16th Mar 2005, 17:21

Check the tire wear on the right rear. Is your son burning rubber? Power Breaking and burning up the tranny? It was the first thing that popped into my mind. No problems with my 05 Hemi Ram so far. I love it!

31st Mar 2005, 00:50

Hi Tom,..Sorry about your trans prob. It is absolutely not the norm for Dodge trucks. In the late 80's /early 90's, the auto trans was known to be a weak spot on the truck, esp w/the Cummins diesel (too much torque!). Despite this reputation most guys I've spoken to, hauling heavy trailers (6 or 8 horses) or 38 ft 5th wheel RV trailers report no trans problems even after 200k miles. I have a 1993 Dodge D250, Cummins, automatic w/211K miles in the hot California desert, and it runs flawlessly. I also own a 2004 3500 dually Cummins 6 speed manual, (26K miles already!) and it simply purrs. Don't worry. You bought a great truck. There's no way any company could stay in bus. if probs like yours were common. Dodge hangs it hat on being tough. They are. They're not perfect, but they don't fail like yours did. It was a fluke. Also-don't rule out abuse. We were all young once! Burnouts are fun! Check out Dodge owners websites (Cummins, etc). There are a bunch of us out here who have come to REALLY love our Dodge trucks. You can read what they have to say about theirs. I used to be a "Chevy-Man" until Dodge won me over. I just proof-read this, and it sounds like I work for Dodge! I don't. I haul cars w/my Dodge for a living. Good luck...

5th Apr 2005, 13:12

Afraid I have to disagree with the March 31st comment. I have a 2004 Ram 1500 with the Hemi & automatic 4x4 and the transmission "clunks" going up or down hill -- never has has pulled anything. I'm a 40 year old woman and do not do off-roading or burn rubber -- I use it on my mini-farm, haul some lumber, small equipment. The tranny can never find the right gear going up or down hill -- if I put it in "tow" mode -- where doesn't go into overdrive it's a tiny bit better. I have had conversations with several other owners of these same trucks and they have all had this problem. It starts out very seldom and seems to be escalating -- I'm taking mine in to get this checked in a day or two. If you only drive on the flats maybe it doesn't occur, but any modest hill or small mountain and it happens. From what I'm told it's only with the Hemi -- not the 4.7l engine. I drive 98% highway -- this is not a stop & go problem. Dodge needs to resolve this problem on their high-end truck, because when guys come up all ga-ga over my truck I am telling it like it is -- before this started I probably sold several trucks for them. This bad behavior among all dealers about not properly resolving new vehicle issues stinks and I'm considering going back to a Toyota -- at least for cars.

30th Jul 2005, 04:09

Hello all.

My 2004 ram 2500 (with the 5.7 Hemi) trasmission has been flawless, I regularly pull a 5th wheel at 11,600 pounds and with 21,000 miles on it I wouldn't trade it for any other truck.

10th Aug 2005, 12:10

I just bought an 05' ram 1500 thunder road (5.7/5 speed auto) and didn't even make it a week (521 miles on it) before the trans. started messing up. The dealer said at first it was a computer glitch. Then when I brought it back the next day they said it was the front pump and that's where I am now. They said it would take 3-4 weeks for the parts. First they said they couldn't get the parts then they were on back order.

Rmoore822@aol.com.

24th Oct 2005, 21:53

More than likely the problem is because of two factors. The first is that you probably bought it off a dealership lot, which is a big mistake. It may have only had 20 miles on it, but those miles could have already ruined the pickup due to not breaking it in properly. A new vehicle needs 500 miles to have all the seals seat properly and for everything to break in. If you rod it a lot then you will more than likely have to replace the engine in about 20,000 miles, and have various other problems. The second problem would be if you ordered the pickup and your son has been doing this instead of other people. I know after a few friends of mine test drove a new 05 Dodge Daytona 4 Door Hemi it would no longer burnout at all (not around corners, with the pedal to the floor and holding the brake, it just plain didn't drive right). All they did was about 10 burnouts and a few donuts and it was pretty much ruined with only 26 miles on the pickup. The temperature was over 200 degrees and was a hair away from the H Mark, and on the drive back to the dealership lot the transmission was not shifting correctly. There is a lot of people out there like this that enjoy "test driving" new vehicles just to see how much power they have and how far you can push them. Hopefully this might be some help and insight the next time you buy a new vehicle.

19th Dec 2005, 12:27

I have a 2004 QC 4x4 with a Hemi. I have 34K miles on it. I love the looks of the truck, as well as the power... but so far I have had terrible luck with it. First thing is it had the transmission replaced with under 10k. Second the brakes had terrible pulsation replaced twice. Transfer case seal, tie rods, tail lights went out twice, and right now the power steering is loosing fluid. It has never been off road, and I drive 70% high way. I'm an engineer for DCX and I will never own another dodge truck unless I get stipend for work to buy one. My hard earned money won't be wasted on another piece of junk. Fuel mileage isn't as bad as everyone said I average about 13.5 mpg. Excellent power, and looks sweet. If you do have to have a Ram get an extended warranty, and a back up vehicle.

7th Apr 2006, 18:24

To the Oct. 24 comment:

How is his mistake buying the truck off a dealership lot? Any new vehicle is going to come off a dealerships lot. Even if he bought a truck with 20,000 miles, it still was bought by someone off of a dealerships lot. And you are flat out wrong about a vehicle being ruined with 20 miles on it just because it was given the business a few times. Give me a break. Dodge/Chrysler transmissions are the industry whipping boy and for good reason. Take for example the 1990's Dodge Caravans. I don't care how many times you service that transmission or how much you baby it and talk sweet to it, it will fail. They all do so my advice is to go buy a different product.