I am looking at a 06 2500 with 50k miles, automatic, I am not familiar with the 3rd gen other than my wife had a 03 gas 1500, I just had a few questions for you guys about it, any input would be helpful!
-research here makes it look like I could expect about 17 mpg combined, true?
-I read all the bad about the autos, don't see much good about them...how ad are they really? I am not looking for a heavy hauler, I may tow 10k 6-8 times a year.
-How are the shift points overall, empty, loaded, towing...are they at a decent RPM and feel positive (on a good tranny of coarse).

Anything else you think I should know, please fill me in...I am new to the 3rd gen, I have a 1st gen now, had CTD dodges since 1994 when I bought one new, some good (manuals) and some bad (automatics), just cant afford a mistake buying this, but would like an auto.

Thanks!

 

I bought a 2005 Auto 2wd almost a year ago with 67000 miles on it. Its been a good truck so far. I haven't pulled anything with it. How bad is that? Have a Cummins and I haven't pulled a trailer yet with it.

I got it for durability and good MPG.

I generally get 15-17 in town driving. Highway mileage depends on how hard you drive the truck. 75mph on the interstate will get me 20mpg. 65mph gets me 22.5mpg. Those numbers will be a tad less in the winter.

As far as auto's go its mixed opinions. Are there room for improvements to the auto transmission? Yes there is. I know of several trucks with 150-200k miles on their transmission. You work the truck more then there's probably more of a chance of a failure/wear out. On the other hand what I have noticed from reading the forums is the auto transmission gets a bad rap usually from having the dogpoo twisted out of it. You are running 600+lbs of tork (stock) and if you drive it hard all the time you will eventually fail it. Add hi performance parts and pieces (very easy to do with the Cummins) to the situation and it makes it worse. Add a heavy trailer to it...............

My 2005 in normal mode shifts fairly soft but fine for normal driving. Put it in TOW/HAUL and it firms up the shifts a lot and I have noticed it increases the shift rpms a little bit. I think your 2006 TOW/HAUL mode has a few better options that my 2005 doesn't have.

I would check to make sure it starts good, idles good and runs good. Drive it normal on the street and perhaps run it on the highway and maybe put your foot in it to get on the highway to see how well it shift and runs up to highway speed a few times.

Check all the Heater and AC vent settings as the air box doors are famous for breaking. I am fighting a recirc door right now. The rest of it should be about like your 03 1500..........


47

 

Is there much difference between the early 04's and the '06, I know they have a different camshaft that eats up some MPG, but other than that, any improvements or detractors?

 

I'm at 145K miles on mine and the engine has been flawless as well as the tranny. I don't tow heavy, just a 4K lb. boat. I am also religious about maintenance as well.

I did replace the ball joints, recirculation door and A/C compressor as well as the #4 injector line (preventative on the line) before it failed. Front brake pads were replaced about 5k miles ago.

I did buy this truck new, do you have any maintenance records for the 06 you are looking at?

Overall my experience with this truck would rate a 9 on a scale of 1-10. Good luck!

 

Wow, that's lowwwwwwww miles!

17mpg average is about right, depends on tire size and how hard you flog it.

The 48RE tranny is fine as long as you don't cook it. Towing only 10k I can't imagine how you would if everything is stock. If you're planning on adding power, then add a trans temp gauge as well. Be sure an maintain it by the book and then some (adjust the bands and change filter and the ATF in the pan every 30k, the above plus total ATF change-out every 60k).

'06 was a great year, I mean they're all great years but other than the #4 injector line ($30) there's really nothing about an '06 that stands out in a bad way.

 

I didn't know about the injector line problem...good to know, I looked it up and seems like a common thing.

I had a injector line go on a Ford IDI 20 years ago, 1/2 way across the Tappanzee bridge in NY...I got a roll of fuel line hose and ran it from the injector line end to the fuel filler opening until I could get where was headed and replace the line. Cant do that with these new models!
Just remembered, I taped a water bottle onto the injector line end until I could get to the store for the fuel line hose.

 

ssandlin mentioned changing the ball joints on his truck, and I just did them on my truck with 94K miles. They can be an issue, along with the steering tie rod ends, as the failure mileage and age seems to vary a lot based on other member reports. Although the truck only has 50K, I would still check out the condition of the ball joints and tie rod ends if you have the opportunity.

Good luck, hope you find a good one!

 

I have had my 06 since brand new, I tow a 36ft 5th wheel, about half of the 131k on the odometer, have been in town and highway, fishing for the last couple of weeks and average 20 to 22 mpg, on paper, it is a 2x4 though, the right foot makes all the difference. I just do all the services as the book says, all synthetic oils, change fuel filter at oil change time, all I have done is one rear diff seal and one trany tail shaft seal, the best truck I have owned, cheer`s

 

Sounds good so far, how often do you guys change your oil?
I imagine it's get dirty pretty quick with the EGR soot in the cylinders.

 

( I know there is no EGR valve, but I understand the cam timing traps more exhaust gas In the cylinders?)

 

I change my oil twice a year, probable too often, and oil filter and fuel filter, oil, rotella 5-40 synthetic at walmart around $20 bucks a gallon, Donaldson oil filters at truck shop $8 bucks, Baldwin fuel filters at a truck shop $12 bucks, very cheap insurance, cheer`s

 

I have had my '06 SLT 4x4 quad can now for 2 months. Getting about 15 mpg around town solo. Bought mine with 73,500 miles and towed an enclosed 7x12 bike trailer to Sturgis from N. Fl. w/2 bikes, 4 people and gear and averaged 12.2 for the trip. That is towing above the speed limit sometimes too. I have 80,250 miles on it now and still love it.

Tranny shifts firm for me. I use the tow/haul mode when towing a TT when I remember to push the button and find it tows just fine in regular mode too. Noticed the tranny helps slow you down in T/H, but I don't believe there is an actual engine brake on mine. It does however, downshift more noticeably in T/H mode - accordingly for the speed you are traveling.

I heard horror stories about the trannys too, but have figured out the earlier 47R autos are more likely to crap out than the 48R that is behind the '03-'07 5.9s. I plan to leave mine mostly stock (maybe an ecomomy programmer) - going for reliability and MPG, more than power as I find plenty there already. I have a toyhauler TT (about 10K lbs) I used to tow with a gas GMC 1500 that strained to get on the relatively flat highway on ramps here in FL. The 5.9 makes easy work of it now. Getting 10.4 towing it where the GMC got 7.1 mpg.

 

Every 5K miles for me, with the fuel filter getting changed every 10K miles.

 

My changes are between 7k and 9k like I said twice a year, the oil will be dirty, sooty, 5 minutes after you change it, this is normal.

 

I had 96k on my '06 when I sold it in 2010. The truck was flawless and I kick myself for getting rid of it. I got 19/23 on average. The transmission in the 06 is the strongest of the 3rd gens but that's speaking from a stock (unchipped) POV. I would be all over the one you found and if you aren't interested send me the info.