I owned a 2003 Dodge Reg cab 4x4 diesel.
- It had wheel bearings replaced twice under 40,000km (manufacture problems not Dodges fault).
- Had Ball joints done twice first at 30,000km and then again at 55,000km Bith due to manufactures faults.
- Had injector problems all along with that truck, we finally found the problem was with bad corroded connectors from bad workmanship and poor practices.
- Replaced Injection pump as a percautionary due to injector problems.
- Replaced the tranny at 70,000 because the mechanic did not tighten fluid cooler lines up.
2005 Ram 3500 Truck had 240,000km I had a problem with front wheel bearings. replaced them at the above km, to have them fail within 300km and then again. No warrenty on the bearings. But found out later that the manufacturer did not install enough grease in them so the prematurely wore out.
Other then that no problems.
2012 Ram 3500.
- Had emissions problems from day one. Deleted truck at 70,000 km or so and no engine problems since. now have 180,000km
- replaced brakes all around with rotors at 60,000km due to wear from not using them enough. (using the turbo brake all the time with very little brake use causes the sliders to rust and jam up)
- replaced front axle u jonts and bearings at 170,000km.
- replaced all axle u joints at 175,000 had rear diff input seal replaced. as it was wet.
All of my trucks are driven hard. lots of off road, stuck in the mud, towing yanking, pulling. I dont expect wear items on a truck to last for ever. especially if you subject them to extreme driving. Such as mud water emmersion along with matting the throttle every where you go.
The last time I seen my 2003 Dodge was in Cold Lake it had 480,000km or so on the clock. The guy had tranny work done when he first got it from auction. The tranny was built to handle power. It hit a bit hard going into gear. The local dealership said it was bad. so he had the tranny rebuilt. Other wise all he did was regular oil changes.
Buy a Dodge and be happy. I have driven for work all the big 3 and they all have the same reliability. They all break down, and they all have similar issues.
I choose to stay with Dodge as my personal vehicle because I know how to work on them and their small issues already. They have a Manual transmission.
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