I have two separate issues going on with my 2003 Dodge diesel dually one ton pickup. The truck has 79,000 miles on it and it does have an automatic transmission. I haul a four horse living quarters (6' short wall) trailer and probably 95% of my miles are hauling miles. Overdrive is turned off anytime towing.

I am due to leave in 3 weeks for a trip from WA state to Illinois and then on to Texas and back home. I will be hauling alot of weight...two horses and lots of stuff.

First problem - when hauling up a hill and you accelerate, the truck jerks and feels as if it is slipping and then it will catch and go on normally. I took it to a diesel mechanic who hooked it up to the computer. No codes registered but he thinks its the transmission. His recommendation was to replace the torque converter, tighten the bands, and be prepared when he got in there to replace the transmission. We have always had the transmission serviced.

Second problem - whether hauling or not, when you start out from a stop, the whole truck vibrates and shakes. It smooths out as soon as you get going. Dodge dealer says "this is a known Dodge problem but we cant figure out what it is" They tried to say it was our gooseneck hitch...even though this didnt start until we hit about 40,000 miles. They recommended air bags which we did but it didnt help the problem.

Warranty expired at 70,000 but friend who works at a dealership said take it back to Dodge. We drive three vehicles that came from that dealership and we had that truck serviced regularly at that dealership so she said they should step up. Met with the service manager and he said he would look at the truck and see what he could do. Although they said they got it to duplicate the problem, nothing is showing on the computer...they have had the truck for over a week and now they say they are waiting for "corporate" to call them and authorize reimbursement of repairs...but they don't know what to repair. They put shims in the driveline and moved the vibration from the rear end to the truck but didnt resolve problem. We said maybe its time you quit worrying about the computer and drop the pan and at least look at the tranny fluid....but still waiting.

Im starting to get real nervous as we are getting short on time. ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated. I told them I was posting on here and will fax them any responses I get.

Thanks alot!!

 

Can't help with the trans but as for the shakes.....It may be time for new rear shocks. With your mileage and heavy hauling they may first not be up to the task and second simple worn out. On acceleration the spring winds up sorta like a big S then unwinds quickly . Sometimes if you look in the big tow mirrors at the rear tires you can see the vibration in the tires. Duallys are easy to see. The shocks by their position are supposed to resist this but eventually they can not. Some guys put traction bars to prevent this. I would look at some heavy duty shocks for your use.

My truck started this inthe winter. It would easily spin the tires on wet pavement or shudder when pulling a load or the trailer. New shocks reduced this but not totally eliminated it. It's doing it again now at 155k onthe clock. About twice yours. and second set of rear shocks. As long as you don't jump the throttle it doesn't seem to hurt anything but you can lose traction when it is wet especially. I drive very conservatively and pay attention to the traffic so I don't get in trouble.

 

Thanks for the reply...but shouldnt the air bags help even if the springs are worn out??

Also, I see you were a "lift pump victim"...what are the symptoms when that goes out?

 

No the air bags will not help. The shocks are to dampen motion, the air bags are to carry load. With the air bags the suspension is technically stiffer so it needs more aggressive shocks to dampen the springs and bags.

My lift pump gave zero warning. There one day gone the next. The truck still ran fine. Without a fuel pressure gage I would have lost the IP too. I drove right to a diesel service shop and picked up a new one and installed it at home within the hour. This one has 55k miles on it and is still at 14 psi cruise after the filter. (Fleetgard) I have a Vulcan kit now too.

 

I think your trans is about to die. I'd get an aftermarket trans designed for towing. That's what I have....

 

Hey skeeter,
Welcome to the site and hopefully some of the folks can give you a few ideas on possible problems. I'll chime in with an opinion that could be a possibility.
It almost sounds like you could be experiencing torque converter (TC) "shudder". This usually happens when the converter goes into lock-up under moderate to hard pulling and/or acceleration.
79,000 miles with 95% of them hauling have probably taken their toll on the converter and the stock converters aren't the best in the world. Even when new, they are designed to be kind of a sloppy, loose, slipping feeling or mushy when shifting or not in lock-up. This mushiness of the stock converter, is supposed to save the rest of the drive train from stress and dampen some of the torque that the diesel puts out. That's why the converter does not lock-up in 1st and 2nd gear and shifts into 3rd and 4th while being unlocked.
Normally, the "shudder" comes from either adding more horsepower (this happened to me after adding only an Edge EZ) or the TC has finally had enough wear & tear on it to need replacement. Low transmission fluid line pressures could also be a reason for slipping and slipping makes heat and heat is NO friend of the automatic transmission.
I solved my problem by replacing the TC with a good, lower-stall unit and also a custom valve body (VB) to increase line pressure. This took the sloppiness out of my tranny and it also runs much cooler now because of less slipping. I have had a trans temperature gauge installed in the truck since it was all stock and you would be surprised on how fast the fluid temp can change do to driving conditions or habits. You may find some good info by typing the word shudder into the search feature and come up some ideas also.

I guess that's it for my $.02 worth and I hope you can get your problem solved in time for your trip.

Good luck!

 

Using the wrong type of tranny fluid will cause shudder as well. The lockup mechanism only wants the ATF +3. Has something to do with friction modifiers in the fluis or some such. I can't say I totally understand it, but I have the shudder now, and I know it didn't start until I put Dextron in the trans. It occurs when the converter locks up, like RattlinRam says.

 

Thank you everyone...I will be faxing your responses to the dealer this morning. We do have a transmission temperature gauge that we do watch closely and drive by, and also had a larger pan installed to help keep things cooler. Would it still go out so soon with all this??

 

ATP makes an additive pt#AT203 to make Dextron into ATF+3, I would throw a bottle in and see how your's does.

 

im haveing the same prob as you.im about to just buy a new tranny so theres no more worries

 

dodgezilla how long you had the tranny.what in there.