2002 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins - share experiences?

[Beagle]

I've run across a Ram 2500 / 24v Cummins / 47RE truck that I'm kind of interested in and wondering if anybody here has any tidbits of wisdom regarding them.. According to the owner it has new ball joints, shocks, tires.. a lot of the same junk I just don't feel like doing or don't really have time to do to my F250 right now to make it safe one more time. I did some preliminary research on them and most of the parts seem not too unreasonable (turbo, transmission, that sort of thing) Anyway, fire away!

Dan Stokes, that means you. lol.

[Krampus]

I had an 01, I loved it but I just didn't use it enough to justify having it. The motor is great but the injector pump is suspect. It's a vp44 and during that time they changed from lead solder to a non lead. They had problems with bad connections in which case you have to have another one( read non-serviceable by you). Also the lift pumps were subject to failing and would starve the pump and burn it up. A place called blue chip has a whole thing on the vp44's good read. The 4x4 steering is not very good but can be fixed. I don't know about the auto trans because mine was a 5 speed. I really never did anything to mine and it always did what I asked it to do. Also I did replace the brake line from front to back because of corrosion and leaking.It was cheap though. I had it for about 5 years and I just sold it this year.

[Barry Donovan]

I can only pay attention to my locale.(I love diesels). If there is a weakness it fades away in northern maine.

12v cummins, in bent dangling twisted.. still out there. Standard is the choice.

in my dads rich coastal kinda place.. first I ever saw of the 24v on a routine.
The hill at my dads place (rte 1a - maine), you sure know when a 24v comes through,(not common). It's like a gaint bumble bee as a diesel, and does not have to shift..even loaded.
they make the same noise going down the hill as up.

I blame automatics.

that is a way to get to know what you want, pay attention to your location. My unusual scenario to catch on is enough for its own journalism.

[tardis454]

My buddy has a couple Cummins trucks. One is an 01 6spd, the other is an 02 automatic, both are 4x4's. Chrysler had problems with #53 block castings up to 01. I'm pretty sure by 02 the block problem was resolved. 40-something anything trannys suck. Chrysler can't build an automatic trans to save it's ass. My buddy had to replace the trans in the auto truck at around 100k. 4x4 trucks can get death wobble like Jeeps. They use basically the same track-bar and trailing arm front suspension except much bigger. The door bottoms rot out in rust belt states. They used foam seam sealer in the body seams. The foam holds moisture and causes the body seams and the door bottoms to rot. Mechanically the trucks are pretty stout. They used Dana 44, 60, 70, 80 and 9.25 Chrysler corp axles. V10 gas trucks share parts with Cummins trucks. As mentioned by Krampus there are some issues with injection pumps and lift pumps. My buddy replaced the lift and injection pumps already on his 01. It wasn't a bad job to do, but it was expensive...

[Huskinhano]

Beags, it's going to be as reliable as any 15 YO truck. Every brand is going to have their strong points and weak points. In the end it's all money.

[Beagle]

I wound up chickening out on the Dodge and bought an 08 F250 regular cab long bed that rides about like every other twin I -beam I've had... Rough. 650 ft - lbs makes me grin a little though. I'm not sure what I have against comfort. Probably the payment. The 02 was 6500, the 08 was 8k. I decided on newer.

[DanStokes]

Shoulda bought the Dodge. I LOVE mine but I could have saved myself some heartburn if I'd immediately replaced the lift pump with a Fass and the the converter with the Banks billet unit. From there on they're TOUGH. I'm learning from the Van that the twin I-bean set up wanders and my Dodge doesn't.

Cummins did have some issues with the blocks in that era (I reblocked one of our dyno engines) but ant that are still in service at this point are more than likely fine. Mine had has ZERO engine issues and I don't baby it.

Dan