Ron Schul

I just bought a 2001 3/4 ton Dodge Ram today and I need some advice on where to start.

I have a 04 chevy 4 dr that I use on my sales calls and when I took a trip from texas to pennsylvania last summer to get a race car roller I bought, I realized I had a major problem. With a lightweight "empty" tandem trailer (about 1500lbs) I could not cruise @ 70 without the cruise control constantly shifting up and down. It became worse on the way home with the car loaded. I realized there was no way this piece of junk was ever going to tow the 30ft enclosed trailot I plan on buying, but I am upside down in this turd and for business reasons will have to keep it.

So I kept my eye out for a good deal on a diesel truck. Well the other day I found one It was an old oilfield truck with 193000 miles and a bad rear end. The guy had bought it at an auction. He thought he was bidding on one truck and ended up buying 3, but each at the price he was bidding. One he kept one he sold immediately and the other I just bought!!

It is a 3/4 ton SLT 4 door, automatic transmission 2wd. The outside is nice just a few stone chips, but no damage. The carpets are filthy as you can imagine, but a new set from JC Whitney should fix me up. Over all the truck seems in real decent shape. The batteries were weak from setting for 4 months so the seller put in 2 brand new delco batteries. When I pointed out to him somebody took the rear shocks he threw in a new set of shocks. Any way everything checked out good(fluids etc) and when the engine started, after sitting for 4 months, before it made 1 revolution, and then settled into a silky smooth idle I was sold. I paid $5500 for the truck.

I pulled the rear cover on the Dana 70 to see why the truck won't move(driveshaft turns but no movement and really loud noise out of rear end) expecting to find a bunch of teeth in the bottom of the housing. To my surprise no teeth, in fact not many metal shavinga at all!! So although I haven't confirmed it yet I feel confident the problem is a broken axle, most likley on the drivers side. I will report as soon as I find something out.

Now comes the reason for the post the engine has 193000 miles and seems to be strong, no smoke, good oil pressure. What modifications and guages do I need to make as much power I can without reliability issues. Also I plan on changing all the hoses and fluids just to stay on the safe side. Also what should I look for as potential problems. I have read threads about lift pumps and figured to add a pressure guage to monitor it. Also I'm concerned about the transmission, is there anything to look out for here. The axle has 3.55 gears is this a good ratio to tow a 7500lb trailer and still get good mileage when running without it??

What oil pressure should I expect, water temp, what mileage should I expect, how about towing a 5000lb open trailer or a 7500lb enclosed trailer??

What kinds of fluids should I use, remember this truck will be in south texas where the temp never gets lower than high 30's and probably averages mid 70's..................Thanx Bart

Clunk

Welcome to the site ,
Your Dodge/Cummins has fuel milage and power capabilities far beyond a basic gasser but it isn't gas-n-go like a gasser either...it's a bit involved but not difficult to manage.
Obtain a repair manual at your favorite auto parts store so you can get up quick on your truck. You also need gauges to get info from your truck but more on that later..
Your 24 valver has a Lift Pump that takes fuel from the fuel tank and delivers it to your Injector Pump(VP44). This VP44 is the weak link and because it's so expensive, it deserves extra consideration. For years the guys here have been trying different things to get the VP44 to live and through basic R&D, they've discovered a few things that help most and are running up the miles.
Fuel lubes and cools the VP44 and we watch that with the Lift Pump fuel pressure. We generally like to see 13-15psi idle, 12-13psi cruising hwy speed and no less the 5-7 psi at wide open throttle(WOT).
A fuel pressure test gauge available at your favorite auto parts store, connected by pressure line to the Schrader Valve on your injector pump and installed in the cabwill get you lift pump fuel pressure to watch. Check my picture gallery.
Diesel fuel has very little if any lubricating abilities so fuel treatments like Power Service, Howes, Lucas and Stanadyne add lubrication to the fuel. I use the MFG's recommend on dosages.
There is fuel returned to the fuel tank from the fuel system and because some of it comes from a passage in the cylinder head of the motor, it's hot. This is fine in the winter because diesel fuel can gel in very cold temperatures BUT in the summer, it can get hot enough that it won't cool electrical components in the VP44. Most folks are keeping their fuel tank 1/2 full or better. We're currently looking for an end all fuel cooler that does not restrict flow or pressure.
Many folks have found that they had no lift pump pressure after they install a gauge or change the fuel filter so be ready for that.
Type "lift pump" in the search box for lots of info.