Dodge Truck Info????

[jmm]

Im looking at 03 Dodge with the HEMI...What kind of gas mileage will I see?
Any other problems with these trucks????
This is a 2500 ST 75,000 miles.

[soupersonic]

If its a 4x4 check the ball joints real good , i know they had some problems early like 02-04 with them going out early, and the factory ones arent greasable.The good news is that they finally came out with an aftermarket replacement that is greasable. Other than that they are great trucks. Mines a diesel so i cant comment on the gas mileage for a hemi

[mac28]

I have an '04 1500 with a hemi. I get around 14 mpg.

[all charged up]

I have an 03 2500 4x4 4d with a hemi. I get about 10 mpg in town. I have a heavy foot though :devil: .
I bought it new and it has about 40,500 miles on it now. Only problem I ever had was a recall. It was flashing the anti lock brake light in the dash display and sometimes the air would not work. Turned out that the wiring harness in the steering column was shorting out and the recall fixed it.
Pulling my 25' Daytona I get about 9 mpg, again heavy foot. Pulling from Phoenix to Parker at about 80 mph.
All stock so far but looking into an airbag lift and some bigger tires soon. Maybe chip and exhaust too. Will depend on income tax return. :sqeyes: :sqeyes:
all in all and awesome truck. :p

[Boozer]

How do the trannies hold up to the Hemi in the long run? In my Durango the 5.9 killed the tranny at 80K. I'd like to say it was due to towing but I only towed about 3K of the 80K miles.
After that and my fathers 4.7 taking a sh*t at 25K miles I'd have a hard time buying another Dodge product. Not to mention the service that I and my father have both gotten from Dodge have been far below par when dealing with warantee and service issues.

[all charged up]

My Dodge guy is a ***boater. I get great service there.

[CA Stu]

Im looking at 03 Dodge with the HEMI...What kind of gas mileage will I see?
Any other problems with these trucks????
This is a 2500 ST 75,000 miles.
12 mpg
At 75k miles, I hope you didn't pay a fortune. That's a hell of a lot of miles for an '03.
Cheers
CA Stu <-- picking up my SRT Ram Monday am

[Outnumbered]

My 2004 Durango Hemi 4x4 gets 15 around town, 17 on long trips, and between 10 and 11 towing the 24 Ultra. I've got 17,000 miles and I would say near half of those are towing. The tranny and all is fine but did spring a leak that was covered under warranty.
I would say that the tranny on that truck is near done. I would not expect to get much more out of it. The problem is that they did not put the diesel (HD) tranny behind the Hemi to the best of my knowledge. The tranny is the weak link. The only good auto that Dodge has is the one behind the new Cummins diesels.

[SoCalKev]

12 mpg
At 75k miles, I hope you didn't pay a fortune. That's a hell of a lot of miles for an '03.
Cheers
CA Stu <-- picking up my SRT Ram Monday am
yeah, with that mileage i would hope for a great price!

[jmm]

I didn't buy the truck yet. I have been looking at Chevys with the 6.0 liter. I would never even have considered a Dodge however I drove this 03 and couldn't believe the BALLS it had compared to the Chevy. :messedup: :sleeping:
The Dodge is priced at $15,000....If the transmission was to go I have a hook up on a rebiuld for the cost of the kit.
Nice trucks here in New York state are very hard to find. This is a qaud cab with a long box.
http://images.autotrader.com/images/2005/10/18/189/652/1884611263.189652975.IM1.05.565x421_A.562x421.jpg

[goneboatin]

If you're looking at Chevys with a 6.0, then you're probably looking at a 1500HD or 2500HD, both of those have the heavy duty 4L80E transmission in them. I've got 6.0 in my truck and the engine was a dog until I got custom computer tune by Wester's (http://westers_garage.eidnet.org/Index2.htm) . It was day and night. I still can't break the tires loose (running 305/50/20's) unless it's wet out, but once out of 1st gear, it pulls like a bat out of hell.
Mileagewise I get 11.5 -12.5 in town, on the highway if I keep it around 70 I got almost 16, cruising 80-85 mph I get about 14. Towing at 70-75mph about 11.5.
I've never heard anyone complaining about the GM transmissions like they do about Dodge trannys.
Just my $0.02.
GB

[Creator]

I've got a 149k miles on my dodge and never had a problem. When the truck was new I pulled an 8k lbs racecar trailer with it, putting about 75k miles on it. It's lifted with 35's, my truck has had a hard life but it's still running all the original gear and not one rebuild yet. I Love this truck! I didn't regear the truck after the lift and tires so my millage sucks but it still pulled that trailer like a champ.

