school me on a dodge with a cummins...

[twoslo4five0]

im looking to downsize...sell my ford and have my burb and a tow rig for a dd...the problem is i drive everyday 75-100 miles..i have talked to another member about this situation but i just want to insure before i purchace...i know of a clean 89 dodge w/a cummins..this was the first year of the cummins in a dodge..i drove it today and it runs and drives great...it is a 3spd auto though ...its not fast (which is fine by me)...i was told the rears were 307s also...remeber now i have to drive it everyday so a 307 wouldnt be a bad thing...anyone elce had experiance with theese trucks???oh its 2wd too...

 

[sled_dog]

a non-overdrive daily driver in an old dodge? Are those years even turbo? I wouldn't bother unless you planned to swap in an overdrive trans. How many miles on it? Diesel sounds like the route you should be headed, but do you really want an 89 that you aren't sure you could trust on that 100 mile trip?

I guess maybe you can't afford it, but you should probably be looking more like a newer cummins I'd think.

 

[PsRumors]

Those engines will last a long time. The only problem they had was a dowel pin that is easy to correct. It would work it's way out and take out the timing gears.

Even with a 3 speed auto if driven properly your are probably going to be in the high teens for fuel millage. The only negative which can be fixed is they are not inter-cooled. But if you are not going to hot rod it that wont be a problem.

It should be relatively cheap. If it's in good shape go for it.

 

[twoslo4five0]

a non-overdrive daily driver in an old dodge? Are those years even turbo? I wouldn't bother unless you planned to swap in an overdrive trans. How many miles on it? Diesel sounds like the route you should be headed, but do you really want an 89 that you aren't sure you could trust on that 100 mile trip?

I guess maybe you can't afford it, but you should probably be looking more like a newer cummins I'd think.

its very reliable...i know the owner for the last 10 years...he has taken exellent car of it...he says he has never had a problem with it (which kinda scares me)execpt an alternator in its 160000 mile life...it has a turbo also..i looked at it today and thought it was intercooled but i could be wrong on that..new to diesels...

 

[PsRumors]

Dodge didn't start inter-cooling till mid year 1990. An inter-cooler can be added and that may be what happened.

Do a search over at Diesel Truck Resource about the killer dowel pin then ask the seller if this has been taken care of. Not a big deal but about the only thing there is for a problem.

 

[lectric80]

My uncle runs a 90 non-intercooled Dodge. It has nearly 300,000 miles and aside from a starter and alternator, has never had anything but routine maintenance done. Still runs strong, clean and reliably daily. His is a 4x4, but it has never failed. They are long lasting vehicles, but change the tranny fluid and filter every 25,000 or less, the Dodge autos aren't known for reliability. Take care of it, and I would say get it, you won't regret it for many thousands of miles.

If you do get it, look into an intercooler, those turbos run extremely hot, and can really destroy the oil in the turbo, then burn out the turbo.

 

[rjfguitar]

Like I was saying in the PM's....

You DON'T want 3.07 gears, especially with the 160HP power output of a stock early Cummins. The truck is going to be very doggy on take off and still crank out some fairly high RPM's on the highway. There is NOOOOO substitute for not having overdrive in these trucks. They NEED to have OD, especially when they hit the governor at 2600rpm's.

If it's that super of a clean truck, and you really don't plan on driving it a ton, then it can't be a bad deal then.

Just remember that though, that the 1989-1991 Dodges are NOT like their younger siblings. The 1992-current Dodge Cummins trucks are on a totally different level than those first three year non intercooled, non OD trucks.