How long will 2001 Dodge last

[talley]

I am a new member. Tow a Bullet 220 rbi with a GVW of about 6500 lbs. I tow with a 2001 Dodge diesel Cummins 24 valve with 118,000 miles on it. I am the original owner and have kept up the maintenance and never had a problem. Some people have told me I should get rid of it before I start having problems. Others tell me the truck is just broken in and good for another 100,000 miles. Any advice regarding the truck would be appreciated.

[the sodfather]

The only thing I know about Dodge is the vehicle will outlast the dash material! Seriously, that baby is good to go for longer than you will want to keep it. Remember, misc. repairs are always cheaper then payments...

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum.

How long ANY vehicle will last depends on what it's used for and how it's taken care of. If you bought it new and followed the maintenance schedule published by Dodge, then I would expect the engine to last well beyond 100,000 miles.

What transmission is in it? I have heard nothing but good things about the Aisin (sp) transmission.

[talley]

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure of the transmission brand. It is an automatic and I have had the filter and fluid change on schedule. I do not want to have to buy a newer truck but opinions of people who tell me now is the time to get rid of it have made me very uneasy.

[LittleJoe]

Talley

I'll bite on this one. If it is rust free and truly has been maintained properly than 100 K miles is truly just broken in so to speak.

If you do not have a guage showing you lift pump fuel pressure, this is very important to the life of the much more expensive injector pump. (injector pump must always have positive fuel pressure or it will fail).(You can get a simple setup that's uses a sending unit at fuel filter canister and a red warning light that will come on if fuel pressure drops too far....meaning time to replacelift pump.

Check out Geno's Garage online for all things Dodge/Cummins for good value on many maintenance items.

Do proper maintenance to transmission, brakes, coolant etc and if you stay on top of things, you will have reliability and should much more than triple the mileage you now have. (Count auto transmission as a perishable component and plan on a full proper , no corner cutting rebuild at some point past 200K.

The newer ones are nice but much more complicated and $$$ expensive to buy and repair.

If $ is not an issue than by all means go for a newer truck, they are quite nice, but it is not necessary and if you are happy with what you have and want to save a lot of $ for many years yet, keep and maintain what you have.

A cummins engine in a well maintained truck will easily run 500K miles..... We have several in our ERS service that pull trailers 24/7 in model years 96-06. We continually source out older lower mileage Dodges for this service and avoid the new costs.

[talley]

Thanks. Very good information. I do not have a lift pump gauge and did not even know about it. I will get with the mechanic I use and have one installed. I don't have spare funds for an expensive new truck so I will follow your advice and hopefully keep the truck going for many more miles.

[bsmith0404]

The Cummins engine will outlast the rest of the truck. I know several people in the RV transport industry with over 500k miles. Front ends are an issue. Many of the transporters I know carry replacement front hub setups with them and have gotten good at changing them in a Walmart parking lot. The auto trans is another weak link (not the Aisin, which wasn't available in your truck), but that can be rebuilt as well. You're already over 100k so if a tranny and front ends last you that long, it's obviously something you won't have to deal with often. Watch your ball joints and steering linkage.

[gkainz]

My 97 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4 was still pulling strong at 187,000 miles when I sold it. I bought an '07 2500 CTD 4x4 with 82,000 miles to replace it.

I sold my old truck because it needed a paint job and my wife found the '07 before I could make the old gray truck pretty again.

[talley]

Thanks Brent. I am learning a lot on my first night on this forum. I will take note of and keep up with all of the items you mentioned in your post.

[vampress_me]

You'll be good as long as you never bring it to MN in winter. Our '99 Dodge Cummins was in great shape until we moved here. Then, no matter that I washed it weekly in winter it rusted - badly. As we were always told, the Cummins under the hood will outlast the rest of the truck around it. We finally got rid of it in 2012 when it was costing more to fix each year, and was rusting bad enough I was scared what else would break if they tried to replace the track bar on it one more time (ours would eat track bars about every other year). We budgeted about $1000 every year for work that it needed, and figured that was much less expensive than new truck payments. And as long as the truck was holding up that budget was great. It was the rust on everything under the truck, not just the panels you could see, that did us in on it.