[jmm]

Are 373 common in these trucks? I think thats what it has.

[Outnumbered]

The Hemi is focking strong. Stock for stock, it blows away any Cheby truck I have owned (I have bought 3 brand new). Offer him $13k and bank $2k for the tranny when it goes.

[79Challenger]

Are 373 common in these trucks? I think thats what it has.
373 ci? It is actually 345 ci. One campain I remember..."One horse for every inch".
I have an '04 qc with a hemi. I love the truck. Wasn't super thrilled in the beginning. Afeter 20k miles or so I heard of an ecu reflash for the trans. Wow! It feels like a different truck. I get around 12-14 around town. I can see 18-20 on the freeway, but usually around 16. With the boat behind me (small jet) the overhead says 9-10, but I swear I end up at the river with more gas than when I don't have the boat.
15k for finance sounds okay. Cash? 12k all day.

[79Challenger]

Are 373 common in these trucks? I think thats what it has.
ahh... just hit me. Gears! Those are what I have. I believe they have 3.55, 3.73 (3.75?), and 3.95.
I just get nosed out by the chevy ss. I think the 3.95 would put me there.

[pleasantcat]

My Dodge guy is a ***boater. I get great service there.
thanks bud i try!!
to answer the questions...
hemi's are cool if you own a gas station. if your going to pull a boat buy a cummins,stroke or the gm/isuzu. i hear guys all day long asking how to increase their mileage. my reply is buy a nissan. the hemi was built to give the 1500's more pep and appeal to the muscle car minded crowed.
tranny problems are all but gone. sucks for me as im a parts guy and get paid on parts sold...but great for owners. little problems pop up but not the major failures we saw in the mid to late 90's. ball joints are an issue in other lines but not the rams. durango is the only one with a recall for that. and my powerstroke doesnt have greasable joints either so...

[÷קmᮆښ×÷]

i didn't want to read all the post before i posted so if this has already been said I'm sorry... I will never buy a Dodge again .... i have a Ram and have gone through 4 trannys in less than a year and all have happened with under 90K the front ends are pieces of shit the ball joints suck ass the breaks suck and OH ya the real question the mileage well i dont know about you but i expect to get more than 200 miles out of 25 gallons of fuel.....ok sorry for the rant but i cant stand mine its for sale if you wanna buy it lol

[Outnumbered]

i didn't want to read all the post before i posted so if this has already been said I'm sorry... I will never buy a Dodge again .... i have a Ram and have gone through 4 trannys in less than a year and all have happened with under 90K the front ends are pieces of shit the ball joints suck ass the breaks suck and OH ya the real question the mileage well i dont know about you but i expect to get more than 200 miles out of 25 gallons of fuel.....ok sorry for the rant but i cant stand mine its for sale if you wanna buy it lol
Sounds like you have a pre 2002. This is all common stuff for the older Dodges. Daimler Benz is involved now and the quality is way way up. I had a 2003 Cummins 2500 4x4, a 2002 Durango 4.7 4x4, and a 2004 Durango 5.7 4x4. All have been solid and more reliable than any of my Chebys.

[NOTALENT]

i didn't want to read all the post before i posted so if this has already been said I'm sorry... I will never buy a Dodge again .... i have a Ram and have gone through 4 trannys in less than a year and all have happened with under 90K the front ends are pieces of shit the ball joints suck ass the breaks suck and OH ya the real question the mileage well i dont know about you but i expect to get more than 200 miles out of 25 gallons of fuel.....ok sorry for the rant but i cant stand mine its for sale if you wanna buy it lol
Guess Im lucky...I have a 1997 ram1500 5.9 with 162k plenty of towing miles on it. only problem I had was the rear end went out at about 90k. Now unfortunatley my tranny just took a shit as of friday...Good thing im in the business but its still going to hurt... :burningm:

[HocusPocus]

my wifes brother has a 97 dodge dakota with the 318.. all original with over 300,000 miles and it still runs great but the trans is starting to slip. :D
i bought an '05 1500 quad cab hemi 4X and i love that little truck.. i use to be a chevy guy and even owned a couple fords still got one of each in my back yard.. but im sold on dodge! around town im getting around 12 mpg and on the highway 15 mpg.. sometimes more.. but only a little more.

