I have a friend who has a 2004.5 3500 and cooked his computer when jump starting someone else. He said that he was told, when buying the new computer, that he should never use that truck to jump start anything as the voltage surge would cook the computer every time.
Does anyone else have any info on this? I just bought a 2006 and am curious if I should not use it to jump start anything also.

Thanks,
Chris

 

I can't see it hurting anything if done properly, and have never been worried about boosting with a newer vehicle. I do always make sure both vehicles are shut off until all the connections are made, then start the booster vehicle and let it run for a minute before trying to start the dead vehicle. This is done in the interest of trying to bring both vehicles' batteries closer to the same voltage when the connections are made, and before attempting to start. Haven't had a problem yet.

 

I have the same year truck and I jumped a fellow camper last fall without issue. I left my truck running when I hooked up but I was very careful about matching polarity. I had no problems but I will admit I was a bit scared and watched my charging voltage carefully for the next few days to ensure I didn't blow out any of the charge components.

 

Have jump started many vehicles with my truck and no problems. Have always made the connections with the engine off and seldom need to start the engine for extra oomph. Must admit to being a bit worried when connecting to flat batteries and smaller capacity batteries. In cases like this I have made the connection and then let things sit for a few minutes to get the two batteries to become "friends". Only then do I try to start the dead vehicle or my truck.

Always remember for safety, the last connection (negative) needs to be done on your truck and NOT the dead battery!

 

Thanks for the info. I suppose he did something wrong or it was a freak thing with his truck.

Chris