I'm currently looking at buying a 95 cummins with 4x4 that has 290xxx miles on it. I am mainly concerned about the automatic transmission, the owner said they had troubles in the past with it shifting into second; however he said he took it to the tranny shop and got it fixed. Any tips or pointers on what to listen or look for when I go to test drive it tomorrow would be awesome, thanks.

 

just read this post; the trannys are a little mushy without the torque converter and valve body upgrades. If you are not sure if it has the good converter, pull the 4 7/16 bolts on the inspection cover at the bellhousing and see if the nuts are welded to the converter or machined into it. Also, every aftermarket tranny place paints theirs a certain color; my stock one was black, ATS is purple, my suncoast has a drain plug threaded, ect. Good luck, these are TOUGH rigs!!

 

My advice is to look elsewhere for a 5 speed truck or buy a 5 speed conversion for it......problem solved.

 

Agreed, but a 12 valve with a 5 speed is getting hard to find. If the price is right, budget $4K for a better trans and you will have a great truck. I hated my auto for over 150K until I had it built up. Now it is alot of fun to drive and pull with.

 

Yes the stock trany leaves alot to be desired, but a properly built one is very nice. If you dont get crazy with the power mods a shift kit will help alot. The 95 is a great truck I love mine.

 

the 95 12v fails on two of the most important factors when buying a used vehicle.

1. Miles... look for a 12v under 120k miles. there is no substitute for low miles. the 12v cummins motor may be good for 500k miles, but rest of the truck will need maintenance like any other truck.

2. 5sp is first choice over auto... much easier and cheaper to beef up clutch vs a tranny. for some reason dodge decided 3/4 ton pickups didn't need manual tyranny and put most 5sp in one tons.

if you have the time... keep looking on craigslist... you will find a low mileage 12v cummins with 5sp. icing on the cake would be 4x4 and extra cab.

took me almost two years of looking... scored a 96 12v 4x4 5sp extra cab with 67k miles. sold my 97 12v 4x4 auto with 130k miles for $9,700... had several folks all wanting to buy it at the same time.