I agree with you, but take note that I did not, will not, and have not accepted the DPF . I just need a bit more room to work out of my truck than the old Quad cabs (2nd gen) offer. Dad loves his 02 and refuses to get rid of it, but wishes he has more room. He thinking about a new truck, maybe, but he will be keeping the 02. Hes like me, we buy Cummins, we dont sell them.

A glider kit would be cool though, a new 2010 Crew Long bed, and let me put my engine/tranny combo it in. I would go 6.7 (custom build of course) and find a spicer tranny to mate it to.

 

Stop making me drool!

 

I read this topic and I had to look twice to see if I was on a Ram/Dodge forum. First, to most of the questions asked I would say go look at a 2010 Ram truck, it’s better built, has bigger U-joints (if people would just read), built in trailer brake controller, gets about 18MPG, has an interior that gives Fords lariat a run for its money (pickuptrucks.com, Edmund's Ect, all said it was a little better).

To those that said the truck is junk and only like the Cummins I say go get a different one then, or again go look at the 2010! I will take my Cummins AND Ram truck body thank you. And to those that said they need to make these to last longer, what on earth do you do to your trucks? I have seen many 2003 and up Rams with over 400,000 miles and it still looks and runs great (I almost bought at auction a 2006 Ram that had 548,000 Miles, clean inside and out but it sold for $7,000.00 still, plus buyers fee, taxes and shipping would have put it at amost $10,000)

What is with the wanting manual locking hubs back? No one has this option anymore and you guys keep saying that Ram is way behind the others trucks so you want them to add old technology to your trucks?

To those that said they should keep making parts for 1st Gen trucks I assume you want Chrysler to fail keeping a factory making old parts that costs loads of money making a part here and there for you? As far as I know a car company has to by law make parts for only 10 years (so they don’t even have to make parts for year 2000 trucks already, though they may have extra parts still).

People complaining about the automatic transmission, have you tried the newer 68RFE? Even the 48RE held up really good. And if you read, Chrysler is looking to put an 8 speed Chrysler/ZF made auto in trucks.

The A/C, again have you tried a 2010? Even if you don’t buy one at least go and see them or try them before you all complain like you were forced to buy a Ram.

Rant off.

Now in finishing this post I would also like to say that Ram did have it’s problems (name one that doesn’t and if you can, why didn’t you buy it?) but most if not all have been fixed now.

 

Ford still offers these...

The ONLY reason they aren't on the trucks has nothing to do with new technology, it has to do with profits and ease of assembly, period.. end of story. Just like the restrictive intake horn on the 3rd gen 5.9s.

I agree the 2010 is quite the truck, but it still has drive flanges where hubs should be... People that use a 4x4 truck for what a 4x4 truck was designed for benefit from 2wd low range, on the rigs I have owned were I could use 2wd low I used it ALL the time.

 

As far as I know Ford has dumped them as of 2011.

 

From the Ford Brochure..

D SOLID FRONT AXLE WITH MANUAL LOCKING
HUBS is a tried-and-true 4x4 design that delivers
excellent articulation, dynamic ground clearance
and rugged reliability.

If you want to rant thats fine, but at least do it with some accuracy!

 

Is this another dodge engineer, his basic answer was go buy a new truck, stop whining about all the problems on your old 2007 pos, lol, only way I'll ever buy a new truck is glider kit, which I know won't happen. I hate buying something thats 50k then voidin the warranty right after purchase.

 

Dodge man,
I didn't see you in the Q&A, do you not have any questions? does this mean your a know it all?

From your long rant, i didn't see anything constructive. Only speaking down to everybody and acting like we're all a bunch of idiots. if you wanted to bash everyones questions so much why didn't you do so sooner? Looking at your post history i'm going to vote TROLL

 

I was thinking broke SALES-MAN his argument wasn't very strong

 

Everyone quit bowing up your chest and calm down or I will close the thread. I get tired of seeing threads closed because people can't be civil. There is a lot of good information in these threads. Lets keep it coming instead of arguing or the lock will come.

 

Just because technology has been around for 60+ years does not mean it's inapplicable to new iron. I think the resounding request made here is that there are those of us who use a truck like it was originally designed to be used (i.e. a truck and not a car with a bed for towing a 4-wheeler to the hunting camp on occasion). Those of us in that category require functionality, dependability, and easy of maintenance/repair. For that reason, there are many 1st Gen's still running the roads and that is why there are numerous gripes about the 2nd and 3rd Gen.

For Dodge, if they want to continue to make a marginal truck that will suit the yuppies and weekend warriors then more power to them. But I for one would be ecstatic if they would also offer a utilitarian package...manual hubs, bolt action trannie, manual t-case, rubber floors, all fittings greasable and replaceable, etc. This would be a great step in the right direction.

Lastly, there are plenty of us out there who chose not to buy a new truck every time the wind blows. We can not afford the cost of these overpriced cars that are on the lots today especially when they must be replaced often. We want something that we know we can depend on to get us, our family, and our trailers down the road reliably and economically for 10, 15, 20 years. Engine wise, the Cummins is the hands down winner. Unfortunately, the rest of the truck and drive train leave a lot to be desired. That was the source of the questions and complaints in this thread.

 

You bring up some good points there rebel. I was working the night of the session but I have read the entire thread. I noticed some (sorry for lack of better words here) "Dodging" of some questions by the engineers. Some of my questions is why did it take so long for this session to happen? Why don't they put on some full time people to take care of the major forums? Happy customers tend to buy / promote more products than unhappy customers do.

I also noticed the engineers "buy a new one to get a fix the old problems remarks".. why not fix the old ones with upgraded parts under a recall or warranty? (We are talking trucks and not computers here as they are a major investment these days) I am still in disbelief over how the integrated brake controllers do not work with some of the elec/hyd brake setups, this is some of the best stopping power out there for trailer brakes.. That probably explains why they converted our trucks to 4 wheel disc brakes..Thank You Preston Tucker for that invention

overall I feel the session was a good ice-breaker and some positive ideas come out of it I hope they do it again in the future

 

Love this!!!!

 

I have been trying to ask the EPA a bunch of questions and I get the same feeling from them as I do from the experts in the Q&A.
In my business I aim to give my customers what they want and need. The government and "certain" large corporations act like they know what you need better than you do.
If we can band together and tell Fiatler that we aren’t going to buy any more trucks until they address our wants and needs, maybe it will change.
As for the EPA, they have been an impenetrable monolith until recently when a tiny crack opened up. Now they want me to call them to discuss my concerns, but I am frankly scared to get on the radar screen. I am trying to get my facts together and then I will give them a call.

 

I would like to get ahold of the die's and molds for the 1st gen. It's easier with a truck because it's body on frame.