I have a 2004 1/2 Dodge Dually, it has 145K on it and it's getting ready to need a transmission, auto. It gets around 14-16 MPH unloaded and 8-10 towing my 40ft gooseneck car trailer. I will probably only get 18-12k for my truck and the the new one will be around 60k for a Laramie. What kinda mileage and power are you guys seeing? Is it worth the change or should I just upgrade the transmission and converter? I'm really tired of 10MPH towing.

I personally, would just do the transmission and TC. I don't think that the newer trucks are going to get any better mileage. They do have good power, but I'm sure you could get close with modifications to your 04. For the amount of money you would spend on a new truck, you could buy many mods for your truck, and fuel for many years.

Yeah that must suck. Would take forever to get anywhere!

Seriously though, keep your truck. The new ones don't do any better when towing. And even if they did, the extra money you would have to kick in to buy it would fix your transmission and buy you years worth of extra fuel to make up the difference.

A good quality rebuild with some upgrades to the trans, a little tweeking of the engine, and you'll be happy! Plus it will be much easier on the wallet!

I forgot to mention it already has a cold air system, the Edge with attitude, and 5" exhaust and still only gets 8-10 MPH towing. I thought it would get more. Total truck, trailer, gear, and car only weighs 17.500lbs. It's an aluminum trailer.

what gears do you have?

373's

The new ones have 3.42's

looking at your address the truck isn't rusted away. I would build a good tranny and Tc and then some good mods. the new trucks from whom I talk to they don't get good mileage.good luck

I'm not sure why your mileage isn't better than that, but the 10mph towing doesn't compute either.

I had an early 04 with the 305 555 instead of the 325 600 you have and got MUCH better mileage towing! All I had on mine was a Bully Dog Triple Dog but the truck had 4.10 gears. Got 18-20 around town and 12-14 towing my 32' LQ trailer that weighed 11,200 lbs. You are probably towing more like 16K lbs? With my 2005 dually towing a 44' fiver I would get around the same mileage you do. The people I know that have new diesels get worse mileage than the 05 did, but comfort, power. and stopping and worlds apart!

One thing might be, I live in Utah so the speed limit is 80, and I drive the speed limit. It souds like the new trucks not only cost a small fortune but don't get any better mileage.

Gearing might help you a little but it takes a lot of HP to pull an enclosed trailer @ 80mph, especially through hills. The benefit of the newer trucks is you don't need to tune them to get the same power as your current ride, but I wouldn't expect a mpg improvement.

If you want better fuel economy the easiest and cheapest solution is to slow down.

That truck would be much happier at 70 as far as fuel mileage! We have a 99 rot box with 4.10s that drinks fuel above 65! empty!

With my 04 I did a test on a long trip running one tank at 55, one at 65, and one at 75 and the mileage difference was telling! At 75 I got 18.3 MPG, 65 20.0 even, and 55 22.5!

I have a new 6.7L auto with the 68RFE. I swapped out the 3.42's at about 1k in lieu of 4.10's. Empty with the 3.42's (srw truck) I averaged 21-22 driving 70 hand calc. Going to 4.10's dropped me empty about 2mpg maybe a touch more at the same speed.

Loaded I picked up about 1mpg though so I was happy to see that. (Trailer weight of 12-18k mostly city/country mix). There is very little to NO noticable difference between the two when driving. It was not like I felt like I was driving a different truck when I did it.

Remember all the new 68RFE or AISIN are 6 speeds, with the AISIN having a deeper first so you dont need the gearing like with the 4/5speeds of the past. I've got just shy of 40k on my truck now and absolutely love it. Im debating doing EGR/DPF delete but why mess with something that i'snt broke and has great power anyway.

I have not heard mileage numbers like that from my friends with new diesels, so that is encouraging! Their numbers are around 4 mpg less then yours.

Yeah with the 4.10's I'm pretty common high teens twenty empty. But I don't beat the crap out of it either.

Loaded with anything above maybe 8-10k and its 10-11mpg depending on type of driving. I've had as bad as 9 in the hilly areas of PA. I also plow with an 8ft western wide out and that kills it.

All three ram/ford/Chevy get so close it's negligible. No one brand is pulling down great grand numbers above anyone else. I've seen my cummins numbers seem pretty close to what I've seen on some forums, and my buddy with a new dmax gets pretty much same.

I live in Salt Lake City so......mountains are the norm. I'm not about to slow down either. I've tried slowing to 70 just to see the difference, and it's negligible. It acts like it's between gears at that speed.

