Dodge Ram 1500: Need the truth about the trannies!

[Ben Fishin']

I have been told by a friend about a 2001 or 2002 Ram 1500 (5.2L) that has been babied by a good owner. I am needing to act on a truck soon, but need to hear the truth about the transmissions. Is there just a certain few bad ones? To hear folks around here, you would think that Chrysler just never got that part right. For instance, "sure, I'd get a Ram...if the transmission weren't made of rubber bands!" (most recent)


Thanks!

[adchunts]

Ben, I think most of the troubles Dodge had with transmissions were on the diesel trucks. I would not be too worried about the gas rigs.

BTW, I had a 2001 Dodge Ram 4X4 extended cab with the 5.2 liter engine. It was a 5-speed, though. Still got terrible gas mileage (13-14 highway).....

[oldbasser1]

Ben,I have a 2007 and pull a 21 ft.Skeeter all over the NE and never had a problem

[bonzter]

I've got a 2000 model that has been used probably 65% of its life pulling a boat and have never had a problem with it.

[LookOutForShoals]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by adchunts &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ben, I think most of the troubles Dodge had with transmissions were on the diesel trucks. I would not be too worried about the gas rigs.

BTW, I had a 2001 Dodge Ram 4X4 extended cab with the 5.2 liter engine. It was a 5-speed, though. Still got terrible gas mileage (13-14 highway)..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dodge has fixed a lot of there tranny issues because they had to, we were a mopar family and after going through 10 trannys on 3 vehicles we are now chevy and ford people. LOL, But chrysler in general had problems with all auto trannys I have seen them go out of everything for a small car to dakota, and rams. Luckily most of those were from the 80's thru the 90's they seem to have it worked out now from what I have seen.

[vaskeet]

I have a 98 1500 auto (180000 miles ) and a 2006 2500 diesel auto (63000 miles) no problems I think most of the tranny failures are on modified trucks IE big tires/rims Randy

[astrehle]

had a '96 that had to get a rebuilt at about 100K.
Now I have a '04 that acts like it will need one in the near future.

when I say it outloud it makes me to start to think it's me that is the problem....

[Mike Long]

The 96 and 97 were the ones with the most problems..

[dinkman]

had an 01 ram with the 5.9, never a problem with the tranny but the rear end went out a couple months after i got it. the gas mileage is what killed that truck for me, used to go through a full tank going to the river and back. 1 1/2 hours one way trip at 60 mph average= expensive to go for long distance.

[chefdave]

I have the 2001 1500, I just put a new tranny in mine a month or so ago, but the truck did have 129,000 miles on it too. In all honesty, even though I had to replace the tranny, it's the best truck I have ever owned.

[stratos976]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike long &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The 96 and 97 were the ones with the most problems..</TD></TR></TABLE>

Pre '98 were the ones w/ the most problems, '98 was better than earlier models, still a few had some issues...It's like most things, Dodge had problems off and on from about '94-'97 and thats enough for everyone to say that all their tranny's are junk..

The biggest issue was with a valve/relief causing the pumps tear up in the tranny. I have a '98 1500 5.9L 4x4 that I bought in '99 w/ 14,000 miles on it @ about 20,000 the transmission went out (no 1st gear) warranty covered it and the transmission shop explained what hadbeen going on w/ the dodge transmissions, Chrysler and aftermarket companys took care of the problem by fixing the valve...

Most of the trucks if they were going to have a problem due to the defect, had it early in their life..

My '98 now has 207,000 miles on it and it is still what I use to tow my stratos wherever I want to go....

Just keep up w/ the service your tranny and it should treat you right, find a shop that can do a flush when they change the fluid/filter... I know the BG products are good and the BG tranny service pumps out all your old fluid and puts all new in..If you just drop the pan you only change 6-7 qts of fluid, and your tranny holds about 13