Experience with '10-12 Dodge diesels?

[Greg]

Anyone have experience with the 2010-2012 Dodge Cummins trucks? I have owned 3 diesel Dodges in the past, from '98 to '03... the last truck was such a lemon (was highly modified, the beat on by previous owner), I swore I wouldn't own one again. But here I am, my GMC has over 300k miles and while it works great currently, I feel like it may be time to move on to something else. I have a possible buyer coming by today to see it, not sure how serious he is.

I'm looking at a 2011 Dodge 2500, it's an automatic, around 180k miles. The price is pretty decent, truck seems like it's taken care of. I know these have the 6.7 Cummins, hoping that it's totally stock. How do the automatic transmissions compare to the previous generation autos? All my previous trucks were manual transmissions, I avoided the auto like the plague. I understand the 6.7 can be more prone to blowing head gaskets when modified, because the cylinders are larger. And I know that injectors can fail after 80-100k(?) miles, leading to washing cyl walls down and should be replaced to prevent that from happening. I believe the track bars, ball joints and TRE's have been beefed up over previous models.... are there any other front-end issues with this generation truck?

Is there anything else I need to take into consideration when looking at one of these trucks?

 

[xjtony]

I have a 2012 2500. Just like most Dodges the main issues I have with mine are electrical gremlins( control switches etc), most of which are an easy fix. Mine is stock and does everything i need it to so it will stay that way. Really for a tow rig i dont see any reason to modify. If I had one complaint it would be mileage. I get from 14-17 driving around, but I dont really go a whole lot below that towing the buggy or our camper. At sea level I can get over 20mpg

 

[Hickey]

The front housing is weaker than 14+. My neighbor has bent 2 housings, but he does off-road it more than if it were just a tow rig.

You can pull the EGR electrical plug to increase your empty mileage. It throws a soft code, but will go away after you plug it back in and cycle the ignition 6 times.

 

[TRD270]

Not sure what year it happened but the 3500’s got an AISIN transmission as an option somewhere in there. You can tell if it has it if the dipstick is on driver side if I recall right.

Also the 14+ got the new suspension with the radius arm vs the short arm 4 link.

I loved my 14, still kicking myself for selling it. But alas it paid my flight school debt off.

 

[N-Smooth]

Also the 14+ got the new suspension with the radius arm vs the short arm 4 link.

The rear of the 2500's went to coils that same year as well

 

[Unimog]

I have had a 2012 3500 Laramie for a few years now. I'm not really a Dodge guy and don't know much about them, but I love this truck! It has about 230k miles on it now. I have zero major complaints and no problems that weren't caused by the previous owner. I tow a 13k trailer with it and it pulls a load great! I added air bags to it so I can tune when towing the trailer. Mine has a mild engine/trans tune and a fairly decent opened up exhaust.

If there is one minor complaint that I have, it is that it is hard to get the exhaust brake and transmission to do what I want when coming down a hill and wanting mild slowing. I generally like the 6 speed trans and exhaust brake. If you have it in tow mode with the exhaust brake on, if you start gaining speed, it is good at downshifting until it gets you slowing down great, but it is hard to control it manually to just maintain speed when coming down hills. It is really a nit-picky type of complaint.

 

[Hickey]

If there is one minor complaint that I have, it is that it is hard to get the exhaust brake and transmission to do what I want when coming down a hill and wanting mild slowing. I generally like the 6 speed trans and exhaust brake. If you have it in tow mode with the exhaust brake on, if you start gaining speed, it is good at downshifting until it gets you slowing down great, but it is hard to control it manually to just maintain speed when coming down hills. It is really a nit-picky type of complaint.

I have the exact same complaint about my 2017. I mostly just manually control the gears when I'm towing heavy and don't use the cruise when I'm on hills.

 

[TRD270]

I have had a 2012 3500 Laramie for a few years now. I'm not really a Dodge guy and don't know much about them, but I love this truck! It has about 230k miles on it now. I have zero major complaints and no problems that weren't caused by the previous owner. I tow a 13k trailer with it and it pulls a load great! I added air bags to it so I can tune when towing the trailer. Mine has a mild engine/trans tune and a fairly decent opened up exhaust.

If there is one minor complaint that I have, it is that it is hard to get the exhaust brake and transmission to do what I want when coming down a hill and wanting mild slowing. I generally like the 6 speed trans and exhaust brake. If you have it in tow mode with the exhaust brake on, if you start gaining speed, it is good at downshifting until it gets you slowing down great, but it is hard to control it manually to just maintain speed when coming down hills. It is really a nit-picky type of complaint.

