Hi y'all. I've been reading on dieselram.com for a while and finally found this website. I've been saving up for a diesel truck to upgrade from my 93 S-10 4.3 TBI that I've been driving all through college. All goes well I'll be purchasing a new (used) truck within 6 months to a year as I graduate with a Mechanical Engineering degree in May 2007. Finally... I've been reading up on Cummins/Powerstroke/and Duramax, so if you wanna throw out any reasons why I should get a Cummins, or not get one of the other feel free... Though I am leaning toward the 01-02 Cummins 4x4 QCSB 5 or 6 speed.

Here's one for you, I was reading on www.dodgedieseldatabase.com in the buyer's guide area and they say some dodges have A/C problems. Well, in Alabama through June-September, if you don't have A/C you are as mad as a hornet, so what are the reasons the A/C doesn't blow cold?

Also, how bad are the interriors on the 01-02 trucks? Power windows or door locks just quit working out of the blue, or pieces of the dash start falling off?

Throw out some opinions.

Appreciate it.

Chuck

 

Welcome Chuck !!!! Glad to have you aboard. That's quite a step up ... from an S-10 to a diesel . You could fill a full year in research on this site ... better grab a cup of coffee and a couple sammiches !!

As for the best choice of Dodge, Ford and Chevy for diesels ... I guess it depends on what you are gonna want to do with your diesel. Chevy has always has the creature comforts, Ford ... well, I won't go into them cuz I don't like anything about the newer fords. As for the Dodges ... I won't drive anything but a Dodge Cummins .

Will this be a daily driver ... no towing, limited towing, heavy towing ?? 01-02 is a decent year from what I see ... I personally would go for a 6 spd if you can get it.

There is no doubt that all 3 will tow quite a bit ... but the Cummins is the top of the market. There is the issue with the fuel I/P & L/P's. You can do a search on that subject ... most of us have dealt with it at one time or another. Some of us have had problems with the A/C. Mine went out in the summer also ... in the Florida Keys. I survived and it was covered by my warranty. Had it been a Ford ... I would've traded it in the next day .

The Cummins is strong and will last you a very, very long time if you do the required maintenance. Ungodly power available if you decide to BOMB it in the future (it's like an illness ... we all do it).

The little things that aggravate a person ... Ford has the market on those... seat belts that tend to lock up at the worst time, the windshield washer nozzles are very easily blocked during snow storms (recently discovered that at the worst time). I could go on and on ...

Anyway ... welcome again. Good luck to ya with your purchase.

PISTOL

 

Well Welcome. Sit back and get comfortable. Lots of reading ahead of you. You will find that there are lots of folks to help with any questions.

Notice there are classifed adds. Lots of goodies/trucks are posted. Wish I'd have looked when I was shopping for mine.

Ed

 

MechEng? Great choice - AND you should be looking for a truck that can go ANYWHERE, as your degree can do the same - Alaska to Florida; Find one with an excellent A/C set up a well as positive 4WD and a good heater!

Good luck in your last year - as I recall, those of us in the ME curriculum were pretty popular with recruiters as well as women looking for MRS Degrees...

- let me know if you are thinking of heading to the Northwest after you graduate (what school are you attending?) -

Rauschbo

 

On behalf of the Admin here, welcome . You have found a great, friendly place to talk diesels.

You won't regret upgrading to a Cummins. Great power, good mileage, and awesome reliability. I bought a 01 Dodge Cummins and haven't regretted it. Although I didn't get the transmission and drivetrain I wanted ( I wanted the 6 speed and 4x4) I have really enjoyed this truck. It has it little quirks but what vehicle doesn't?

The A/c problem you mentioned is due to the evaporator getting dirty over time and corroding. It eventually corrodes through and loses the refrigerant charge. If you inspect and clean it periodicly.

Good luck with your schooling and future career.

 

Welcome to the site.

Lots of info available in our forums, and great people who are Cummins fanatics, and are here to help.

Glad to have you here.

