Just can't get a good basic truck, like the old days!

[Runner]

Dr Rick from Progressive Insurance wants you to know vacuum operated and manual shifters are what your parents would use.

View attachment 4207850

My parents turned out to be right about everything they ever told me.

 

[deserteagle71]

My parents turned out to be right about everything they ever told me.

^This!

 

[deserteagle71]

Is ram still offering the aisin auto transmission? Is it still an option upgrade or now standard with the Cummins and If so is it good for the extra price?

My understanding is that for 2025 Ram trucks (including the heavy duty ones) come with a ZF 8 speed transmission - very strong, very good reputation.

 

[WinterDeere]

My understanding is that for 2025 Ram trucks (including the heavy duty ones) come with a ZF 8 speed transmission - very strong, very good reputation.

This is only anecdotal, one tiny data point, but I have 3 ZF 8HP's the last ten years. Two are the 8HP70 and the other an 8HP75, and all have been completely reliable.

One gets romped on pretty hard (6.4L SRT Charger), and the other is used regularly for towing (5.7L Hemi pickup), but the one that probably sees the most "abuse" is in my wife's Durango R/T, that never seems to shut off between running kids all over town. She's also always late for everything, so it goes from cold start in the morning to slamming into gear and spinning wheels down the driveway at highway speed while still dead cold, almost daily.

In any case, three very different usage profiles, and no problems with any of them. I seem to read the same just about everywhere I encounter mention of the various ZF 8HP's.

 

[deserteagle71]

Lots of things have greatly changed & improved. Trucks run better longer and more reliably now. They have FAR more power, longer warranties, and resist rust better. They are definitely safer, roomier and more comfortable.

You want a floor shifter, manual trans, crank windows and vinyl seats from ‘93 …..well, I’ll just say “bless your heart”.

Me? I work trucks and equipment for a living and the junky stripped stuff just leaves you tired, aching and frustrated. Not real fond of the fake vinyl seat stitching imprinted on my ass cheeks, neither.

Give me every possible comfort to keep me working longer is a plus for me.

I disagree on reliability. The more crap that these new trucks are loaded with, the more goes wrong with them. Electrical and electronic failures - according to Consumer Reports, that's what people are reporting they are having the most problems with.

You live and work in "civilization" so if something goes wrong you make a call and get it towed or get it fixed. Not going to happen here in the outback. No cell service. So to us, reliability is #1 priority over comfort and convenience. And reliability means floor shifter, manual transmission, manual hubs, etc. Monday I went out with some friends to revisit a valley here in Nevada where one of them grew up. We left at 7 in the morning and got back at 7:30 at night. We saw not one other vehicle the whole time we were gone - driving over 200 miles. No pavement, of course. And two weeks ago our Search and Rescue unit got a call to rescue some hunters whose vehicle had broken down. They were about 80 miles from the nearest town and parked along a good road. But they had been there for 3 days and no one else came by that location. Starving, one of them climbed up to a high point and from there was able to get enough of a cell signal that they were able to call someone in Reno - over 200 miles away. Told us that a 911 call would not go through. Reno relayed the call to us.

 

[WinterDeere]

I disagree on reliability. The more crap that these new trucks are loaded with, the more goes wrong with them. Electrical and electronic failures - according to Consumer Reports, that's what people are reporting they are having the most problems with.

While it's true that there is more crap to go wrong, the frequency of break-downs that actually disable a vehicle and require towing or abandonment have to be many tens of times lower today, than in our parent's or grandparent's time. I'm old enough to remember people not showing up for work or school, because their "car wouldn't start" or "broke down on my way to work". It's been decades since I've even heard of such a thing.

I don't equate a malfunction of the GPS in my on-board NAV unit or a flakey touch screen that interrupts my bluetooth streaming, with an issue that prevents me from getting to work or home.

 

[RB5]

Man, since someone bought up vacuum lines... look under the hood on a late 80s/early 90s truck. Try to track down that vacuum leak.... I never worked on stuff pre-early 80s; so maybe that was better, but late 80s/early 90s, vs early 2000s; give me the 2000s truck to fix.

pre-early 80s was not better

 

[jjeff]

So what if these so called safety oriented options cause problems all their own. Case in point my wife's car, not only can I not take it to a carwash but last winter the darn auto braking almost got us in a wreck during a snow sqaull my wife made an attempt to enter the road from a parking lot and that atauto braking slowed and stopped the car in the road supposedly because the sensors were blocked with snow and ice. I can't stand that car however my wife loves it. The car has gotten a Software upgrade or something deLing with those bloody collision avoidance contraptions however She has sense learned to disable half the so called safety sensors when driving in inclement Weather. I hope defensive driving skills are still taught either by parents or drivers ed instructors.

 

[jjeff]

To keep this somewhat rant free I won't discuss the problems and inappropriate 4 letter words I've used using her car to either hook up or tow and back up a trailer. There comes a point when so called safety sensors either prevent you from using your car without a PhD in computer programming or cause unsafe incidents all there own.

 

[fidowanttobe]

While it's true that there is more crap to go wrong, the frequency of break-downs that actually disable a vehicle and require towing or abandonment have to be many tens of times lower today, than in our parent's or grandparent's time. I'm old enough to remember people not showing up for work or school, because their "car wouldn't start" or "broke down on my way to work". It's been decades since I've even heard of such a thing.

I don't equate a malfunction of the GPS in my on-board NAV unit or a flakey touch screen that interrupts my bluetooth streaming, with an issue that prevents me from getting to work or home.

And now I disagree. Marketplace has loads of cars that can be functional but the airbag/transmission/emission/computer gremlins have doomed it because of $$$
Exactly why I am not a fan of automatic trannys. I want to be able to limp it back home no matter what AND repair it myself.