I do miss that Cummins engine though, I could actually get under the hood and work on it if needed, not like the newer ones!

[Desert185]

I have an '01 Laramie SLT with a 6-speed manual with 310,000 miles. No rust or other issues. Just maintain it and it will do the job. Can't endorse the auto transmission, though. I had a '94 that I changed to a Suncoast. The original 47RH in that one only lasted 98,000 miles.

If you beef up the tranny, a Smarty tuner is the way to go, but the importance of A-pillar gauges to monitor lift pump fuel pressure, boost and especially EGT can't be emphasized enough.

PM me if you need more info.

[denverpilot]

If you have a 2001, you have a very solid truck.

Things you'll have to do/fix over time:

- Steering track bar, and all the nylon bushings, tie rod ends, etc. Dodge steering is known for the "death wobble" and eventually they all wear out all of their steering components. This will set you back some bucks, and if you ever have the wobble happen at highway speeds, with or without a trailer, you may need a few more bucks for new shorts.

- If you happen to have the light case (there's a series of serial numbered engine cases that have a lighter casting) from Cummins, and in an '01 it's about 50/50 that you do, AND you've added any aftermarket "chips" or computer modifications or upgraded the turbo, watch the lower engine through-bolt area carefully and don't get too wild with the boost. They crack near the bolt and out comes all the oil... And... Bad things. A stock truck will rarely do it.

- Transmission: Someone mentioned the Aisin, but unfortunately us older Dodge drivers don't have that lovely slushbox. We either have the Chrysler automatic, or the 6 speed manual.

The automatic is known for wearing out at higher mileage, but is *relatively* inexpensive to buy rebuilt or have rebuilt. It lasts a good long time if not abused and kept COOL. Since you're towing, a nice big oil cooler is pretty much mandatory.

The manual, the stronger of the two transmissions, if not abused and shifted reasonably, will often decide to drop 6th gear (or 3rd sometimes) one day after many miles. It has a design flaw in that fluid doesn't rear gear area too well, and people also try to tow in 6th and don't notice how hot it's getting. A temp gauge and aftermarket larger cooling covers with fins helps immensely.

(These larger covers are also available for the front and rear diff covers -- if you have a front, and 4x4 -- and some aftermarket ones add a magnetic dipstick which is quite nice for checking level of fluid and condition, both by looking at color, and by catching any metal that's floating around in there.)

On the manual, it's also a very good idea to "overfill" the tranny by removing the shift tower and pouring in an extra pint or so above what the fill plug will allow normally. This won't hurt the tranny at all, and will help with that "oil doesn't reach the rear gear area" problem.

Also, the manual really really likes a high quality synthetic lubricant. It'll shift smoother overall, and run significantly cooler.

- Brakes -- if you own one, you already know the sadness. Especially if yours is a DRW like mine. The rear drums are just crap. Don't trust the "auto" adjusters, block the front wheels and jack up the rear and set the shoes correctly, and often. If you have SRW there are options for switching to disc in the rear if you feel the need/siren call of better and more consistent stopping power.

- Dodge also has a couple of TSBs out on the rear brakes if you're ALWAYS towing heavy and your truck has that goofy device to decide if the truck is loaded or not and changes the brake front to rear ratio. Dodge says delete that thing and remove it if you are ALWAYS heavy. (A bed camper it always with a trailer on.)

- The other TSB deals with the perception that front brakes are wearing faster than rear. Dodge engineering makes it clear that the system is designed such that if you have rear drums, you should expect to replace front disc pads roughly twice as often as rear shoes. But... This TSB also describes a known problem where front discs wear out as often as four times before rear drums -- if you have this problem, hunt down the TSB for all of the possible reasons that have to be eliminated one by one.

