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What To Know Before Buying - 2006 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins

Sweet Lou

Sweet Lou

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Good morning everyone,

Been looking for a tow rig upgrade for awhile now. Live in the rust belt, so older trucks are harder to find in low miles/good condition. I have a Ford Ranger truggy and 18' car hauler, weighing about 6500lbs. In the following year I would like to upgrade to a larger gooseneck to haul my truggy and sxs simultaneously, or two crawlers on some further-destination trips.

I have always been a Ford guy, and currently haul with a crusty F250 V10. It's starting to fall apart, and I question it's reliablity more every time I drive it. I have found a 2006 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins CCLB about two miles from me. For being in the rust belt, the underside is SUPER solid. It does have more than average dents, nothing large but a bunch of smaller ones throughout the body. The cab corners, rockers, bed supports, and fenders are all SOLID. It is 4wd, and allegedly has an upgraded flywheel and HD torque converter. Otherwise, it is 100% stock. Stock exhaust, stock motor, no tuner, etc. It is owned by an older gentlemen that had a topper and all on it. He owns a dually same year/motor combo and allegedly used this SRW truck as his "commuter" when he wasn't pulling a trailer. He is only selling because he has the dually and just bought a brand new Ram.

Like I said, this a 5.9. 2006. Auto Trans. 140k miles. He is asking $9,500 which in today's market seems like a damn good deal.

Now, I've never been a Dodge guy or had any personal experience with one. What do I need to know and look for on these trucks? I know they are super cheap to build a ton of power out of and a smarty tuner will do wonders to "wake it up". I also know that anything past stock power-wise is subject to transmission damage. I know 2007 was the last year of the 5.9 before they moved on to the 6.7 in 2008 that also brought a ton of emission BS. I am not looking for a race truck, and I've got a honda accord I use as my DD/Commuter.

I am simply looking for a reliable tow rig that I can make 1,000 mile round trips with to wheeling destinations while pulling my crawler. What are the good things to know/look for when purchasing one of these trucks? Does anyone have any personal experience with these that they can offer one way/another? Thanks in advance everyone :beer:
 
Those were common rail engines and used a CP3 injection pump. As long as the old guy used good fuel filters and changed them regularly they are a solid system. Weakest link on a stock motor is the injectors and pump, they were a lot more finicky with poor fuel quality than the mechanical ones. Still one of the most reliable injection pumps for a common rail engine but you do need to keep up on the filters and buy clean fuel, a little water will wipe out the whole fuel system as will accidentally filling it up with gasoline.
 
ironman_gq said:
Those were common rail engines and used a CP3 injection pump. As long as the old guy used good fuel filters and changed them regularly they are a solid system. Weakest link on a stock motor is the injectors and pump, they were a lot more finicky with poor fuel quality than the mechanical ones. Still one of the most reliable injection pumps for a common rail engine but you do need to keep up on the filters and buy clean fuel, a little water will wipe out the whole fuel system as will accidentally filling it up with gasoline.
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Good info to know. I will be sure to check into that. Yeah the gasoline deal would really throw a wrench in things. Thanks for the insight.
 
Hell of a deal, that same truck in California would be 20k.
I have a 2005 with 210k on it, owned since it had 4k on it.
I have only put a water pump, some window switches, and an HVAC switch, been a great truck.
 
Sounds like a deal. I have an 06 with 130k on it. Oil changes, fuel and air filters are the only things done to it. Never been back to the dealer under warranty or since.

One door did break off in the HVAC box. The one that switched between pulling in some outside air or only recirculating. It fell right on top of the blower motor and was stopping flow. Dropped down the motor, snuck the broken door out and all is well.

Mine is a 6 speed so I cant comment on the auto trans but it has been a great truck.

Thought a couple times about a tuner but it tows my Bronco up to the Loon Lake Rubicon entrance just fine and i never did.
 
Outahand said:
Sounds like a deal. I have an 06 with 130k on it. Oil changes, fuel and air filters are the only things done to it. Never been back to the dealer under warranty or since.

One door did break off in the HVAC box. The one that switched between pulling in some outside air or only recirculating. It fell right on top of the blower motor and was stopping flow. Dropped down the motor, snuck the broken door out and all is well.

Mine is a 6 speed so I cant comment on the auto trans but it has been a great truck.

Thought a couple times about a tuner but it tows my Bronco up to the Loon Lake Rubicon entrance just fine and i never did.
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Good to hear yours has treated you well. No issues when towing? Have you owned it since new? Stock injectors/trans? I wouldn't have any intention of adding tuners or anything. 600 ft lbs of torque is plenty without that rabbit hole.
 
Dodges like to eat front ends. So figure it will probably need ball joints, unit bearings, tre's, u joints. Like already mentioned good clean fuel is your friend for reliability and long fuel system life.
 
