SSweeney

I did not do research prior to buying my 02. My IP failed this weak. Anyway, How is the lift pumps on 3rds? How are the ball joints on 3rds? How are the injectors on thirds. What is a general consensus on the 3rd gen 5.9 trucks. Good and bad. The 24 valve second gens are undermined by the fuel delivery system not to mention steering, suspension. OH and how much better is the 48re over the 47re tranny? thanks

WUnderwood

stock? I think all the things you asked about are pretty good, I havent heard much good things about the 6.7.

if you start adding chips and programmers, then the lift pumps start dying.

hope this helps

rich

the major problem i have had has been on the 03 and it is the injectors the rest of the truck breaks like the rest of them, the 03 has 147k on it and is fixing to get a 12v in it so i dont have the electric crap anymore.

SSweeney

Anyone else have input. Any of you guys have or had a 2nd gen. Is it worth it. I hate the ride, sloppy tranny, sloppy steering, bad fuel pump on my 02. I think the ride is better on 3rds. Anything else better? Did the weak ball joints get fixed?

DECEPTiON21

The ball joints remain pretty weak, but unless you are really workin them, i haven't heard of any failing. I hear of people replacing them every now and then.

C Schomer

I wouldn't go back to my 97 3/4T 5sp 3.54 2wd Xt-Cab 292hp/812tq for anything! With similar mods as my 97, my 03 feels like a modded 12v and way out pulls the 12v. I've heard that water will trash out the hpcr's worse but nothing about the injectors. Also, running the LP pressure down on the hpcr's is harder on them. The only thing that doesn't seem to be better about my 03 is the cab sheetmetal isn't as solid as the 97 but it's still good enough.

Tree DR

Bad point's about a 3rd gen. It's not a 12v but then I only had 5 of them. Only rebuilt the frontend on the last 12v I had 235k it's about time to replace things. The one 24v 01 didn't keep it long enough to know if it had problems. Now the 04.5 and current 05 both had over 100k when I got them, haven't had problems myself other than a ujoint. About the power diference a lightly moded 12v will pull with my 05 that has 342hp. A straight piped 12v is sweet music. 3rd gen well it's nice and quiet till you open up the exhaust but that's only when your puting the power to it. The four full doors is a definite factor if your going to haul pasengers. My guess is from what I've seen as to parts falling apart on any of the trucks I've had is mostly normal wear. Lots of people abuse their trucks and wonder why they have so many problems.

John Halter

Injectors , turbo , universals would get my vote for weak points and I have heard a lot on the AC door . Seats are a problem also but I would say it is mostly a design problem .

J BODY

Love is blind and I have no problems with my 107k 01. Do I know the VP is going to die??? yeah, but I live with it and the truck does everything I ask of it and it's very comfortable to boot. A/C works great and the steering, which is still all stock, has some wander to it, but nothing to complain about after all it's a six year old 3/4 ton TRUCK. Mild upgrades to the engine and trans were less than a good down payment on a brand new truck.

that said I think the 3rd gen has a better fuel system as long as it DOES NOT have the filter housing equipped lift pump. If it's in the tank (retrofitted or stock in 05 and newer) no worries. I do like the larger quad cab, and I spent good money making my 47re trans as good as the 48re the 3rd gens come with stock. Quiet is nice and they ride/drive great.

coobie

I would say u-joints,ball joints,lift pumps and some injector failures.coobie

SSweeney

Maybe I will wait and they will eventually make a 40k truck dependable like my toyota for 11k new with 210k on odometer and NOTHING but a timing belt changed. I guess I expect to much for a 35k plus american made truck. It makes me sad. My uncle gives me grief about buying foriegn. I finally thought I found something dependable in the cummins truck. So I made the leap and bought it. Well anyway, I going to stick with dodge cummins. They make wonderful power. Just think we the consumer deserve a little more quality in a few areas for the price. Its good business and good for our country imho.

rootremblay

I say wait until 250,000 rolls around on the od then come to a conclusion

J BODY

...and my bicycle is more reliable than your Toyota....but neither will haul my race rig.

2500

reading this thread makes me even more proud of my 97 CTD!
hard to describe how good my truck is... zero issues.

do plan on upgrading to triple disc torque converter. but no need until my stock on blows up. have not pulled a big load yet, but did real well with 10k+lbs.

torquefan

I agree. Same here.