- Dashboard... Others have joked here about this, but if you don't want it to crack, you have to cover it. The plastic isn't right and over time, sunlight will degrade it to the point where the dash will develop cracks as big as the Grand Canyon. I have a cheap fitted cover on mine made out of auto move carpet.

- Bosch high pressure fuel pump and lift pump in the fuel tank. Both known to fail.

- If the lift pump fails, the inlet pressure to the Bosch will drop low enough it isn't getting the fuel needed to cool it, and a failure of the lift pump will also eventually, and not very long, destroy the Bosch. Ways to mitigate: Gauges again. A fuel pressure gauge is a must if you're keeping the factory lift pump. Stock, it should always read above 10 PSI, and preferably closer to 12-13. If you see it drop to 4-6 or lower, the lift pump has failed. Don't drive it hard anywhere and replace soon and you'll save the Bosch. Most Cummins experts recommend installing either the FASS or the AirDog aftermarket lift pumps pre-failure, which mitigates this problem. A gauge is still recommended, however. Also if you install either one, both have instructions on how to delete the factory fuel filter / water separator and use their filters only. Don't! Leave it on and use both. No harm comes from this, only good, and besides additional filtration, there's a fuel heater in the stock filter housing. Again, more protection of the Bosch.

- The Bosch pump. The pump everyone loves to hate. It'll also fail eventually and is pretty much inevitable. Mopar currently wants $6000 for a new one, and most folks aren't going to spend that on an old truck, but the aftermarket rebuilds old ones in varying quality levels. They run about $2,000-$2,500 before labor.

- Filters. Use good ones! For oil, it's the Cummins FleetGard for my tastes. For fuel, there's better than the 7 microns of the FleetGard available out there. AFE has a claim of something like 3 microns, but beware -- their setup doesn't remove water at all. You'd need a water separator (the AirDog lift pump can be outfitted with one, for example) and even then, I'm not w fan. Baldwin PF7977 is what I like. Change it as often as the book calls for, which is every 15,000.

- Oil: Use high quality stuff. If you have no leaks, the newer synthetics are nice and meet Cummin's spec.

Let's see, what have I forgotten? I think that's all the " expensive stuff ", and in all, none of it is that expensive. Blowing the transmission is more likely than blowing the engine?

In all, with proper fluid changes, as few or as many of the aftermarket products as you see fit, added on, only helps... But it'll run well over 200k miles stock, as long as you keep up on the steering issue(s). Somewhere in there the Bosch will go. Mine went in Nebraska right after editing the interstate with the fiver on. The beauty of not having the coach attached to the drivetrain shown through that day. Towing company towed the truck to the shop, and the fiver to the campground. We enjoyed 50A service, both air conditioners in hot muggy weather (leak check! Water pouring off the roof from both of them! Ha!) and ate from the fridge for two days while the Bosch rebuild was ordered and shipped and installed. Yay fiver!

Agree with the need for EGT and boost gauges also. EGT I believe the Cummins data says no more than three minutes at or above 1350, but just get out of the throttle and downshift on big hills and shoot for 1200. Boost with a stock turbo won't be an issue, but it's nice to see how hard you're working it.

Other possible mods are a larger air intake, larger exhaust stem to stern, and maybe slightly bigger injectors, but talk to a Cummins expert before doing any of those to a stocker.

My '01 has an upgraded turbo, 4" exhaust all the way forward, upgraded intake manifold, studded the head when I blew a head gasket, track bar and all new steering wear components, and older but functional computer for added fuel/timing for a bit more horsepower and torque (I don't get wild with it and It includes all of those gauges we've mentioned as built in items, so that's actually it's primary purpose, slightly larger injectors, and a Cummins warranty approved (not that it's under warranty anymore!) Jacobs Exhaust Brake -- and I love that! Sure saves on brakes and works absolutely beautifully in the mountains holding back the fiver on steep grades downhill.

