1st Gen dodge cummins

Pat-CT · Mar 11, 2010

Does any own/have owned a first geration cummins 89-94 year. Im looking at a few of them come spring time to buy as a replacement daily driver. I like the newer ones but i jsut dont think vehicles are built like they used to be. Any complaints on these trucks?

GordoSD · Mar 11, 2010

Go for the Gen II. That's the pick of the litter. The 12 Valve, up to Dec 98.And get the handshaker tranny.

Gordo

Pat-CT · Mar 11, 2010

See i hear bad things about them with the killer dowel pin, Where it falls out and rips apart your entire engine

thurlow · Mar 11, 2010

My daily driver is a '93 D350 dually, which I bought new. Lots of folks had trouble with the 5-speed Getrag, but I've not had a minutes trouble with it. I've replaced the radiator (split seam and I found a cheap replacement, rather than having it repaired), starter and wear items. Still got the original water pump, alternator, etc. I'm retired and it's just my go-to-town truck, but it pulled some serious loads for a long time (32 ft cattle trailer, 27 ft equipment trailer, which weighed 8,000 lbs empty). Power train has not been touched. Crappy paint job. About 20 mpg. Air conditioner still works and has never been touched; every Spring, I figure this is the year I swap it over to 134, but not yet. By far the best truck I've ever owned........something less than 300,000 miles.

just another old geezer · Mar 11, 2010

killer dowel pin problem is a two hour/150.00 dollar fix.

BJ · Mar 11, 2010

Bought one in 89' as soon as they became available. Put around 175,000 mi. before trading for a 96' no problems with the motor at all, 5-speed manual rattled like a coffee can half full of ball bearings in neutral but never give any problems. As far as a daily driver that leaves a little to be desired they are noisy and ride rough these are pickups that are made to be used as work trucks and not some damn yuppie-mobile status symbol. I worked the crap out of mine and it took everything in stride and even though it was rated at 160 HP I never felt it lacked in the power dept.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 11, 2010

I have a 91.5 W250, reg. cab. FYI: 1st. Gens were made from 89-93. '94 and up 12v engines are a little different. Have to remember they are 17+ yrs. old, but the newer ones have there own problems too. I personally like mine and would not get rid of it for a newer truck. I suggest you check out some dodge/cummins websites.

nick

Anonymous-0 · Mar 11, 2010

KDP's usually don't give problems on 1st. Gens. 2nd. Gens are known for KDP problems.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 11, 2010

Great engine, solid truck, but rough ride..Paint is terrible, as is quality of seats, trim, etc.. All in all they are good trucks, just sort of rough around the edges.. I have turned down a lot of offers for my 93, I still drive it...

Anonymous-0 · Mar 11, 2010

I have a W350 Ext cab,Cummins,dually,5 speed 4wd.Bought it new.Wouldn't trade it heads up for a new one.Yeah,crappy paint,but untouched under the hood except normal maintenence.Only real money spent was rebuilding the Dana rear.Put it back to open,less moving parts.

ramtuff · Mar 11, 2010

I'm on my 3rd Dodge Cummins since 2001.Never had any problems with any of them.The 2007 I have now with the 6 speed auto is great.Iwould say its as good or better than the allision.I've got a 2010 mega cab ordered.If it is as good as the last 3 could'nt complain.I've had Fords,Chevys&Gmc's .Their are not in the same ballpark.

4010 puller · Mar 11, 2010

Not too common. My 92 destructed on me. It has 220,000 miles on it running down the interstate empty it just shut off. The bolts came loose holding the front gear case to block and wedged behind cam, breaking nose off of cam. I sold it and the boy that bought it off of me put a new cam and lifters in it that was it. He could still see the cross hatches in the cylinders. The pre 93 and 94 up trucks are both good trucks. Transmissions can be an issue in both (manual or auto) and so can the dowel pin problem. Other than that they are pretty bulletproof, other than you need a kidney belt to keep your guts in from the rough ride. Expect to get alot of miles out of engine as well as good fuel economy if it has 3.54 gears.

