It was a sad Saturday for me. I no longer own a
Cummins powered Dodge RAM. Traded it in for a new
GMC Yukon XL (Suburban) 3/4 ton 4x4. Basically I
needed more room for the family. Too bad DC does
not make a diesel powered Durango.
I did have an excellent owners experience though.
Not one trip to the dealer after the day I bought
it, and I had it for 15 months, total of over
23,000 miles. Not one squeak or rattle. No hint
of brake pull or steering pull. No funny noises
from the power steering. No water leaks from any
place in the cab. Excellent tire wear. Proably still had
10,000 miles left on the tires
(rotate them every 10,000!) Basically none of the usual common problems that I have read about here on the TDR.
I removed the Power Edge 3-light box and the
adjustable brass boost elbow (FOR SALE..see the
classifieds for more info..) and put the silencer
ring back in. The Autometer boost and pyro gauges
stayed in, and decided that it was too much of a
mess to remove the Mag Hytec rear cover
.
What a beautiful piece of aluminum that was..
Look under the
classifieds for more info on the Power Edge box.
I miss getting 17 MPG and filling up with diesel
that here in Houston was arond $1.30 to $1.50 per
gallon.
Someday I will get another CTD RAM, but it will not be a
3500 4x4. Probably a 2500 4x4 QC short bed with ETC 5spd or ETH-DEE.
Of course I will look forward to reading the posts
here and getting my TDR mag in the mail.
The high point of my Cummins experience was when
I towed my 25' Baja Outlaw from Conroe to Austin,
TX (the boat & trailer weigh about 6,000 lbs) and
got 13 MPG average on that tank, out and back on
the same tank of fuel. That was calculated by
dividing the gallons into the miles traveled. My
truck did not have the overhead console trip
computer. My new Yukon XL got 13 MPG..NOT towing
anything on the last tank of fuel. It has the big
8.1 liter (496 inch) 340 HP gasser in it. (I stole
the truck..got it for $6,500 below sticker price).
Truthfully, if the Suburban/Yukon XL were
avialable with the Duramax diesel, I would still
choose either the 6.0 or 8.1 gassers over it since
I don't like GM's choice of a Japanese diesel in
an American truck. But the fuel mileage would be
tempting.
Nuff said..see you guys on the road. Every time
I see a RAM that has Cummins Turbo Diesel on the
door I will have good memories.
*EDIT: All of the Amsoil stuff I had has been sold..
-Chris McKendry
Lake Conroe, TX
Gloom, despair, agony on me..
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