By the way, at over 100,000 miles you already qualify for the Cummins High Mileage club... It's goofy, but it shows how long the engines last... You get a badge you can put on the grille for each 100,000 miles, and they have a Million Mile Club on beyond the High Mileage club.

https://cumminsengines.com/cummins-high-mileage-club

Mostly sharing that to ease your concerns that you need to replace it. The engine will outlast the truck, that's always been the "problem" with Dodge, if there is one. Especially the steering, oh... The steering... Ha.

Plan on spending SOME money on various stuff every year, and save up for that new transmission, because I see as I scrolled that you have the auto. And it will eventually go. But even then, you'll still be saving a small fortune over buying a brand new one! And whether the models above yours are any better until you get to the new 6.7 engine are pretty "debatable". They changed the tranny and the next one isn't all that much better and they slowly dropped the beefy manual.

Also agree if you're looking at computer stuff, the Smarty is a great option, Desert185 is right. Mine is a different brand and much older, and also considerably " dumber" about its computer remapping that it does.

Since you don't have a manual, I won't bore you with clutch stuff... But the stock clutch works great stock, for the manual. You really want to upgrade it when it needs replacing if you've added horsepower/torque with aftermarket mods.

[talley]

Thanks denverpilot. Lots of very good information.

[Desert185]

Denverpilot: All good info. To elaborate further personal experience a bit...

On the 6-speed manual (NV5600), FAST coolers are available to replace the PTO covers on each side of the transmission. They are extruded, finned aluminum extentions that have the side benefit of adding more oil quantity and reducing oil temp 30dF. There is an added filler above the stock filler location on the side of the case. Most transmission shops recommend adding an additional quart of fluid and the additional fill point makes that an easy process.

With regards to fluid, I've found that the Valvoline MTF shifts the best (including Pennzoil) and is considerably less expensive than the MOPAR offering. The Valvoline also meets the Chrysler spec, which is important.

The earlier 2500's had drum rear brakes which didn't contribute well to the overall braking effort making the front pads wear quickly. A fix was to replace the rear wheel cylinders with 3500 (one ton cylinders). The resulting increased braking contribution greatly reduced the wear on the front pads. I also had good luck with EGR brand pads and lining with braided stainless brake lines.

My '01 didn't have a cat so I replaced the stock exhaust with a Magnaflow 4" exhaust brake back system. Its also worth noting that www.r2cperformance.com makes a Black Hex air filter replacement that increases filtration and flow capability over the stock system or even the Airaid intake system that uses a K&N style filter.

Mag-Hytec makes diff covers and auto transmission pans that increase quantity, have a quick drain provision and magnetic dipsticks on the diff covers. They also look good.

Thankfully, I have the heavy case.

[denverpilot]

Originally Posted by Desert185

Denverpilot: All good info. To elaborate further personal experience a bit...

On the 6-speed manual (NV5600), FAST coolers are available to replace the PTO covers on each side of the transmission. They are extruded, finned aluminum extentions that have the side benefit of adding more oil quantity and reducing oil temp 30dF. There is an added filler above the stock filler location on the side of the case. Most transmission shops recommend adding an additional quart of fluid and the additional fill point makes that an easy process.

With regards to fluid, I've found that the Valvoline MTF shifts the best (including Pennzoil) and is considerably less expensive than the MOPAR offering. The Valvoline also meets the Chrysler spec, which is important.

The earlier 2500's had drum rear brakes which didn't contribute well to the overall braking effort making the front pads wear quickly. A fix was to replace the rear wheel cylinders with 3500 (one ton cylinders). The resulting increased braking contribution greatly reduced the wear on the front pads. I also had good luck with EGR brand pads and lining with braided stainless brake lines.

My '01 didn't have a cat so I replaced the stock exhaust with a Magnaflow 4" exhaust brake back system. Its also worth noting that www.r2cperformance.com makes a Black Hex air filter replacement that increases filtration and flow capability over the stock system or even the Airaid intake system that uses a K&N style filter.