Pat-CT · Mar 11, 2010

Ive been a member on the cummins forum website for two years, but asking all cummins fans is kind of bias'd you know what i mean

Pat-CT · Mar 11, 2010

Well let me re define daily driver,

Haull my tractors two and from shows, Drive me to college twice a month for the next 1.5 years then drive me a half hour to work back a fourth after that, I have driven a jeep for the last 9k miles so i dont think it could ride much worse than that. However i definitly dont mind sitting uncomfortably in my truck, im 18 and can bare the discomfort. I will be using it for carrying my tools back a forth to work And i will have to use it on off road use doing farm work and everything so i really dont think i classify as a yuppie. I could never drive a car I hate how they ride and I hate how low you sit.

Pat-CT · Mar 11, 2010

I ahve found a perfect one for 8500 that has some modifications to it, They go for ALOT of money here in the east if they have no rust which this one does not. The owner scraped the bottom por4'd it and rhio lined the underneath, IT has bigger injectors and an exhaust among a couple other things, mind you im not in the market for another couple months but im just getting a price range doing research etc...

DeltaRed · Mar 11, 2010

I just bought an '89 in oct.09(my first diesel).an old beater ranch truck 227,000 miles,starts instantly on the coldestmornings,uses no oil,and gets 25mpg! i love it,best truck i ever owned.it has a 4" straight stack(sweet!) and a homemade wooden flatbed.A real 'redneck' truck!

ILLEFTY · Mar 11, 2010

Just remember , dodge trucks use to be made in St. Louis. Now it's made in Mexico

gitrib · Mar 11, 2010

Dowel drops in to timing gear and breaks cover and leak oil. Lot of labor, no damage motor. Got 400,000 on it now drpped out at 100,000.

girib

Bruce Reimer · Mar 11, 2010

I'm looking for a decent 12V 5.9 to put into my White tractor. Anyone know where I could get one? Thanks for help.

Bruce

Anonymous-0 · Mar 11, 2010

Pat-CT, yea I know what ya mean.

You might want to look at 1stgen.org or dieseltruckresource.com I frequent these sites often, I don't think I ever looked on cummins fourm before.

nick

RodinNS · Mar 11, 2010

I never owned one but know of several. They were good enough trucks as Dodge's of the day went... which is to say the paint peels, electrical gremlins, etc. The FWD's that I rode in drove like a lumber wagon, or perhaps worse. In all seriousness, a tandem truck with 20/46 on Hendrickson rides better than the Dodge 250's with the Cummins and front leaf suspension. They ride like a Mack on Camelbacks.
Get a newer one... '94 and up at a minimum. I'd not be scared of anything up to early 07 or so... wherever the 5.9's ended. They're all good engines. The 6 speeds in the newer trucks are also an improvement worth getting...

Rod

JDemaris · Mar 12, 2010

I've got a 92 W200 extended-cab, 4WD, turbo-intercooled Cummins 5.9. Five-speed Gertrag and 3.50 axles. I love it and by far the most useful truck I've ever owned. I can compare fairly, at least with older trucks since I have half-a-dozen GM 6.2 diesels alone with two Ford diesels (1983 with 6.9 and 1994 with 7.3 turbo).

My 94 Ford F250 4WD extended-cab rides like a Cadillac as compared to my Dodge (when the Dodge is unloaded). But, to be honest, I didn't buy it for a "Cadillac" ride. Ford has a 7.3 turbo and 4.10 axles, yet my Dodge with 5.9 and 3.50 axles greatly outpulls it at low-end and high end and always gets better fuel mileage.

My neighbor bought a new $50,000 Duramax when they first came out, as a replacement to his rusty 93 Dodge Cummins. After some use, he went back to using the Dodge as his work-truck, and his new Duramax as a "pleasure cruiser." Duramax gets 14 MPG in situations where the Dodge gets 18 MPG. Also, he cheats and uses farm fuel in his Dodge, whereas his Duramax won't run on it.

ericlb · Mar 12, 2010

i have '94 2500 2wd, 220,000 miles trailer towing farm chores ect, its the best truck ive ever owned and ive owned a lot of trucks, the only things ive had to do was a starter and waterpump, in that time, the 12v simply sits in there and runs, very little problems, cummins had it right the first time, then they had to go and "fix it" now, the same cant be said of the newer ones,

dieselpup · Mar 12, 2010

I did the same thing - sold a Jeep and bought a "91.5 W250 with heavy axles right before I left for college. I spent most of my time fixing the Jeep but the Dodge has been the best vehicle I"ve ever owned. Fires right up and doesn"t burn oil at 253,000 miles. It does ride very rough.

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