Ed

 

Again as the others have said, "welcome to the site". Before I bought my 2003 I did a lot of searching and the Cummins was the only one for me. Go check out the other "sites" and you will see what I mean. Most of those sites are filled with, "this doesn't work, or this broke".

 

give us an idea where you are located so we can turn you on to any local trucks that we may know of, or tell you which ones to staty away from. & welcome.

 

As all have said welcome, I am also new to this site but have been a member of the TDR longer. I love both sites, they complement each other and you'll find alot of us on both.

I have had 1 furd and am on my third dodge absolutely love-em there is no matching the cummins for power and reliability. Yes they have issues but alot fewer then ford or GM


Enjoy the ride....

 

As all have said, WELCOME!!!!. You will find a lot good people here with a lot of experience and knowledge on all brands. I have had the old lift and injector pump issues, none of the others that you mentioned. When you get a diesel you most likely love it. AS the old saying is, Once you go black you'll never go back, smoke that is!!!!!! For me Dodge/Cummins is the only way.
I also am a member of both and sites, a lot of us are. Both are good sites.

 

Thanks for the replies, I'm gonna try to answer all y'alls questions.

Mikmaze- Huntsville, Alabama

jrs_dodge_diesel - Thanks for the A/C explanation. That's about the same as every GM I've ever owned, the heater core clogged at one point in time and I had no heat in December...

Rauschbo - I've attended "The University of Alabama in Huntsville" for my entire undergrad. It is one of the BEST engineering schools in the country. The city of Huntsville was built by Wernher Von Braun, NASA, and Redstone Arsenal. Needless to say there are jobs everywhere. Redstone (the gov't) offers thousands of jobs, but also requires thousands of contractors. This leads to UAH having a great co-op program, which I am a part of. I've worked at Lockheed Martin for the past 2 years on the THAAD contract doing "real" engieering not just copying papers or getting coffee. When I started I had never seen Unix/Linux or programmed, now I can whip out a program in Linux in no time. My point: I actually learned something from co-oping. As far as recruiters go, I'm already in the USAF Reserves at Maxwell in Montgomery, so if I stay in that's where I'll be.

PistolWhipt - This truck will be a daily driver, with limited towing. (I'll tow my Camaro around as I start to rebuild it, and I'll also be puchasing a 68 Camaro sometime to do a full resto on). So that'll be 4000lbs + the trailer weight, so 5-6000lbs is mostly all I'll tow.

I want the 01-02 mainly b/c they are new, but I wouldn't mind a 96-98 12V. I've read all about the L/P leading to I/P failure, so I would probably just throw a FASS on the truck and be done with it. I've also read about the 53 block.

As far as maintenance, I'm crazy about some maintenance. Like Hank Hill said "I change my oil every 3000 miles or when I get bored". I'm always in the garage so maintenance is gonna happen. I just worry about how well the previous owner took care of the truck.

Bombing, yes. I want the most hp I can have while still keeping it daily driveable and reliable (I guess that's in the 350-400hp at he wheels range?) and this leads to 800+ ft*lbs. I'm also gonna throw a locker in both axles (Detroit out back and something I can engage and disengage in the front) and the appropriate clutch to handle the hp.

Chuck

 

Yep ... you're gonna fit right in !!!

PISTOL

 

Good to see another Alabama boy on here. There's about a handfull of us that I know of.

I'm an engineer myself. I received an engineering degree from UAB a few years ago. I'm now a structural engineer in Birmingham.

This site has been immensely valuable to me from advise to troubleshooting.

Welcome aboard.

Brad

 

Welcome to this site. However, I have to warn you about some of the guys here and the advice they give out so freely. Be warned, they will fill your mind with all kinds of expensive images to make your truck better, higher, noisier, faster, smokier etc, etc. Once you get your truck and get sucked into the advice given here you are going to be permanently broke. Are you sure you want to sink down to that level? Are you sure you want to become an addict like some of the gearheads here?
If not, delete this site from your computer, turn in your drivers licence and start using busses and cabs.
Ah, shucks, I know you are not going to listen to me anyway, so go ahead and enjoy your truck, this site and start bombing.