Mag-Hytec makes diff covers and auto transmission pans that increase quantity, have a quick drain provision and magnetic dipsticks on the diff covers. They also look good.

Thankfully, I have the heavy case.

Yup you got the brand names in there which I wasn't remembering late at night. Exact same stuff on my NV tranny and diff covers. FAST and Mag-Hytec. Both worth every penny.

I forgot to ask "my" Dodge guy which fluid he used in my NV but we're in a rural area and many have these Dodges. I've had three or four folks comment on how smooth my NV shifts, and I point them to him to find out what he used. It very well may be the Valvoline stuff. He likes their Blue oils for the engines, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Valvoline did do one confusing thing in naming their Diesel engine oils. The names are too similar.

Premium Blue is a non-synthetic base stock, and Premium Blue Extreme is synthetic. Non-Extreme is the older tech and was approved long ago by Cummins, Extreme is also, but is the newer tech all-synthetic. I find that both aren't stocked too well locally and one time a place will have the non-Extreme and the next the Extreme and they seem as confused by it as pretty much everyone is.

Similar to the differences between Rotella T5, and T6 I believe, but I have personal reasons that I won't buy Shell for anything but the airplane (AeroShell). And I don't pay that much attention to Rotella but some swear by it.

My intake is of the BIg Honkin Filter variety -- basically a giant tractor filter with a dust sock on it. It happily provides enormous amounts of air when asked. The turbo upgrade came with the truck when I bought it and I wouldn't do it myself -- it's a "hybrid" larger case and small turbine -- where the idea is that it'll move more air but not have spin-up lag. Frankly, it doesn't work.

The computer is smarter than that and asks for air relatively slowly, so I have some lag. But that teaches my foot to be smooth on acceleration to not generate a small cloud of black smoke for just a second while fuel is higher than air. I think some of the newer computers can be better tuned to handle a slower turbo, but haven't bit the bullet yet on that. I'm not a fan of wasting fuel/the whole "rolling coal" silliness, but with 40 HP injectors, a little turbo lag, the computer set to Tow Mode, and my foot gets in it, it'll smoke a bit.

So I teach my foot to be polite. Once the turbo spools -- then it takes off like a scalded cat unloaded and loaded, and you can floor it if you like, and it just hauls very nicely.

I could maybe afford to go get a nice newish 6.7 and have a lot more torque and the nice modern goodies, but it'd be a waste of money. This truck I have is a serious towing machine.

My wife nicknamed him Bubba. Bubba really likes pulling heavy things around.

[SAABDOCTOR]

man you will get sick of that truck long before the engine quits!. the transmission is not an Asin. they do have issues but clean fluid and filters will help it last. My old 2000 dodge i gave it to my son has 300k on it. the engine is as strong as ever. yes the front end did wear out. i plowed snow and towed the 5er with it till i got the 05 dually. it is a great truck.

[Barbell]

Bought my 2001 CTD new. 2wd with 6 speed. Kept it stock except for a FASS system and exhaust brake. Pulled our Montana around 30,000 miles in 3 years. At just under 200,000 miles, a bad injector caused a piston to fail and shelled the engine. We had done all maintenence as suggested above. Engine never smoked at all until about 5 minutes before it quit for good. A new engine plus a clutch would have cost at least twice what the truck would be worth as fixed, so we bit the bullet and now pull with 2016 model. Hated to spend the money but its a big improvement over the old one. Although the old truck saw our mechanic regularly between trips, he said there wasnt much that could have been done to prevent it.

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by denverpilot

Yup you got the brand names in there which I wasn't remembering late at night. Exact same stuff on my NV tranny and diff covers. FAST and Mag-Hytec. Both worth every penny.

I forgot to ask "my" Dodge guy which fluid he used in my NV but we're in a rural area and many have these Dodges. I've had three or four folks comment on how smooth my NV shifts, and I point them to him to find out what he used. It very well may be the Valvoline stuff. He likes their Blue oils for the engines, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Valvoline did do one confusing thing in naming their Diesel engine oils. The names are too similar.