In mine with the cruise off it would activate the exhaust brake whenever I exceeded the last speed my foot was on the throttle. So if I was cruising at 70 and took my foot off throttle it was activate the exhaust brake when I started going over 70. Not sure if that’s a newer feature, mine was also a manual.

This was in “auto” mode. If the brake was on manual it would come on soon as I let off throttle

 

[Ashcat]

I love my 17. Purchased new so I know exactly how that dumb kid drove it and how many miles are on the tow mirrors with or without big dumb loads. I only wish I had bought a higher trim level and a long bed. The only problem so far is how quickly it has developed leaks, namely the trans pan gasket which is a recall issue.....of like 3 total on the entire truck. I drove it like I stole it from day one, as per Cummins. It had a trailer on the 12th mile and there’s 24k on the odometer now. I get an honest 22-24 mpg bob tail (highway, cruise 70 or less) and lowest average ever is 11 @ 26,000 gross......with a monstrous slide in camper and ross cawr in tow. It’s so much fun to drive. Haven’t found the end of the pedal yet on any western grade

Best friend and I bought ours same time except his has the Aisin which he HIGHLY dislikes the drive ability of. FWIW, Randy’s has good information about the 68rfe vs Aisin. I would never go Aisin and there’s substantial reasons why. That being said, it’s unanimous that throughout the years each newer generation of the 68rfe has gained reliability over each successor and I never give mine a second thought

 

[Hickey]

I've never gotten that kind of mileage out of my 17. I wonder if we have different axle ratios. Mine is a Laramie. I do spend a lot more time above 70 than below it though.

I had an 09 3500 before. I liked that truck okay, but the 17 has a FAR better ride.

 

[anderson750]

The 68rfe overall is a decent transmission as long as it has not been abused. The moment you start throwing extra HP by deleting or treating it like a red headed stepchild it becomes a matter of when not if you will have problems. It will last longer if you control the shifting manually while towing.......especially down shifts at freeway speeds.

 

[Greg]

I have a 2012 2500. Just like most Dodges the main issues I have with mine are electrical gremlins( control switches etc), most of which are an easy fix. Mine is stock and does everything i need it to so it will stay that way. Really for a tow rig i dont see any reason to modify. If I had one complaint it would be mileage. I get from 14-17 driving around, but I dont really go a whole lot below that towing the buggy or our camper. At sea level I can get over 20mpg

That's some good insight, interesting about the electrical gremlins. Does the interior hold together well? My '98-03 trucks interiors would fall apart within a short amount of time.

The front housing is weaker than 14+. My neighbor has bent 2 housings, but he does off-road it more than if it were just a tow rig.

You can pull the EGR electrical plug to increase your empty mileage. It throws a soft code, but will go away after you plug it back in and cycle the ignition 6 times.

Interesting about the front axle housing! I do want to build up a Overland-worthy truck out of it, with 35-37" tires and set it up with a slide in camper. My goal is to use it for work, but also for long vacations & road trips, plus the ocassional trip to Baja. The trails aren't too challenging, but there is deep, soft sand and rough, rocky roads.

Goof info about the EGR!

I have had a 2012 3500 Laramie for a few years now. I'm not really a Dodge guy and don't know much about them, but I love this truck! It has about 230k miles on it now. I have zero major complaints and no problems that weren't caused by the previous owner. I tow a 13k trailer with it and it pulls a load great! I added air bags to it so I can tune when towing the trailer. Mine has a mild engine/trans tune and a fairly decent opened up exhaust.

If there is one minor complaint that I have, it is that it is hard to get the exhaust brake and transmission to do what I want when coming down a hill and wanting mild slowing. I generally like the 6 speed trans and exhaust brake. If you have it in tow mode with the exhaust brake on, if you start gaining speed, it is good at downshifting until it gets you slowing down great, but it is hard to control it manually to just maintain speed when coming down hills. It is really a nit-picky type of complaint.

Always good to her from someone that isn't a Dodge/Cummins Fanboy! Thanks for the feedback, good to know about the exhaust brake, funny that you can't really adjust it.