It seems counter intuitive to buy a new truck to get a few more MPG if any. I mean unless you just want a new truck because you aren't going to save any money. For what it's worth I'm not getting rid of my 12 valve for a new pig.

Keep your old truck and upgrade the trans. along w/ some other stuff and you'll be happy again. There's a reason the older trucks are still bringing good money.

I kind of do want a new truck but wouldn't want to spend 58K for one, and get worse mileage.

I look at new trucks every once in a while then I start doing the math. Just the sales tax paid on a new truck would put a trans in my '97 12 valve. Not to mention increased registration(here in California anyway) and insurance. Mine gets around 20 unloaded. Loaded up with camper, enclosed trailer, kitchen sink and dirt bike hanging off the front hitch, it has gone down as low as 12MPG. Normally tow 60-65mph. New trucks sure are nice though. I may consider a newer one someday

Unless you are running 100,000 miles a year +, fuel is a negligible expense and absolutely the worst reason to spend $60K on a new truck.

80 MPH and good fuel mileage will never be in the same sentence together nor will 70 MPH. 60-65 is about as good as it gets for speed vs mileage. If you can drive 55, that's where the best number is.

Kevin

Transplant an early diesel & trans into your truck. 12 or early 24 valve. Some of the guys are getting over 1000 hp out of theirs. You'll have a better AND cheaper truck.

So what year model are you guys saying is the best..I'm in the market for a diesel now..

[quote=earthmover]So what year model are you guys saying is the best..I'm in the market for a diesel now.. [/quote/]



2003 diesel with the big six speed trans, from what I heard the least problems

Thank you. I've been looking to see what's out there..my 4.7 took a dump on my last night

I thought the 2006 diesels were the best. At that point, they had fixed many of the issues (plastic intercooler for example) and that year and the early 2007 are the ones to go for. Is that wrong?

My 2003 5.9 ho with 6 spd trans has been trouble free. Has 130,000 on the clock.

You'll have to pry my 2006 2500 MegaCab from Kung foo grip before I trade it in. I just turned 100k this week. A penny saved is a penny earned.

You are correct.

I understand that the 03/04 trucks are the darlings of the 3rd gen units. My 03 has been solid since new and just recently replaced the original batterys, and rear brake pads. I even installed a hurst stick that used to be in my gtx.

The other side of the argument is that many times it's easier to finance a new truck than it is to pay cash to fix the old one. To continue this further - a good diesel trans + converter can easily be $3-4K, which someone may not have the cash available. You also have other common big ticket items - injector/lift pumps, turbo, etc. looming as possible failures at the worst possible time. Or a $1200-1500 set of tires. They may not want to bang that much on a C/C at 20+% interest. But, you can trade the old one in for a big down payment and drive away a new truck for no cash out of pocket, or even with a check in hand if you pull some of the equity out of the trade in. Yes, you do have a payment then, usually at a LOT lower interest rate than the C/C - but you also have a new vehicle with a fresh warranty that you can budget X dollars a month for the payment, and not have to worry about having cash in hand for big repairs.

Trust me - MANY new vehicles are purchased using this logic.

Don't be steered away from newer diesels because you think they get bad MPG. I have had many newer 6.7s that get 20-21 MPG. My current 2012 Megacab will get 20-21MPG hiway with 3:73 gears. I only deleted the EGR and run a tune to get rid of any CEL on the dash. I have gotten a worst of 10.5MPG towing 10k trailer in bitter cold driving into the wind.

2006 and early 2007 5.9 diesels are bringing top $ these days because of lack of emmission controls.

2012's will become the NEXT hot item because it's the last non-DEF year

13-up are DEF equipped but that can be removed also

I have a full time business repairing crashed late model Rams so they are all I work on. I have no problem selling late model diesels I have repaired. For example you sell your hi mileage 06 for $25k and buy one of my 2013 loaded Laramie diesel crew cabs for $35k. That's only 10k out of pocket to upgrade to a much nicer looking and comfortable truck with 100k less miles on the clock. Or spend 60k at the dealership for nearly the same thing

I'm going to buy a new truck next year. I have a 2004 1/2 with 150k, mostly highway miles. Any idea what I should expect to sell it for? Leather, heated mirrors, 5" exhaust, cool air intake, Edge with attitude, etc.

