drive shafts and had them balanced while getting new U-Joints? You may want to wait till next month when you can start working on 2009's budget, which hopefully will leave you some change from the $4500.Who does your fuel filter changes? Is the old O-Ring accounted for each time? Over-torque'd? Cracked?With the charger disconnected, check battery voltage (under the hood) before and while cranking (need Fern's GF for this to give her something else to vent about). If voltage is too low when cranking, the puter will never tell the injectors to open.
Most realize a GF is a replacable part? Does she realize this? Send her to sallyman to help get his truck running.

AH64ID

Get the OE winter front..

Just becuase you hear the grid heater doesn't mean its working.. Look at the IAT on you EJA.. Fuel pressures, LP and RP, normal during crank?

sallyman1

6 psi during crank on quad rail gauge. i dont use the raail pressure part of the quad anymore because when i had it hooked up to rail sensor i screwed up 3 rail sensors costing me $800 roughly in 3 months

Fern

I wish I could but then I'll have to take care of our daughter by myself. At least she pays for half of the bills. Leaves me with some mods money. Remember kids, wear a Jimmy.

northernwheeler

It should start no problem. It was below -40 celsius here this morning (as low as the overhead thermometer goes) and mine started. I plug mine in when I shut it down for the night, run 5-40 synthetic, and have good batterys and it starts everytime, but ohh the power steering made some noise! I would really check your grid heater to make sure it is working properly, and your block heater.

As for the winterfront, the mopar one kicks azz. Hope you get er going.

pind

I've seen these trucks, with good batteries and 0W40 oil, start well past -45C without being plugged in at all. Two cycles of the grid heaters, and there it goes.

If the batteries are weak at all though, not much of a chance.

Also, get an oilpan heater. If you are running 0W40 oil, all you need is a 100 watt Alaska Pad heater, glued on the side of the pan, to make all the difference in the world.

homewrecker

You need to drop the drive shaft to verify the u-joints are good or bad.When I had my first issue with u-joints on mine I got a vibration at a certain speed(can't remember what it was now)anything above or below was fine.I dropped the shaft and 2 were partialy seized.Once removed and taking a closer look they had zero grease in the caps.This has been a problem many 3rd gen owners have gone through.I went ahead and replaced every u-joint with Spicers.

Grnitech

i wouldnt jump on gm wagon yet. Theres bad trucks in all 3 makes. We have had 3 durmaxes 4 ford diesels and 6 dodges since 97 in the buisness. Had stuff not work on all 3 makes. We just got rid of 2 f550s because we had major problems with both and replaced them with dodge 5500's. We have a durmax in the yard right now with 4x4 not working and broken park gear at 70000 miles.Last duramax had problems with tranny. First one had problems with wiring going to tranny. If you like a certain brand better you will put up with more problems with them. My point being we have had good luck with some trucks and some bad. We have had more problems with ford than the other 2. Dodge and GM products have both been pretty good to us over the years but sometimes you get one that just dont stay together well. We have had to rplace one duramax one cummins and 3 fords because of having to go to the shop to much.

Festus

sallyman,

Where are you at? Yesterday, at the AB Chapter year end GTG, there was mention of DC offering steering upgrade parts for the older 3rd gens. Apparently the '08's are sporting more robust parts. The part number for the box of parts was apparently posted somewhere in the threads here in the DTR. A TSB out for it possibly?

On Edit: Here's the link - post 16 & 18: https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=220996&page=2

Now, I don't have steering issues, so I just kinda listened with one ear and only absorbed the overview and not the details. Do a search, searches, and more searches on here to find the info. Or hopefully someone in the know will chime in. After hearing this yesterday, it sounds like you're a candidate for this upgrade.

If you're close and need more help to get her going, let me know.......I'm available after my furnace is fixed.