i have a lawyer member of the family that has agreed to help me out dealing with my case if the dealer won't do it on their own. she seems to feel as i do that there is a true safety issue here. she claims that if about 50 of us were willing to go the extra mile and give her our names and addresses there might be grounds for a class action lawsuit.

email me your names and info if you are willing. whether we get 50 or not remains to be seen

in the mena time i do feel there is a safety issue here

i filed my complaint today with the NHTSA with some extra complaints they may force a factory recall. with all the firestone/ford issues that went on in the last couple of years they dont take safety issues lightly any more

here is the body of my complaint:

DODGE REPRESENTS THE 3500 RAM I PURCHASED TO BE A HEAVY DUTY TOW VEHICLE CAPABLE OF SAFELY TOWING NEARLY 16000 LBS. UPON MY PURCHASE I QUICKLY DISCOVERED THAT THEY HAVE REMOVED THE BASIC OVERDRIVE LOCK OUT FEATURE FOUND ON MOST IF NOT ALL VEHICLES IN THIS CLASS OF AUTOMOBILE. THE COMPUTER PROGRAM AND TRANSMISSION CONTROLS WILL COMMAND THIS VEHICLE INTO OVERDRIVE REGARDLESS OF TERRAIN OR LOAD BEING TOWED OR CARRIED AT THE TIME. BOTTOM LINE IF YOU TOUCH THE GAS WHILE GOING DOWN A GRADE PULLING A 16000 LB TRAILER YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF IN OVERDRIVE LACKING ANY WAY TO BRING THE VEHICLE UNDER CONTROL OTHER THAN THE BRAKES.

if you feel there is a safety isssue you can file you own complaint at

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

 

Why not drop it into 3rd gear???
Are you trying to compare this tranny to the Allison?

MikeyB

 

Does the tow/haul mode work the way it was designed and marketed? Has the operation of the tow/haul mode changed since you bought it?

 

read the post concerning the tow 2005 haul mode

there is effectively no third gear in this vehicle, tow haul does not lock you out of overdrive

guys all over the country are complaining about it

NHSTA is there to address safety issues with the design of a vehicle not necessarily just for failures

believe me this tranny does not compare to an allison

it is completely different from your 03 also

 

I think that you would be wasting your time on the tow/haul thing. You'll spend all this time/money on preparing the case, and then they'll come out with the service software that give you the 06 logic, where you hit the button twice and it locks out 4th gear.

I would love to hear/see how you are going to prove that changing the logic in the transmission makes it unsafe to tow a trailer. You can say its not safe all you want. How are going to PROVE it.

Now a class action lawsuit for the friggin DEATH WOBBLE would be something with a little validity/promise.

I'm talkin punitive damages cause I'm afraid to drive my truck over 55, thus creating an unsafe driving environment on a freeway.

 

the logic in the computer will not help this tranny setup. the torque convertor will not allow itself to be locked out

tried that route already

im not saying the setup is defective iam saying the setup is unsafe

you cannot hold third gear

the only way dodge is going to change the thing is if they are forced to

it is much more than just a simple computer fix

i talked to ats diesel performance and they have the fix for about 3 grand

if it wasn't a problem dodge wouldn't have reegineered it for their 06s

 

Why can't you just shift the truck into 3rd manually as previously asked. I am not trying to smart, just asking.

 

ok hows about we have a class action lawsuit against them for these p.o.s injectors they put in the 3rd gen. any takers? The excessive idle bit is a cover up so they don not have to replace them

 

Works as advertised. What can you say, you read the book, it does exactly what they said it would do. They can't help you do't know how to drive it properly. You must be trying to pull too heavy a load with it, thus making it unsafe. That is what they will say. Why don't you just use the service brakes?? That's why they put extra heavy duty (very costly) brakes on it. Are you sure that OD is not locked out? What do you consider OD, 4th gear, Torque converter lock up??? What exactly is it doing, isn't it locking out the torque converter and still shifting into 4th???
OK I'm down off my pedestal now. Not everyone is complaining so it must not be a class problem but maybe just somthing you don't like or a problem with yours.
Hey don't flame me it's just one persons opinion, beside why would want one of those Alison 1000 in there anyway. If you wait for about 4-8 months the MB 6 speed auto with built in pacbrake will be available in the trucks anyway

 

Built in Pacbrake?

 

yeah you must be right i drive only about 40,000 miles a year pulling a load of some kind most of the time but i don't know haow to drive a truck.

520,000 miles in the last twelve years alone more than most on this board i am sure not all but most. when was the last time you were allowed to hook up twelve thousand pounds for your test drive to see what the truck could really do and how the tranny really reacts to load.

nowhere does any of the literature you get prior to purchase disclose the lack of tow haul od lockout if you push the button on a test drive it feels like any other lockout

and yes i am sure its going into overdrive. and i am still under the advertised towing capacity by 25%

70% of the people who answered my poll on this subject agree its a problem why dont you read some of their responses before you assume driver error

as far as i am concerned supergewl you don't have a pedestal to stand on or get off of

 

Last time I checked it does NOT say OD lockout. It states TOW/HAUL which in fact changes the shift points and does NOT lock out the OD. Thus it performs as advertised. Mine actually locks out OD because it is a OD OFF. Nuff said.

 

now now children, lets all make happy

 

I have a 2004 Dodge Quadcab longbed SRW CTD with the 48RE tow/haul and it works for me. I tow a 12,440# 5th wheel and have had no trouble with the feature. If I want to stay in a lower gear, I DOWNSHIFT to 3rd gear. I wish they hadn't screwed up the trust bearing so I can't add an exhaust brake but still I haven't had any trouble going down the grades to and from Las Vegas and Victorville. It works as I hoped and that is okay for me.
Frank

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think GM's Allison or Ford's TorqueShift trannies lock out O/D when Tow/Haul is engaged either. They do, however, downshift when appropriate when going downhill.
Then don't touch the gas when going downhill with a 16000 lb trailer; and I thought that's what brakes were for - slowing and stopping.

Just because the 48RE isn't as advanced or as smart as the Allison and TorqueShift doesn't make it unsafe. Sorry, but I don't think you have a legitimate complaint. You just need to adjust your driving habits, or buy a 6-speed.