I know they had a lot of trouble with the dodge truck trans (overdrive). I am looking to buy a truck what year did they get better - if ever?

I am mostly looking at stuff before 2000

man i hear this stuff all the time
i didnt know they built any thing bad or worse than any
other car maker
im going to say this again,,
they will all go bad if you dont care for them,
guys will run 150.000 miles never change fluid never check fluid,
couldnt tell you where the stick is to check it,,
we change are oil every 3-5000 miles never change trans fluid ,
life of the car,,
its like we got automatical stupid here,,
then after 150000 miles we have trans trouble,, MY GOD WHAT WAS MOPAR THINKING WITH THAT TRANSMISSION!!!!
oooo well the insanity will never stop!!


we really have come a long way tho,,
we used to get rid of cars that had over
100000 miles to ,,
now we are keeping cars till 200000 or more
ive got a 95 neon 300000 on it no trans trouble,
got 02 durango 160000 on it no trouble,
got 96 caravan 200000 no prob,
99 1/2 318 120000 no prob,
94 shadow 1350000 no prob
own a 99 chevey cavalier makes me walk
all the time

I hear ya............

lots of folks have the "ain't broke, don't fix/touch it" mentality with the auto trans.

Little do they realize the filter will only flow so much as it clogs with clutch/band particles. And then the heat and lack of lubrication kills it.

I do mine at 100k or when it starts to show some brown tint.

Got 3 vehicles, all with over 180k+ miles.

Owners manual says change fluids..Change fluids. 180,000 on my 99 Dakota shifts great and still burns the tires off.

I had the tranny let go in my 99 1500 4wd,......changed fluids, still puked,....the 94, same thing....basic problem with both was the torgue converter broke up and loaded up the tranny with ground up crap

i guess with a 4 wd you never pulled nothin with it ?
never got stuck?
never did nothing to warrent tranny trouble ?
there is always' something' that someone never
wants to say happen ,,happened!
anything can go bad, by the nature,
but to put the whole year ./ vehicle
in the trash is beyond realm
of reality and belief

I had a 98 5.9 ram, never had a problem with that truck then I purchased a 05 cummins 2500 the best truck Ive ever owned! pulls like a freight train.

My 2002 Ram 1500 with 360/auto has 278k on it and never had a lick of tranny trouble. I used to hear all the time that up through '02 the dodge transmissions were junk. I beg to differ. I do have the trans flushed about every 40k though. I'm a firm believer that's what keeps it alive. Great truck!!

My 95 was rebuilt under warranty, my 01 was in for trans work too under warrenty. Just traded it off at 70,000 miles & trans was not right. You has to put it in neutral to circulate, if it had been sitting for a few days or it would not go.
Have a 07 now, we will see how it is.

That is normal for Mopars. It has always taken a few seconds for the trans to go into gear from park.

I know, but this was more than a few seconds!

Pulling hard with the lock up converters would lead to converter clutch failure. That sent debris through the system and OD would fail.

I'm not sure if the problem would go away with regular servicing or if the converter clutches were simply too weak for heavy duty use.

I had a 2001 that as soon as it hit 60,000 miles it started giving me problems.Had to replace all 4 switches on the valve body and at about 70,000 had to replace the torque converter.Only ever pulled a trailer once with it.Never used overdrive unless i was at 55 or above either.But i know other people with over 100,000 miles and no problems what so ever.

For a stock truck they where all ok.. Any HP and the best one would be the 6 speed auto. Those came out what in 06?

My 05 has the old trans like a 727( I dont know what the new name is for it)and I pull a 24' enclosed with a B body in it and no problems.
It has 100k on it now.

I too find it hard to believe dodge gets such a rap for these trans.
YES they can do better and lost a lot of customers because of some failures, but in the early 80 chevy had the 700r4 and a dealer showed me a factory letter that stated they believed close to 100% failed before 50,000!!!!!! Then the chevy guys make such a deal about the dodge auto when maybe 15% have issues!!!
A shift kit will double the life of any dodge auto, in my opinion.

Any trans can have problems.Ive seen them go at 30,000 or last over 200,000.Doesnt matter what make or trans it is.

My 95 Ram had 300K on the stock trans when I sold it. Great truck.

The trans options got better? The poorly functioning overdrive on the auto and undersized NV3500 were two of he worst things Dodge did to handicap themselves with trucks. They had the look at that time for sure and a lot of folks jumped over only to be greeted with failure.

After my father's '94 and my '99 my plan was to never buy another new Dodge truck ever again.

A friend has a a Hemi R/T in the newest body style and it might make me change my mind. Of course, he got this after his 6.7L Cummins was traded out through the Lemon Laws.