Overview The 2001–2006 Dodge Stratus has a split personality. Always did. One car is the sedan, built around Chrysler hardware. The other is the coupe, which is basically a Mitsubishi underneath. Same badge on the trunk, totally different tranny story under the floor. That matters more than most buyers realize. I’ve seen people shop these…
Overview First-gen Dodge Stratus. 1995 through 2000. On the transmission side, this car is a pretty narrow story. You’re mostly dealing with Chrysler’s 41TE on the automatic cars and the T350 five-speed on the manual four-cylinder cars. No verified AWD setup. No transfer case. No PTU. No rear differential hanging out back waiting to drain…
Overview The 2003–2009 Dodge Sprinter is a weird one in the shop. Same name on the badge, two completely different platforms underneath. The early vans (2003–2006) are the T1N generation. Then the redesign hit in 2007 and we got the NCV3. Different body, different engines, different electronics. But the transmission? Same basic unit. Mercedes built…
Overview The 1994-2003 Dodge Ram Van is one of those platforms that looks simple until you get one up in the air and start chasing what is really wrong with it. Then it gets messy fast. I’ve seen dozens of these, cargo vans, church vans, conversion vans, work vans that lived hard lives, and the…
Overview The 2010–2012 Ram 3500 is one of those trucks that can make a loyal owner out of you, or empty your wallet fast if you buy the wrong one. I’ve seen both. In the shop, these trucks usually show up with one of two stories: either they’ve been worked hard and maintained like a…
Overview The 2003–2009 Dodge Ram 3500 is one of those trucks that shows up in every heavy-duty shop sooner or later. Tow rigs. Farm trucks. Oilfield beaters. Snow plow monsters. You name it. Most of them run the Cummins diesel, which means one thing immediately: huge torque. Low RPM torque. The kind that shoves a…
Overview The second-gen Dodge Ram 3500, model years 1994 through 2002, is one of those trucks people talk about like it’s indestructible. I get why. Big axles, simple chassis, real work-truck bones. But once you narrow the conversation down to the tranny and driveline, the story changes. Fast. I’ve seen a lot of these in…
Overview The 2010–2012 Ram 2500 is one of those trucks where you do not start with the badge. You start with the tranny. Always. I’ve seen too many people buy one of these things because it “felt strong” on a short test drive, then find out a month later they bought the wrong transmission, the…
Overview The 2003–2009 Dodge Ram 2500 looks simple on paper. Big truck. Heavy parts. Old-school hardware. A lot of people take that and assume the transmission and driveline are basically bulletproof. They are not. I’ve worked around these trucks long enough to tell you the failures are usually not mysterious. They repeat. Same worn converters….
Overview The 1994-2002 Dodge Ram 2500 does not have one transmission story. It never did. I’ve seen dozens of these trucks over the years, and the first mistake buyers make is talking about “second-gen Ram transmission problems” like every 2500 is built the same. Wrong truck, wrong tranny, wrong driveline, completely different headache. A 47RE…
Overview The 2009–2010 Dodge Ram 1500 is one of those trucks where you need to separate tranny risk from driveline risk right away. A lot of people mash it all together and say the whole thing is bad. That is lazy diagnosis. In my experience, the actual automatic transmissions in these trucks are not the…
Overview Let’s get straight to it. The second-gen Dodge Ram 1500, 1994 through 2001, can be a solid old truck in the right hands. Big caveat there. The drivetrain story is uneven, and the weak spot is usually staring you right in the face: the tranny. I’ve seen a lot of these trucks over the…
Overview The U.S.-market Dodge ProMaster City from 2015 through 2022 keeps the drivetrain story pretty simple. One engine. One tranny. Front-wheel drive only. No manual option, no CVT, no dual-clutch setup, no transfer case, no rear diff, no prop shaft hanging underneath waiting to become your next bill. That simplicity is real, but it does…
Overview The third-generation Dodge Ram 1500 is one of those trucks that can fool people. Some of them are solid, honest rigs that just keep working. Others are money pits wearing a cheap sale price. Same body style. Same badge. Totally different ownership story once you get underneath and start looking at the tranny, the…
Overview The U.S.-market first-generation ProMaster is a weird van by American standards, and that drivetrain layout is a big reason why. This thing is front-wheel drive. No long rear driveshaft. No rear differential doing the heavy lifting like an old-school full-size van. The tranny, final drive, and front axle output functions all live up front…