Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Dodge pick ups?

I'm on my fourth Nissan Frontier, have nothing but good to say about them. This current one has the 261HP V-6, so mileage is "not so good" around town, about 17 at best, but on the highway I can scrounge out 21-22 at 70mph. The Crew Cabs have somewhat more room than my extended cab does, but mileage doesn't seem to be hurt by that, only the bed is very short.....

The Titan is the most comfortable truck I've ever driven, but that mileage, 12-17, is just scary to me at today's prices. I'm still in shock at my V-6's mileage, compared to the 4 bangers I've owned before (25-26 highway). I don't know too much about the Titans, no one I know can afford to feed them.......

Saddlesore, I'm assuming you have a 98.5 with the 24 valve engine. Mine's a 24 valve and as I'm sure you know they are notorious for the lift pump going bad and killing the VP-44 injection pump. Yes, it's a design flaw but one easily correctible by installing a fuel pressure gauge. My truck still has the original rotors, they've been turned twice, I've put on four or five sets of front brake pads, not too bad for 340,000 miles in my opinion. My left front brake has the original caliper, I finally had to put a rebuilt caliper on the right front about a year ago, $21 at advance auto parts.

With all due respect the items you mentioned are things that could have been avoided. Everyone with a 98.5-2002 dodge/cummins should have a fuel pressure gauge on it, it's pretty common knowledge. I've not heard of any recurring brake problems with these trucks, a little too much riding the brakes on those colorado mountains, perhaps?

They're not perfect, but overall mine's been an excellent truck.

Crow Hunter.Nope to riding brakes.I have a compression brake and hardly ever use my brakes on the mountains.The brakes were bad the day I brought it home for the dealer ship. The just kept dicking around with it until it was out of warranty.Around here,almost everyone I talk to has had brake troubles with the 98's.
I now have a FASS system lift pump/filter,so I thought my problems were over until the FASS went belly up. They did replace everything under warranty as it has 6 yr warranty.
That is why I did not install a fuel pressure gage.Guess I bette add one now

Thats what Dodge is notorious for....cool looks. Mind you many of their cool looking rigs are neatly placed in the top 10 worst vehicles made for the last few years. Thats not a company I'd be putting my hard earned money into right now. The day that these American car companies realize the value in dependability and reliability as opposed to "Cool Looking" will be the day that they can stand next to a company like Toyota and compare finances. Right now they are not there. Toyotas sell themselves and always have, the others try like hell to sell the vehicle to you, with slashed prices, rebates , and recently employee pricing, reduced gas prices, and just about anything else they can think of. Been there done that with Amercican vehicles and every one was nothing but a constant pain in my azz. (F-150, Chevy 1500, Dodge 2500 and 3500). I'l stick to what works for me!

My mother has a 4wd RAV4 2.4L and loves it. I had an '05 Matrix XR 1.8L and hated it. Never made an oil change without having to take it back to dealer. Half of the hinge bolts on the liftgate were 1/2 inch out when I picked it up at the dealer and still were when I traded it after 14 months at 18k miles. Check engine light was always on. Hardware fell out of dashboard. Body moulding kept snapping loose and flapping on highway. Dealership wouldn't document warranty work ("we just snapped it back in there"). Dealership had oil change guys replace the entire front serpentine assy (all day) for a bad belt squeal.
If your looking for a reliable economy car, try honda. If your towing, I bought a new 07 GMC 2500HD Duramax Allison for $33k. More backseat room than a japanese truck. More towing power. Allison really is nice for towing. With the price of gas, anything 4wd and big enough to tow will be cheaper.

I wouldn't bet that diesel will always be more expensive than regular. And if you do go with gas, you lose the 500 RWHP, 20 mph highway option that is available with both the DMax and the Cummins................

Blaine,
Here's some math re: diesel vs gas-

Assume diesel fuel consumption on average of 20 mpg. over 100,000 miles. That is 5000 gallons of diesel fuel.

At $4/gallon, thats $20,000. At $4.70/gallon, thats, $23,500.

Assume gas fuel consumption on average of 17 mpg. over 100,000 miles. that is 5882 gallons of gasoline.

At $4/gallon, that's $23, 528.

In either calculation of diesel fuel cost, neither will offset the initial cost of the diesel option.

Nobody's crystal ball can predict what will happen to relative fuel costs over the next few years, but I have seen no prediction that suggests that diesel fuel will ever again be on a par with gasoline cost.

Even if the fuel mileage of the diesel vs. gas engine is higher than assumed for the diesel, and lower than assumed for the gas engine, there is no clear 'winner' until many miles down the road.

For my own uses, I simply don't 'need' a diesel engine anymore.

However- If Dodge decides to offer a several thousand dollar rebate for their diesels this fall, over and above existing rebates, that might change things.....

Diesel trucks are going away from the consumer market IMO, th eonly folks that will be buying them are those using one in a commercial setting where they absolutley need the extra power every day. The V-8 gas engines are making more power than they used to and making good mileage to boot. Diesel around here is a solid $.70 per gallon more expensive at the cheapest gas stations. The guys that are driving Diesels are losing their minds, when they fill em up as their daily driver at $5.19 a gallon, thats $155 for 30 gallons. No one is buying diesels and the used car lots are full of used Diesels. I think we are seeing a huge change across the boards as to what folks are gonna be driving in the comin years, and definately think there will be far less diesel trucks on the road. I know I am glad as hell I sold mine last summer!

My 97 with only 120000 on it motor has been messaged a little bit gets 23 MPG empty and 17 the way you see it here. Absolutely have had no problems with it.