I have a stock 2007 5.9L auto 4x4 dually with 215k. Father bought it new, I bought it off him with 120k.

I've replaced the water pump, batteries, brakes. Never touched the front end, still tight no issue there running 80+. Tires wear even. People who bitch about front ends are abusing them offroad or big gay wheels and tires. I finally did upper balljoints on my 03 at 230k, but still stock UBs. The 09(?)+ steering is an upgrade to inverted T vs Y. Was $330 shipped through mopar.

I finally smoked 2nd band, buts it's been abused pulling ±15k under my watch. Theres a 3/4" nut with an allen head bolt on the driver side above the shift linkage for 2nd band. Make sure theres 1/4" or better thread showing past the nut.

15w40 every 10k, fuel filter every 20k. Never skipped a beat burns no oil or blow by.

Seats suck. Truck is on its 4th foam seat bottom. I can pop off the cover and slap a new one in less than 10min now. The seat frame just wears through from getting in and out. 03-05 seats are far more comfortable. You can bolt in seats up to 2018 as ram never changed the pans.

Bunch of little shit, but overall solid truck. People will now flock in saying you'll drop an injector and burn a piston.
 
Bought mine new.

Stock.

Tows fine for me. I tow under 8k estimated.

No mods except muffler delete and PacBrake exhaust brake. Stock front end, factory alignment.

2 of my buddies have the same config with no issues.
 
As a drive train guy I cant recommend enough that you get a locking hub/spindle conversion kit for the front axle.

Aam have a pinion bear starve issue as well as the ujoints. It will save your axle!!
Upgraded ball joints are a good idea also if you plan on keeping it more than 10years.
 
I had a stock 06. Only two issues I ever had were the #4 or #5 injector line broke because of poor rubber isolator design and the governor pressure solenoid in the trans went out and I had to limp it home in second gear. Both happened at over 150k miles. The new injector line fixed the isolator issue and I put in an upgraded pressure solenoid and drove it another 20k miles before I sold it. Always heard people say they had issues with front end parts but I never experienced any.

Duane
 
Had an 07 with 5.9. Bought new, just sold it cause with 3 boys the cab was cramped, otherwise I would be towing with it still. Put just under 300k on it. Did 1 set of injectors at 218k, clutch same day. Some u joints, ball joints and other "wear" items. Did the 08 updated steering. Swapped the stock water pump at 250 just as a precaution. Best pickup I've ever owned. If it's remotely as good as you described OP, that's a decent price.
 
They eat front end parts like every other Dodge if you go putting big tires/wide wheels on it. You'll get much longer service life out of the ball joints and unit bearings if you leave a stock tire/wheel combo on it.

That body style are real common for breaking wires in the door jams which leaves you without power windows/power locks. See a few a year for heater cores which aren't terrible to do and I've seen the HVAC door breakage like Outahand mentioned a couple times. Water pump is about the only common engine part failure I can think of and it's a 200k+ mile thing most of the time.

Most of the "issues" I see people bitch about on these trucks are owner induced either by trying to play race truck or not bothering to do the most basic of maintenance.
 
I sold my 06 5.9L and wish I didn't sell it. I have heard that blow by happens on these motors. to test it with it running unscrew the oil fill cap ontop of motor and set it ontop of where it screws into and it shouldn't get blown up or move. If it does it has blow by and needs work.
 
Also I had 37's on method wheels on my dodge with the same balljoints that came on the truck I put 55K miles on it and never had an issue with the front end after changing the track bar for a good one. Also the HVAC sucked, didn't put out much air and the blend door was broken so it was on recirculate only luckily. I also changed my water pump with a oreilly one and 20K miles later it took a shit and got replaced with autozone one and that was on it when sold.
 
TTMotorsports said:
Also I had 37's on method wheels on my dodge with the same balljoints that came on the truck I put 55K miles on it and never had an issue with the front end after changing the track bar for a good one. Also the HVAC sucked, didn't put out much air and the blend door was broken so it was on recirculate only luckily. I also changed my water pump with a oreilly one and 20K miles later it took a shit and got replaced with autozone one and that was on it when sold.
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That generation blend doors sucked. My 07 is still hanging in but my 03 broke every door in it.

Theres a kit to replace the plastic door for aluminum.
 
Seems like a good deal but unless the V10 is falling apart from rust it's a lateral move at best in terms of reliability.
 
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I have an 06 with about 160k on the clock, I've owned it since about 60k. I won't get into the engine or trans side of things because I'm dumb and figured I needed 600+whp which has killed a couple transmissions and caused numerous other problems. On the plus side I can build a bulletproof 48RE in my garage now.

