Doj Dewd

Well, new to me anyway. It's a used 2011 with 40k on it. Great shape.

That means I'll be parting with my 2000. I've got a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in that thing! It would be a sad day to see it go! I love that truck, but I'd learn to live again!

The 2011 is pretty appealing though, with the 6spd auto, jake brake, and 410s for hauling the travel trailer. Oh, and the extra room in-cab will be handy too!

What say you all? How are you liking the 4th gens this far?

If you know of folks looking for a nice 2nd gen, send them my way!

magiriano

Got to tell you, I was soo upset when I totalled my '08 that I didn't even test drive the Snow White before I signed 6 years of my life away for the truck loan.
She's been full of surprises. Driving her back from Kelowna to Calgary it didn't take long to like the way it rides.
Once here I didn't do much except a 2" levelling and changed the stock tires to 285 Nitto Terra Grapplers. In hindsight I should've went with Dura Grapplers as she chewed the back ones right off at less than 20,000km. I've learned since to drop the pressure to 55 front and 30 psi for rear when I don't haul, regardless not a cheap lesson.
This spring I decided she'll stay with me a while, so first thing that I did was the CCV filter delete. And it made a huge difference. Then I went with the turbo back cat/dpf delete and now I wonder why I didn't do it sooner.
Off work these days due to my hand injury so no place to go but for the few short trips I made I loved the lui meter going down from 21L/100km to 14 around town and the get up and go its amazing.
Never had a 2nd gen so I can't make an informed comparison but after the smarty and Cat/dpf delete I feel like I'm getting a lot of bang for the outrageous monthly loan payments. One things for sure, the next truck will be bought in the US and I'll delete the crap out of it before ill bring it home. And it will most likely be the dually megacab.

Busboy

While I like my 2011 68rfe 3.73 it could use another gear, the truck has more than enough torque to pull my 13,700lb 5ver up mountain passes at very good speeds. The 2013 3500 is a whole different story and with the Aisin you can only get 3.42 gears and for a reason, fuel economy. I think you are making a mistake getting 4.10 gears one you will be paying for as long as you drive that truck.

Danderson

The enhanced braking alone will make it worthwhile. My '98.5 2500 had pitiful brakes.

magiriano

I agree. I have the 3.42 stick and while towing I think I downshifted into 5th a handful of times.And I too feel like I could use another gear.

StealthDiesel

IMO, the 4th Gens are of excellent build quality. Much better than the 3rd Gens which are much better than the 2nd Gens.

However, Dodge/Cummins seems to be in a technology transition. Moving to DEF/Urea injection for 2013 to help the terrible fuel economy of the 2007.5-2012 6.7L Cummins.
Although early fuel economy reports for the 2013's are not that impressive yet.
Dodge is also moving away from the 68RFE 6 speed auto trans. For 2013 the 6 speed auto is an Aisin in the 3500 & larger trucks. Dodge could be abandoning the 68RFE.
There is some risk in buying a 68RFE. It's a good stock trans but if it fails or it you want to upgrade it, it takes huge dollars.

I don't get all the guys with 3.42 gears. If you tow at all, or if you tow in the mountains (8k lbs or more), you will really regret 3.42's.
If you put on larger tires, you will regret 3.42's.
The 6 speed auto has 2 OD gears, why would you want 3.42's with 2 OD gears?
4:10 gears with a 6 speed auto with 35" inch tires would be bang on for towing.

Also, the 6.7L's do not have a Jacob's exhaust brake, they use the sliding sleeve in the VGT turbo to restrict exhaust for braking.
Not as a effective as an aftermarket exhaust brake, but much better than nothing.


Just my thoughts...