I love my 17. Purchased new so I know exactly how that dumb kid drove it and how many miles are on the tow mirrors with or without big dumb loads. I only wish I had bought a higher trim level and a long bed. The only problem so far is how quickly it has developed leaks, namely the trans pan gasket which is a recall issue.....of like 3 total on the entire truck. I drove it like I stole it from day one, as per Cummins. It had a trailer on the 12th mile and there’s 24k on the odometer now. I get an honest 22-24 mpg bob tail (highway, cruise 70 or less) and lowest average ever is 11 @ 26,000 gross......with a monstrous slide in camper and ross cawr in tow. It’s so much fun to drive. Haven’t found the end of the pedal yet on any western grade

Best friend and I bought ours same time except his has the Aisin which he HIGHLY dislikes the drive ability of. FWIW, Randy’s has good information about the 68rfe vs Aisin. I would never go Aisin and there’s substantial reasons why. That being said, it’s unanimous that throughout the years each newer generation of the 68rfe has gained reliability over each successor and I never give mine a second thought
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Great info! I'll avoid the Aisin transmission!

The 68rfe overall is a decent transmission as long as it has not been abused. The moment you start throwing extra HP by deleting or treating it like a red headed stepchild it becomes a matter of when not if you will have problems. It will last longer if you control the shifting manually while towing.......especially down shifts at freeway speeds.

Sounds like the auto's behind the older Cummins as well.... stock they could survive, but modded they wouldn't last. I'd be interested in a mild engine/trans tune, but not going crazy with power levels.

 

[anderson750]

I should clarify, that deleting will not immediately cause you problems and quite honestly if you don't abuse it, will probably be just fine. I had 108k on my truck when I rebuilt the motor and added the compounds. I deleted the truck at about 40k miles. So I had over 60k on it deleted with a lot of heavy towing. I had to rebuild the tranny at 118k.

Take it for what it is worth.

 

[xjtony]

Interior has held up well other than replacing a few controls, but they are typically cheap

 

[Pile of parts]

The interior on my '15 is much better than my '01. The plastic seems more flexible rather than the brittle plastic they used back then. I really don't have any knowledge on the '10-'12 and don't want to hijack your thread but @Ashcat 's post leaves me with so many questions????
My truck is the Aisin and I would agree with the driveability. Torque management makes it interesting to drive... There is not any trans tuning I know of for the Aisin so if you think you'll be doing any of that, I'd avoid it. It was only available in the 3500. It came as the High Output version. More HP/torque. When I bought mine I wanted the HO and was told the Aisin was bulletproof. However, test driving the truck, I knew there was a transmission problem and would have walked away but the fact that I was looking for an Aisin and longbed proved to be a tough combination. Also, everything was still under warranty and I knew the problem would manifest itself soon. Long story short, at 34000 miles my "bulletproof" transmission was replaced. 30000 miles later, no problems and I've learned to drive with the torque management. About the claimed milage... I think I hit a little better than his worst on an empty trip to California. I do spend a lot more time above 70 and maybe that's the difference??? With my camper on and Jeep in tow, I get about 9. The camper is huge/heavy. Probably 4500 lbs fully loaded and the Jeep is certainly not light either. The leveling kit and 35's probably don't help... One more thing, as far as I know, there is only one gear ratio available on the 6.7 in SRW. (3.42) You can get gear options on the dually. Again, sorry to hijack the thread. Hopefully you find some of this info useful. Good luck with the search!

 

[Unimog]

I'm not sure what the complaints are with the interior. Maybe it is history of older trucks. My 2012 has 230k miles on it and there isn't anything on the interior that was broken, other than the cheesy 12v outlet covers. To be fair, it had 200k miles in the first 4 years of it's life, so I figure it was owned by a traveling salesman or something to put that kind of miles on it.

 

[Toad]

You had to have an Aisin replaced?

 

[Pile of parts]

You had to have an Aisin replaced?

Yep. I bought the truck used, with 34000 miles. No idea of the previous owner or what he did with it. The dealer replaced a few sensors and solenoids trying to fix the problem. Before I hit 35000 miles, it crapped out completely. As I said before, I was pretty sure it was going out when I bought it. Everything else on the truck was perfect so I knew, worst case scenario, I'd be out of a truck for a week or so and have a new transmission under warranty. Maybe it was a Monday/Friday transmission???

I just re-read @Ashcat 's thread and should clarify mileage on mine. I'd say I average about 14, all around driving, and about 17-18 on that empty California trip. I was probably doing a solid 80 mph and sure it would have improved at 70.