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Tow vehicle replaced.

Cojohnso1

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I had to replace my 2003 Ram 3500 tow vehicle with Red 2007 3500. My 5.9 diesel seized. The 07 has 6.7. My poor 03 had a tough life. Although not a whole lot of miles (Little over 100k) They were hard miles. (4 trips over Colorado mountains to Vegas towing 32' 14K lb trailer.) To just name a few duties.

I race Mopars thus in case Chrysler happens to be watching? A Ram truck would be prudent. (Although I have not seen any evidence of a Power Stroke or Duramax advantage. In fact, possibly less desirable.) The 2007's life should be less stressful. Though it will have some heavy towing duties. Nothing like in the beginning. I also now have better diesel experience. My 03 motor failure was certainly part owner's fault!

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My 05 has 158k with no mechanical issues. But I had a left front tire blow out, and it ripped out all of the wiring and fusebox. I hope to get it repaired soon. It is the best tow vehicle I ever owned.
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My 2003 3500 (100K miles) was the best tow vehicle I've owned. Sold it to another racer in 2010.Still being used to tow..My neighbor has a 2004 2500 with 251,000 HARD miles.Him and his kids beat the crap out of that truck and it just keeps on going.
 
I had to replace my 2003 Ram 3500 tow vehicle with Red 2007 3500. My 5.9 diesel seized. The 07 has 6.7. My poor 03 had a tough life. Although not a whole lot of miles (Little over 100k) They were hard miles. (4 trips over Colorado mountains to Vegas towing 32' 14K lb trailer.) To just name a few duties.

I race Mopars thus in case Chrysler happens to be watching? A Ram truck would be prudent. (Although I have not seen any evidence of a Power Stroke or Duramax advantage. In fact, possibly less desirable.) The 2007's life should be less stressful. Though it will have some heavy towing duties. Nothing like in the beginning. I also now have better diesel experience. My 03 motor failure was certainly part owner's fault!

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Dang....what caused it to seize? My 97 has 140k but it too has had a lot of trailer duty but man, something had to be wrong with it? When I was still working, I was the only one in the machine shop on the evening shift and one of my many duties was loading and unloading trucks that came in late and a lot of them did. They were mosting Dodge 3500's with at least 300k and a few with 500k and more. Lot of them were usually flat beds and pulling goosenecks in hot shot service.

My 05 has 158k with no mechanical issues. But I had a left front tire blow out, and it ripped out all of the wiring and fusebox. I hope to get it repaired soon. It is the best tow vehicle I ever owned. View attachment 767248 View attachment 767244 View attachment 767245View attachment 767246
I hate steel belted radials....and I'm running the same tire....an all terrain T/A? And mine are getting old but being kept in the garage all the time, they still look pretty good. How many miles did that tire have on it? The ones that gave me the most grief were Generals and had 3 of them do that crap. Finally filed a damage claim, got paid and never used another of their crap tires.
 
My began with a knock in the lower end. And it quickly escalated to heavy knock then seize. I was able to see head was getting oil with pressure. But obviously bottom end (I'm guess rod bearing) was not. The neglect was the truck had not been started for 3 months. Enduring some bitter cold conditions. Even with block heater. (Which that may have failed.)

I still have truck. And if time permitting I would like to tear down and see what happened. But pulling a diesel out just for forensics may not happen. Either way. I was dead in the water. So replacement truck was warranted.

I am saddened by the loss. And cost. But season is already here. And time is always the true enemy.
 
The tires were four years old,probably had 40k miles on them. I had purchased a new set of wheels and tires off a 2018 Ram, but I took them off for the winter and put the old wheels and tires back on. I would have been better to leave the new ones on and let the salt ruin the wheels, it will cost a lot more than what I paid for them to fix the electrical damage! The first photo shows the truck with the old wheels, the second photo shows the truck with the new wheels, and the third photo shows the new wheels tucked away safely in the garage!
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But what was learned? The big boys need scheduled maintenance. It's not like a daily 1500. If you hear a break beginning to squeal? It's too late. And these damn Minnesota winters only makes it worse. Especially for a diesel. My 03 loved the heat. I towed total weight of 22k lbs in the Nevada desert. And it thrived. But hated the cold. Anything -5 or less? Not worth starting until it got above zero. This truck will get better treatment. Including a shelter cover.

The 07 is from Arkansas. So has only seen very little snow. And certainly not brutal cold.
 