[19cobaltcd]

I have a 96 Ram 1/2 ton with the 360. Bought it new, now has 95,000 miles. Havent done anything but change the oil and put gas in. Towed my 6500 lb Airsrteam to the lake, I'd go back home, get the boat, go back out, then reverse it all on sunday. Did have the tranny flushed out and filter changed at 50,000 but would reccommend that truck to anyone.

[BrendellaJet]

Not sure if this has been said yet, my 03 has the allison tranny though.
Mileage sucks. I drive mostly highway, average 14-15. Ever since 3k miles I've heard an annoying ticking sound that I cannot locate. Brought to the dealer twice to fix and got a BS "thats normal". Stay away from foothill ranch dodge-they do terrible service.
Good truck overall. Hauls ass, does good break stands. Handles decent for a big truck.

[Outnumbered]

Not sure if this has been said yet, my 03 has the allison tranny though.
Mileage sucks. I drive mostly highway, average 14-15. Ever since 3k miles I've heard an annoying ticking sound that I cannot locate. Brought to the dealer twice to fix and got a BS "thats normal". Stay away from foothill ranch dodge-they do terrible service.
Good truck overall. Hauls ass, does good break stands. Handles decent for a big truck.
Dodge does not have the Allison, that would be Chevy/D-max.

[dropt98chevy]

Not sure if this has been said yet, my 03 has the allison tranny though.
Mileage sucks. I drive mostly highway, average 14-15. Ever since 3k miles I've heard an annoying ticking sound that I cannot locate. Brought to the dealer twice to fix and got a BS "thats normal". Stay away from foothill ranch dodge-they do terrible service.
Good truck overall. Hauls ass, does good break stands. Handles decent for a big truck.
Most likely the ticking noise your refering to is normal because about 75% of them make it and mine has been making it for around 21k miles now with no problems.
I have a 2004 1500 Quad Cab Hemi and average 12-13mpg street and heading to the river averaging 75 I get a hair under 20mpg. I haven't had any problems with the truck. Hasn't been back to the dealer for any warranty work. So who wants to buy it from me? LOL

[jmm]

The truck has the 4.10 ratio. I hope that doesn't kill the gas to bad......... :messedup:

[gqchris]

I have an '04 qc with a hemi. I love the truck. Wasn't super thrilled in the beginning. Afeter 20k miles or so I heard of an ecu reflash for the trans. Wow! It feels like a different truck. I
HEy Challenger,
I have the same truck as you and saw your post on the ECU reflash? I love the truck but hate the sluggish tranny! Is this an aftermarket product or did you take it to the dealer? Thanks for the info!!! !!!
Chris

[dropt98chevy]

HEy Challenger,
I have the same truck as you and saw your post on the ECU reflash? I love the truck but hate the sluggish tranny! Is this an aftermarket product or did you take it to the dealer? Thanks for the info!!! !!!
Chris
You go to the dealer for it. It doesn't make the tranny shift harder or nothing but it is supposed to keep the tranny from wondering gears in tow/haul mode but most people that have had it done get firmer shifts and lost about 3 tenthes off the 1/4 mile time.

[HM]

The airconditioning problems that the dodge trucks have has to do with vaccuum, or lack of it. The controls are actuated by vaccuum. When the vaccuum cannister runs out of vaccuum, the lack of vaccuum makes the controls turn off the A/C. We chased this problem in two different dodges I owned and stumbled upon it when both the A/C and the cruise control acted like they turned off at the same time.
This usually happens when sticking you foot in it for a long while and not bringing up the RPM like on a bit of a grade, but not a big enough grade to cause the vehicle to down shift. When this happens, there is no vaccuum being generated as the throttle body is wide open, therefore the vaccuum canister is not able to replace an vaccuum that is used up. After we figured it out, when it would happen, I would let off the gas a bit to recharge the vaccuum or downshift if I did not want to slow down and the A/C would come right back on. It was annoying as hell in my 4x4 1500 with the 360 as that thing was a slug and I always had my foot in it.
I don't know if they still have that problem, but if you have a dodge with that problem, try letting off the gas!

[Nate56]

If you want to know anything about dodge's try Dodgetruckworld.com Good site..Look for me on it..

[CA Stu]

The truck has the 4.10 ratio. I hope that doesn't kill the gas to bad......... :messedup:
My 05 Quad Cab Dodge that I picked up yesterday only gets about 9.7mpg if I keep my foot out of it.
Of course, that may be because it has the V-10 Viper motor. And a blower.
Wheeeee!
CA Stu

[stvneil]

:smile: a friend of mine just traded in his 05 1/2 ton dodge with a hemi. he had 15000 miles, they gave him $15,500 trade on a gmc.