Premium Blue is a non-synthetic base stock, and Premium Blue Extreme is synthetic. Non-Extreme is the older tech and was approved long ago by Cummins, Extreme is also, but is the newer tech all-synthetic. I find that both aren't stocked too well locally and one time a place will have the non-Extreme and the next the Extreme and they seem as confused by it as pretty much everyone is.

Similar to the differences between Rotella T5, and T6 I believe, but I have personal reasons that I won't buy Shell for anything but the airplane (AeroShell). And I don't pay that much attention to Rotella but some swear by it.

My intake is of the BIg Honkin Filter variety -- basically a giant tractor filter with a dust sock on it. It happily provides enormous amounts of air when asked. The turbo upgrade came with the truck when I bought it and I wouldn't do it myself -- it's a "hybrid" larger case and small turbine -- where the idea is that it'll move more air but not have spin-up lag. Frankly, it doesn't work.

The computer is smarter than that and asks for air relatively slowly, so I have some lag. But that teaches my foot to be smooth on acceleration to not generate a small cloud of black smoke for just a second while fuel is higher than air. I think some of the newer computers can be better tuned to handle a slower turbo, but haven't bit the bullet yet on that. I'm not a fan of wasting fuel/the whole "rolling coal" silliness, but with 40 HP injectors, a little turbo lag, the computer set to Tow Mode, and my foot gets in it, it'll smoke a bit.

So I teach my foot to be polite. Once the turbo spools -- then it takes off like a scalded cat unloaded and loaded, and you can floor it if you like, and it just hauls very nicely.

I could maybe afford to go get a nice newish 6.7 and have a lot more torque and the nice modern goodies, but it'd be a waste of money. This truck I have is a serious towing machine.

My wife nicknamed him Bubba. Bubba really likes pulling heavy things around.

R2C built me a BHAF Black Hex filter to my specs. Flows lots of air, is cleanable without the K&N style oiling (and offroad dust flow) and is a top rated filter. I run one on my RZR and not a hint of dust in the intake track. No more buying refills.

I can adjust fueling, timing and power response with the Smarty tuner. Also includes the high-idle, three-cylinder warmup mode that the Chrysler dealer charges $100 for the update. Their fuel economy mode adjusts the power curve to so you don't lose power, but mileage increases in an actually more agressive non-tow mode.

[denverpilot]

Originally Posted by Desert185

R2C built me a BHAF Black Hex filter to my specs. Flows lots of air, is cleanable without the K&N style oiling (and offroad dust flow) and is a top rated filter. I run one on my RZR and not a hint of dust in the intake track. No more buying refills.



I can adjust fueling, timing and power response with the Smarty tuner. Also includes the high-idle, three-cylinder warmup mode that the Chrysler dealer charges $100 for the update. Their fuel economy mode adjusts the power curve to so you don't lose power, but mileage increases in an actually more agressive non-tow mode.

Nice. Good stuff on the air filter.

As far as the warmup goes, I either just drive it -- or I can cheat and pull the exhaust brake, one benefit to having a manual one. Loads up the engine pretty well at idle and it'll warm right up on a cold morning. Noisy though, so not campground friendly, but that's true of the thing just idling let alone whistling along with the exhaust brake running.

I should probably look into upgrading to a Smarty.

[cardinal96ss]

Concur with all that Denverpilot says, very good info. We have a 2001 2500 Cummins with 214K miles, original clutch. We intend to keep it for a long time. We tow a horse trailer and 32ft cargo trailer with it. We have had to replace the injector pump on it due to low lift pump pressure and "sand" in the tank. We replaced the lift pump with a FASS fuel pump and filter system. Nice. We also new oversized front brake rotors and pads, a Banks intake, 4 in exhaust, exhaust brake, etc.
We love that truck. Not quiet, but solid.