A vote here for a new one. If you have not driven a newer(13+) truck you don't know what youre missing! Quiet, power, comfort, you name it. Not to mention the warranty for piece of mind. The older I get the less I like messing with vehicles, especially daily drivers. Do your homework, as there can be a vast difference in price between dealers. Also, check into any new leftover '15s, as this can be a savings as well..

Just drove a 2014 Diesel 6-speed auto with 3.42 gears that had logged on only 16k on the Odometer.....Very un-impressed. I think I will stay with my '03....

The 2014 had less options than are on my '03 to boot...No back up camera which I added and love, no fold out towing mirrors which were standard on mine, no lower center storage compartment no lower bumper running lights.....All standard on mine.

And then to top it off, it seemed sluggish. For six stinking gears, I thought pushing on the gas pedal would need less effort to get that thing to move. My 03 feels like it would run circles around it, but then again, I have a Smarty on mine. Obviously 10 min of city driving is not enough to really evaluate it, but I don't know how to justify the cost if it doesn't get me something more.....They could not even tell me lowest price because they would have to figure in the tow mirrors!

So 11 years newer, and all the frills, and I am not impressed. I am the kind of person that can't help myself on the latest carburetor or whatever for the Hemi, but on a new vehicle, I am stingy. I can't explain it, But to go from what I have to that, I had bigger expectations when driving something with 800ft/lbs of torque. I could not even tell if the converter ever locked...Pedal had too much musyness to it and I thought it would accelerate faster.

I would bet side by side, my 03 out runs it....I have driven my engine builders 8-speed Hemi, and expected similar performance from the newer 6.7 with the 6-speed. I cannot catch that gas truck of his with mine unless he has to tow my trailer. I guess I expected way too much. 800ft/lbs of torque should be like a hot rod you don't want to climb out of after driving it.

Dracula, There are 3 ratings for the heavy duty trucks, 660lb ft for manuals, 800 lb ft for 68re auto, and 900 for trucks w the Aisin auto. As far as options go, these trucks can be as loaded up as you want them to be. The truck you drove must have been extremely basic to not have the things you mentioned..

It was listed as the 6-speed 68RE with the 800ft/lbs, but it felt like I had to push the pedal a lot further than I was expected to get it moving. Here is the listing:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2014&zip=14094&listingType=used&listingTypes=used&transmissionCode=AUT&transmissionCodes=AUT&maxPrice=40000&showcaseListingId=423341756&mmt=%5BDODGE%5BRAM25002WD%5B%5D%5D%5B%5DRAM%5BRM2500%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&photosOnlyActual=true&modelCode1=RAM25002WD&driveGroup=AWD4WD&fuelTypeGroup=DSL&sortBy=distanceASC&makeCode2=RAM&showcaseOwnerId=6580039&startYear=2013&makeCode1=DODGE&firstRecord=0&numRecords=100&searchRadius=500&listingId=409355606&Log=0

I'd suspect that these things are heavily torque managed to save torque converters, u joints etc. Thats probably why it feels lazy compared to your early truck with a tuner

I dunno...the math just doesn't add up for me.

a new $60k truck, even on a 6 year plan, is still close to $600 a month payment...then you gotta still buy your gas.

if you can afford $600 a month on a payment now for a new truck, then you can also afford to save $600 a month and in 3-5 months, buy a new fully rebuilt and modified transmission and converter. 2-3 months and you can buy a new turbo. 5 months to buy new injectors. 1 month for a lift and injector pump.

...what else "fails" on these trucks? in a year and a half of $600 a month, you have modified and upgraded and made your used truck like new. If you buy a new truck, you will still have 4 1/2 years left of your payment plan if you buy a new truck.

I'd gladly part with mine to go to an 03-08, but I wouldn't want anything newer. My 01 vs an 04 my friend own was night and day on the ride quality. I hate driving mine on long distance trips.

Well, I plugged the tuner in and looked up to see what mine was set on....And its at the highest setting for everything....Might be why mine is so responsive. Still, mine maxes out at 600ft-lbs...No where near there's, so maybe they did de-tune it some.

You can buy a throttle sensitivity booster for them that a lot of guys like, makes the trucks feel "peppier" from a stop. I think they're like $250 or something,

The torque management isn't impressive at first no doubt. Hook a load to it and you'll feel different. The engine brakes on these trucks are the best out there as well.

The new trucks can all also be fully deleted. Their are very few issues with the def trucks but plenty of systems/tunes out their when you start looking.