Looking at picking up a 600/325 4.5 truck in the next couple of days. Looking at a Quad Cab, 4X4, six speed. There are two that I have to pick from. Should I drive both back to back & get the one that seems stronger, or won't I be able to tell the differance? Should I check the truck & engine build dates & get the later one? What shoud be the earliest build date that would be acceptable? When did they get the milage issues worked out of the 600/325?

I also posted this in the 'no drive train' section & could not figure out how to move it here. Sorry for the double post!

 

1st thing I would check for is the one that doesn't vibrate at 70 mph or 2000 rpm's.

 

one that doesn"t have the vib & the one that gets the best milage, drive both on the same route and see which one gets the best mileage,,u would have to rest the over head computer before starting the test drive,, another way would be to get on the highway at cruising speed and reset it then, that way u would know which one gets the best mileage,,there seems to be a large mileage variation between each truck,,so i would buy the one that gets the best mileage,,i got lucky,,got a good one,,but several,,,,l people in this forum are crying the blues about poor mileage,,oh,,,i get good mileage,,but i have the vib it"s not that noticeable to a untrained ear, but if u are looking for it u will hear it,,comes and goea every 2 or three seconds,,,good luck!

 

How do you reset the milage computer?

 

thought u would ask that!,,,,,,I have some things to do,,I"ll be back in about 1/2 hr and expain it to u

 

Push the "Step" button until it is reading avg mpg, then push the "Reset" button.

I wouldn't buy neccessarily based on build dates alone, like was said above, drive them both back to back and see which one is better. Drive the same route on the same day so that the condititions are as close to identical as possible. If you can, get them up to 75 to see if they've got the vibes, you'll know it if they do.

FWIW, I just got a new one with May build dates and it gets great mileage and absolutley no vibes whatsoever. I feel very lucky with this one. The one I traded for it had Jan build dates and got 12-13 mpg and vibed like crazy. Luck of the draw I guess, but build dates are worth noting.

Good Luck!

 

my build date is 5/04 also,,i get great mileage( 19 t0 21 hyw)but i got the vib. dam! didn"t even notice it till i heard about it in this forum,,then when i was listening for it,,i heard it! on a recent trip to new york my buddie was driving and i was trying to get some sleep in the back seat,,with my ear on the seat i could hear the drive shaft vibrate ,,seems to start at the front and go back, then start at the front again,,it"s a strong vibration,,if it doesn"t do any damage to the diff or tranny over time,,i"ll eat my shorts!,,my buddie never noticed it!
anyways,,getting back to the subject! there are four buttons on the overhead,,2 buttons to the right of the display and 2 buttoms to the left of it,,,,,,what u need to find is ,,avg eco,,,,,,,that would be in small letters under the latest average miles figure,,example 14.6mpg,,,,,,,,,to find that display u would press the 3rd button from the right,,that would be fist buton to the right of the display window, keep pushing and releasing it untill the window i discribe d displays,,the average mileage will probably be low, because of the truck being moved around the lot,,don"t worry about that!,,now the reset button is the 2nd buttton from the left, before u start the truck,,press the reset button,, the display should read 00.0 mpg,, if u get that far,,u have it made!,,drive thru the city and that will give u a glue what kind city milege it gets,,keep in mind,,when u first take off the milege will be very low untill u reach cruising speed,, then the average miles will jump up fast,,then take it out on the interstate,,when u get up to the speed limit ,,hit the reset button again( 2nd button from the left)stay at the speed limit for about five miles,,don"t be gunning it to see how much power it has,,just do a steady speed( i like 68 mph.),,,there ya going! i would pick the one that gives the best highway milege, and I"m thinking that should be over 17 miles per gallon,,,, mine got 19 ,,,however i didn"t know any of this untill after i bought it! got lucky,,except for the 70 mph vib. so,,I"m just gonna keep it a 68 mph untill i here of a sure fix! good luck,,let me know how u do!,,,,and sorry for ramlin on, I'm trying to break myself of that habit!

 

Hey Ed, looks like we have the same build dates and get about the same mileage too... coincidence? Although I just noticed that you have the auto... great numbers with that configuration. The vibe must have something to do with the SWB... my first 04.5 was a SWB and had it bad. There are members here with the vibe on LWB's but not many by comparison. Maybe it's the angle of the driveshaft? I just read a thread where a guy had his yoke swapped out and it cured it... may be worth looking into. Check it out... https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=49633

 

yeah,,i get good milege once the torqe converter is locked up,at about 50mph,,ur probably getting better than i am before that, not that it"s that bad, but u know,,auto tranny slippage!,,that drive shaft really vibrates ,,like a guitar string!,,,,,,,,,i seen that about the yoke,,other people said other things fixed it also, but then again some guys can"t get rid of it know matter what they do,,and sometimes when the dealers mess with it ,,it gets worse!
did u sell ur other truck? or did dodge buy it back?
I"m not sure what I"m going to do yet,,,,,u would think with all the trucks out there that vib. dodge would do something about it!,,,maybe they are just going to let the problem go on & on like they did with the junk trans they had in the rams from 94 till 2002, seems a shame that a big company like that can"t get on this stuff,,
thanks for ur advice biggrigg, i apriciate it,,i should have been smart , like mark hodo and did some receach before i bought it!

 

I called the dealer recently about my 2k RPM vibe and spoke directly with their "Cummins" mechanic. (this guy has got to be the best there is. He does all the repairs on the 2500/3500 as well as ordering the parts for the Cummins) He said, "no problem, we can fix it." Chrysler knows about the vibe. The brackets (shims?) they use to change the driveline angle are on national backorder. My name is now on the list to get this silent recall/TSB or whatever it is fixed.

 

Ed, check your PM...

 

that"s great about thr recall,,,hope i can cashin on it, mgoing to call the dealer next week
and i am going to tell him,,NO FLASHES WHILE U HAVE IT!
yeah,, lucked out with the mileage,,sure beats my 2001 ram gasser,,,121/2 mpg on the interstate empty,,,6 pulling my 20 ft. enclosed car houler with 1 motorcycle in it