Our local Toyota dealers are giving $7,500 off Tundra's right now. Just looked in today's paper. 2008 Tundra 4x4 Double Cab, 5.7L, 6 spd auto, loaded $23,900 or lease for $299 a month. Seems like a really good deal. My point is that's more then the "big Three" are doing right now, at least in my area.

The new Tundra's don't seem to be any more dependable and reliable then the others from what I've seen so far. Both guys I know that have owned them had to have both of them towed back to the dealer. One had transmission problems. The other guy had to have his towed twice in the first three months/5,000 miles he owned it (he drives about 20,000 miles a year). The first time was for a camshaft issue and the second was to put a new transmission in it. He traded it for a GMC Sierra 1500 and that truck hasn't been back to the dealer yet. He's put over 30,000 miles on the GMC. I've said it once and I'll say it again.......every brand can have problems. Buy the truck you're most comfortable with. They all have their pros and cons.

My American truck�. was built in Mexico. Toyota makes a nice rig but I don�t believe the there little pickup can handle my camper and boat�

No, you are right the payload isn't close to what my Dodge 2500 could carry, it can tow a house and a half but the payload aint close. I think it would suprise the chit out of all the Toyota nay sayers at how well it pulls, I was neck in neck with a Dodge 2500 Diesel hauling equal weight loads up a real long grade. I can assure you that the guy in the Dodge was thinking WTF as he attempted to pass me in the fast lane to my left. I also out accelerated a newer Chevy 1500 that was pulling 2 4wheelers on a 2 place trailer while I was pulling a 7,000 lb camper, that look was priceless, at least they gave me the thumbs up nod. The only thing my Dodge had on this truck is the ability to carry more in the bed, as far as towing I lost nothing. Plus I have had my Tundra over a year now (15,000+ miles) and havent been in for a single repair, could never do that with my Dodges.

That�s why I love my Dodge dually with the Cummings I can haul a house and a half and tow one at the same time.

Got 120000 on it and its never been in the shop maybe I have been lucky. But I did beefed it up some put on a bigger exhaust, better air intake, bigger injectors, different turbo, bigger injector pump, running about 400 hp and 800 pounds of torque. All of this improved the mileage too.

Every manufacturer is trying harder to sell the lower mileage vehicles. Anything that tows, 4wd, doublecab, etc is going to burn some fuel.
Apples to Oranges on passing anyone. I keep a steady pace to maximize my investment. I have no idea if people I'm passing got caught in overdrive on a steep hill or if people passing me have a supercharger.
My drivetrain is stock. Warranty is 5yrs/100k/200k but all I've done is oil and filters.

I have a 1999 Dodge 2500 4x4 with the old 360 magnum, and although the mileage sucks, it has 198,000 miles and has had a waterpump replaced. Its looking now that I might need the cat replaced, but I hope not.... Not bad for a truck with that mileage

06 Mega Cab cummins with superchip programmer, automatic

The main problem with the dodge and cummins is (THE motor has to much torque!!!!!!!)
If you don't know how to control your transmission and differentials, YES the motor will tear them to shreds.

I just towed this 32ft pontoon house boat over wolf creek pass this weekend glad I had the dodge to do it.

NEVER TOW IN OD (I switch from tow/hual to od/off whenever I am on a level or uphill and only let the trans in tow/hual shift to OD on a downhill) watch your tranny temp and exhuast gas temp and you are fine.





Old dodge - strong runner - tough as nails -bad mileage - expensive parts
old ford - strong runner - tough - intermediate milage - intermdiate priced parts
old chevy - strong runner - easier to blow up - decent milage - cheap parts

Newer ford chevy dodge all about the same execpt price, I know two with chevy duramax, four with ford, and three with dodge.

you can blow a ford tranny just as easy as a dodge, I think the chevy is a little better, the fords definitely ride more like work trucks, chevy like a caddilac, and dodge a happy medium.

well just my observations from (I was shopping for a ford when I ended up with the dodge/ better price for me).

BroncoLope, nice "RIDES" you have there.

My current pickup is a 2007 Dodge quadcab with a 5.9 HO cummins. I love the truck and it will flat out tow my 10,000 pound trailer/tractor combo with ease. I had a 2001 1500 Silverado with a 5.3 and I loved it, but I just couldn't tow my tractor with it. My wife has a 06 Toyota Sienna minivan and we like it, but it was in the shop twice during the first 20,000 miles. I don't think any of the truck makers have much of an advantage on the competition anymore. Everything is very close, so let your wallet and your own likes guide you.

Since 1990 I've had 3 Dakotas and 4 Rams (2x1500 and 2x2500).
Never had ANY problems with any of them I just traded alot until I got the latest 2500 which I bought in 2006 for my wife to commute to college. I drive it now because she wanted a Mercedes. This new truck is a Cummins diesel and has 75K on it and at 55mph it gets 26.9 mpg at 60mph it gets 24.5 mpg and at 70mph it gets 21.1 mpg according to the overhead computer if it's not pulling anything. I traded my Dinan BMW M3 (280hp) for this truck and off the line it has comparable get up and go.
I've also had a Ford F150 (junk) and a 1994 Toyota (which has 210K miles & I still have) and a Chevy S10 that wouldn't pull the hat off your head (GAVE to my brother). My nephew has a new Chevy 1500 and I've driven it and it reminds me a of a limp handshake or cheatin wife...I just don't like 'em.

Don't believe the computer for a minute..... JMO, Dutch.