Keep in mind that if you have a blowout on the front of a Dodge truck, the only thing between the shredding tire and your wiring is a cheap plastic wheel well liner. The fusebox and wiring harness are on the drivers side, and the trucks computer and wiring harness are on the passengers side.
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Good to know. I never thought of that. Both the 03 and 07 have brand new tires. I now own $3000 worth of truck tires. I haven’t figured out how to keep the new tires from the 03 as yet. Another hassle with duallies is tire rotation.

And the reason I purchased this truck out of Arkansas was it has a manual 6 speed. Like the 03. I believe the trans are the same. But I'll bet my next bar tab the input shafts. And even tail sections are different?
 
I wish you good luck with your new truck, I had to buy another truck too,but to get a diesel would have cost me 40k for a newer version of the one I had used. New ones are 60k plus. So I bought this 2014 5.7 Hemi Ram 1500 4x4.
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This is my race trailer. 88 Phoenix. All steel frame and flooring. 32' at 10,000 lbs (with no car.) Generator, compressor, 75 gal water tank with pump.

I was at a friend's gathering when an acquaintance pulled up with a one ton Nissan Titan. It looked nice with its new knob tires. And he was quickly able to explain his toy. A 9600 lb tow package. He saw my big Dodge and announced how he would whip the Dodge with its training wheels. (That's what he called duallies) I smiled and took a sip of my beer and said. "Its a nice truck." "A nice toy" He got aggravated and I said "Settle down snappy. Here is a picture of my trailer that the truck's duty is to haul. Your Titan is not rated to move my trailer let alone haul anything. Anywhere. If you still don't believe me? We can hookup my logging chain to the trucks. And I can pull you around the neighborhood?" "So have fun in the dirt. And leave the work to the real trucks!" Needless to say. He didn't like me. And my friends were laughing their butts off. He declined the pull contest.

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Service, service and service is key to all vehicles. My 2004 Dodge 2500 5.9 diesel is at 298K and still strong as new. Oil and filter every 5000, fuel filter every other oil change. Transmission service every 30K, yes it's never had to be rebuilt. I have refreshed the rear end lube twice and at 300K I will do again. It got a K&N air filter at the first oil change and its cleaned every other oil change. Rotors are original and have never been turned, although that may be coming for the front at the next brake service. Interior is showing signs of wear and the usual chips in the exterior paint. It's a Laramie so interior is leather. No wear on the carpet due to very good slush mats when new. Maintenance wise, 1 left front hub bearing and front suspension was just rebuilt. Also had to replace a hanging LR caliper about 100K miles ago. Almost forgot I have the overhead (valve adjustment) done every 50K. Best daily driver, tow vehicle, and all around truck I have ever owned. I will drive it till the wheels fall off or a major catastrophe happens.
 
I wish you good luck with your new truck, I had to buy another truck too,but to get a diesel would have cost me 40k for a newer version of the one I had used. New ones are 60k plus. So I bought this 2014 5.7 Hemi Ram 1500 4x4.View attachment 767321 View attachment 767322
Nice truck. If it only needs open trailer towing duties? Plenty of truck. And more practical for home duties. I bought a 14 Cadillac XTS last year as my daily driver. I was very tempted on a short box hemi.
 
I bet your also liking the quieter engine too! I went from a 05 2500 last year to a 14 3500 single wheel. Plus I don't miss shifting gears anymore.
 
Yeah. I fear the automatic trans. (I'm guessing it's old school prejudice.) My 6 speed manual handled all towing duties like a champ. Including chugging up a 7° mountain incline at 22,700 lbs. 3rd/4th gear was the best I could do at 33 MPH. The big rigs at full loads struggled even more. No idea how an automatic would adjust.

What the truck didn't like was the temp and elevation swings. Started at 50°. Went to -°18 at top of mountain. Motor sputtered awhile down the mountain to 36° degrees in Denver. Then was happy again.

I'm hoping those days are behind me. But one never knows.
 
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I bet your also liking the quieter engine too! I went from a 05 2500 last year to a 14 3500 single wheel. Plus I don't miss shifting gears anymore.
05 is noisy?? Have you ever driven an early 12 valve lol. Sometimes the noise they make is a Godsend as sometimes conversations can last way too long when sitting in the driveway and trying to leave! :D
 
The plan is to get my 05 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 diesel back in running condition and use it to do my heavy towing, and use the 1500 4x4 Ram for the lighter towing and daily driving duties. I have always done the maintenance on my diesel, oil changes every 5 to 6 thousand miles, with either Shell Rotella,or Valvoline Cummins formulated oil,and Wix filters,Wix fuel filters with every other oil change, and transmission fluid and filter change, with only Mopar ATF 4 fluid every 25 to 30 thousand miles. Fluids and filters are much cheaper than rebuilding engines and transmissions.
 
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