Busboy

The 3500 for 2013 has a choice of three transmission options, g56, 68rfe or the Aisin, if you choose the Aisin you can only get 3.42's there is no other option but the engine that comes with the Aisin is rated higher than the 68rfe and the G56. If you tow the 2013 3500 is already taller in the rear than the 2010/12 so why would you take off the stock 18 inch rims and tires, I'm not even sure 17's would fit as they are no longer an option. When we bought the 2011's 68rfe and G56 we were talked into taking the 3.73 gears but to be honest the trucks have more than enough power stock to push 3.42's up the Rockies draging a trailer. The G56 was severely under geared and the 68rfe could also have used more for running empty, you can always drop a gear but you can't change up a gear if there isn't one. To me the new 2013 DEF 3500 truck wins hands down over the 2011 it replaced, I'm just holding off to see if the emission junk can operate as designed in our winters before jumping in to a 2014.

Mike Holmen

I'm going to throw my two cents into the mix. Jason, knowing abit about the same subject myself, I would keep the 00 and just buy the new to you 2011. Most of the bad stuff on your 00 has been fixed, yes you can throw big disks (same ones off a 4th gen onto a 2nd gen).

For me the really selling point is the bigger cab (nice for haulin family around) and the 68RFE transmission, wow its nice with the H&S od tuning. These 4th gen's are really really easy to mod. I think there easier than the 2nd gen, without dumping tons of parts into it to make decent power.

The body style and interior comfort in a 2nd gen like yours is top notch and that classic VP rattle just well rocks. The 1st gear in a built 47/48RFE pulling hard all the way thru the gears into 4th gear, just puts a big smile on the face.

I've been throwing around the idea this fall to buy a 2013 2500 truck.

morkable

Joe, these trucks, even stock, have way more than enough tq and hp to tow well with the 3.42 gears. I just wish that they would put them in the duallys. 410s are just way to low for these trucks.

Also, it is tough to find trucks with the aisin as of yet, although I am sure they will become more and more popular

magiriano

I agree. I towed twice a 24 ft trailer with a Mercedes SL 500 and with a 57Thunderbird from Tx to Calgary and Edmonton and while I didn't weighed in I'm sure I would've been at 10k for the trailer and it pulled fine. And I do have bigger tires. Not 37" but 34".
3.72 would've been a mistake, 4.10 a huge mistake but then I think G56 has a lower ratio than the auto. There was a gear ratio table somewhere for the two but I can't find it now.

Cummins610

The stock 6.7 exhaust brake will walk all over any aftermarket 5.9 exhaust brake. Turbo position sticking problems are also a thing of the past. I wouldn't hesitate about picking up a 2011, best factory dodge truck yet...

Doj Dewd

Well mixed reviews it seems. I guess time will tell if I end up with this 2011.

Main reason for upgrade is more cab room to make trips more comfortable. I've squished 4 adults and 'stuff' in the 2000 a couple times, but that's getting old quickly! It's just too cramped in there. Other than road trips like that, the truck has been great and I love it.

I don't have enough room to keep both, so it would be sold. Also, it'll help with a down payment....

I would plan to run 285/75/17 (~34") and H2 wheels with the 410's to end up somewhere around the 373 ratio.

I have 355's now, and i need to stick with stock tire diameter or towing RPMs are usually to low with the -34" tire. I would actually look forward to a tire that fills the wheel wells again, without sacrificing my RPM range when towing!

bigd450

There is not much that will be missed with my 2nd gen. Except maybe the couple hundred more horses and the lack of all the emission stuff. But that can be taken care. The 4.10's would be a little taller then I would like too, but if the price was right throw a set of bigger tires on like you said and that would help some.

Doj Dewd

I will definitely miss the power. On the test drive, the '11 had no where near the power of my 2000. However, it rides MUCH nicer and the interior comfort doesn't even compare. It's a trade-off, but like you said, the power can be upped, and the emissions items removed when the bug bites!

Mike Holmen

The 2011 is probably stock and finding power is in a common rail is very easy. The 4.10's in a 68RFE and slightly larger tires isn't that bad. I have 33in tires and 3.73 gears, at 120 kph I'm at 1700 rpm's

My old truck with 3.54 at 120kph is around 2000 rpm's, the 2011 with 4.10's would be less.

We just spent the day over at commercial power train looking at 68RFE billet parts.