arthr31
Platinum Member
Hi,
As of today, I'm faced with a minimum 2000.00 repair to my truck. I'm not sure I can take spending too much (this much) more on this vehicle. Here's some background:
1. Bought current truck, used in early May, this year with 96,000 miles. Truck is a 1998 Dodge RAM 2500 with Cummins Diesel, pretty much stock vehicle. Super Cab, short bed, 4x4, etc.
2. I've put about 7000 miles in the seven months of I've owned the truck...
3. Over these months I've spent about 2000.00 on up keep / repair, this included:
- new fan clutch
- new fluids and filters all around
- misc lights, etc.
- (as of last week) 2 new interstate batteries
- (as of last week) new traction bar for front-end
So, here's what happened. About a week ago I brought the truck to a shop I haven't dealt with before, but I did know a mechanic there from having worked together almost 20 years ago... I brought the truck there for an alignment, tire rotate, replace exhaust, and check front-end for vague steering. They found the following wrong:
- truck wouldn't start, one battery tested poorly (but, why did the thing start every day for me, but not for them?)
- traction bar worn out
- front-hub axle nut/stub, bearings, u-joint, etc damaged from someone making a bad repair, all need to be replaced.
So, i asked, in order of severity, what needs to be worked on first. Answer, tracking bar, I went ahead with that and the new batteries. The mechanic said that the other work should be done, but it should be okay in the short-term...
So, I picked the truck up on Tuesday night (last week), drove it wednesday and then again on friday. On friday, about 5 miles down the road the wheel almost fell off, was kept on by the brake caliper but chewed up the brakes... (which is annoying 'cause it had new pads and rotors in May)
I had the truck towed to the same repair shop. Today they tell me that the axle work etc will be at least 2k and i might also be looking at brakes...
The owner of the repair shop advised me to just get rid of the truck, said that the cummins is not that good and the dodge trucks start to fall apart after 100K. All of this kinda goes against what I've read and talked about with other ppl (granted this shop doesn't repair diesels (why'd I bring it there, wanted an alignment...)).
Also, not included here is that the exhaust/muffler needs to be repaired, this'll be at least 3-400...
What to do? Should I dump the truck or repair? Does this truck really just fall apart after these many miles? Should I take it to another shop (tow) since these guys don't like diesel anyway? What would you do?
I'm not sure I really even need a diesel, i pull stuff (tractor (about 2000 lbs) every few months at best, haul landscape materials, firewood, etc... But, I do like the truck and it hasn't given much trouble before this...
Sorry for the long post, I'm pretty distraught about this and wasn't even thinking about replacing this vehicle before this... When i got this truck i thought i'd keep it probably about 10 years, not seven months... but i'm kinda outta money to keep dumping!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif -art
p.s. kinda irritating experience with this repair shop- i told the owner this AM i was pretty frustrated since i brought the truck there for two basic things (alignment and replace exhaust) and now 600 or maybe 2600.00 later i still haven't done what i originally brought it there for... the guy said, well, what do you want me to do about it, your truck has problems! I guess empathy isn't a strong side to the guy......
As of today, I'm faced with a minimum 2000.00 repair to my truck. I'm not sure I can take spending too much (this much) more on this vehicle. Here's some background:
1. Bought current truck, used in early May, this year with 96,000 miles. Truck is a 1998 Dodge RAM 2500 with Cummins Diesel, pretty much stock vehicle. Super Cab, short bed, 4x4, etc.
2. I've put about 7000 miles in the seven months of I've owned the truck...
3. Over these months I've spent about 2000.00 on up keep / repair, this included:
- new fan clutch
- new fluids and filters all around
- misc lights, etc.
- (as of last week) 2 new interstate batteries
- (as of last week) new traction bar for front-end
So, here's what happened. About a week ago I brought the truck to a shop I haven't dealt with before, but I did know a mechanic there from having worked together almost 20 years ago... I brought the truck there for an alignment, tire rotate, replace exhaust, and check front-end for vague steering. They found the following wrong:
- truck wouldn't start, one battery tested poorly (but, why did the thing start every day for me, but not for them?)
- traction bar worn out
- front-hub axle nut/stub, bearings, u-joint, etc damaged from someone making a bad repair, all need to be replaced.
So, i asked, in order of severity, what needs to be worked on first. Answer, tracking bar, I went ahead with that and the new batteries. The mechanic said that the other work should be done, but it should be okay in the short-term...
So, I picked the truck up on Tuesday night (last week), drove it wednesday and then again on friday. On friday, about 5 miles down the road the wheel almost fell off, was kept on by the brake caliper but chewed up the brakes... (which is annoying 'cause it had new pads and rotors in May)
I had the truck towed to the same repair shop. Today they tell me that the axle work etc will be at least 2k and i might also be looking at brakes...
The owner of the repair shop advised me to just get rid of the truck, said that the cummins is not that good and the dodge trucks start to fall apart after 100K. All of this kinda goes against what I've read and talked about with other ppl (granted this shop doesn't repair diesels (why'd I bring it there, wanted an alignment...)).
Also, not included here is that the exhaust/muffler needs to be repaired, this'll be at least 3-400...
What to do? Should I dump the truck or repair? Does this truck really just fall apart after these many miles? Should I take it to another shop (tow) since these guys don't like diesel anyway? What would you do?
I'm not sure I really even need a diesel, i pull stuff (tractor (about 2000 lbs) every few months at best, haul landscape materials, firewood, etc... But, I do like the truck and it hasn't given much trouble before this...
Sorry for the long post, I'm pretty distraught about this and wasn't even thinking about replacing this vehicle before this... When i got this truck i thought i'd keep it probably about 10 years, not seven months... but i'm kinda outta money to keep dumping!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif -art
p.s. kinda irritating experience with this repair shop- i told the owner this AM i was pretty frustrated since i brought the truck there for two basic things (alignment and replace exhaust) and now 600 or maybe 2600.00 later i still haven't done what i originally brought it there for... the guy said, well, what do you want me to do about it, your truck has problems! I guess empathy isn't a strong side to the guy......