It's leveled on 34ish tires and was eating napa balljoints every 30k until I switched over to carli rebuildable. I did the entire front end once at about 80k and its due again. Axle u joints have been done twice, still on the oe unit bearings. Stock brakes suck, I went to drilled and slotted front rotors and hawk? pads and braking is much improved.

Electrical has been an issue for me. I had to replace the TIPM (Totally Integrated Power Module, $800 new) because one headlight and rear turn signal stopped working. At first I opened it up and soldered some stuff together to limp it along but eventually that failed too. The rear speed sensor and transmission speed sensor have both failed once. The radio started working intermittently and had to be replaced.

Like others have said the front seats suck. The foam is easy to replace with no tools required though.

I wouldn't mess with tuners until you do head studs (cheap insurance) and have the transmission beefed up a bit. I did a billet single disk tc, suncoast vb, head studs and airdog pump/filters right off the bat as pm when I bought the truck. I was towing an excavator home from the cabin and met a guy about 40 miles from the house to pick up a smarty S06 POD. Figured fuck it, I've done some decent upgrades, and loaded a tune in the parking lot. Front drum and band were smoked by the time I limped it into the driveway :lmao:
 
My buddys 04 was bought off another guy in our rock crawlin group. So DD and towing. He put a Goering trans in it at 90k miles....all stock on 34in tires and level kit..truck has 230k miles on it now, plus flat towing behind motorhome.

So trans, upgraded steering linkage, 1 water pump, and carli ball joints at 200k...and cruise vacume line due to vegas heat lol

We just drove it 1400 mikes to pick up my motor home and flat tow it back....no issues driving cross country in it
 
That's a deal, I'd probably jump on it, as it's 8-10k under market


But.


I wouldn't buy an 03-08ish dodge diesel at full price, it seems that for every 300k truck there are 2 130k trucks on their second engine due to injector failure wiping out a cylinder with little to no warning. This will cause hate and discontent, but I call it like I see it.


IMO a diesel truck is expected to give 300k of service with an auto tranny or a clutch halfway. A glowing review at 120k doesn't mean much. YMMV
 
That would be a 25k truck in canuckistan, at least in communist occupied british columbia..
 
Cant believe no one has mentioned it but the seats suck.

I dd a '03 thats now at 380k. Been running twins since 100k. Solid motor with expensive injectors wraped in rust.
 
61865C7A-14B0-4003-9499-13C9440B5CC6.jpeg
:flipoff2::flipoff2::flipoff2: As others have said, that’s a $20K truck in most places. I have a 05 3500 Dully with 101,000 miles, bought new. One injector replaced at 15000 miles under Warranty. No other problems
 
^^^

It's legal to get kicked in the taint, repeatedly, for public ridicule if you ever flip the mirrors.
 
Thanks everyone. I ended up buying it Thursday night. Got home about 9pm, and unloaded my old truck, hooked up, and left Friday morning for wheeling all weekend. About 550 miles round trip, and truck handled it like a champ. Averaged about 12mpg, nearly double what the v10 would have, and cruised at 70-75 mph. By far the best towing truck I've owned between Chevy 5.3, Ford V10, Ford 5.4, Ford 7.3 Accelerated up any hills with no issues. Not mad one bit.

Ended up getting the truck for $8,000 at 141k miles. I got lucky and found the old guy that had the topper installed and no access to Facebook, Craigslist, etc. Lived a mile down the road and was just one of those roadside deals I stumbled upon. We don't have diesel trucks with such little rust for those kinds of prices around here.

Has some dents/dings, and going to do a full service of all fluids, filters, etc this week and get it washed up and cleaned out inside. Hardly any rust compared to the old v10 and most Michigan trucks (salt sucks). Manual locks, manual windows, manual transfer case shifting, rubber floors - can't beat it. Truck doesn't even have a gooseneck ball or fifth wheel rails in the bed! For always talking smack about Dodge/Cummins guys, so far I'm impressed.
 

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DT75FLH said:
My buddys 04 was bought off another guy in our rock crawlin group. So DD and towing. He put a Goering trans in it at 90k miles....all stock on 34in tires and level kit..truck has 230k miles on it now, plus flat towing behind motorhome.

So trans, upgraded steering linkage, 1 water pump, and carli ball joints at 200k...and cruise vacume line due to vegas heat lol

We just drove it 1400 mikes to pick up my motor home and flat tow it back....no issues driving cross country in it
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Jerry and I put an aftermarket lift pump in it before Dean got it.
 
Awesome! That's a screaming deal:smokin:


I would look into a free spin kit for the front end, or at the very least, pull the front drive shaft and inspect and lube it well, it's somewhat common for them to let loose and grenade a t case

I'd figure out what guys are doing to prevent injector failure and/or catch it early and stay on top of it.

Not my first choice, but can't beat getting a nice truck for 40 cents on the dollar:grinpimp:
 
Projectjunkie said:
Awesome! That's a screaming deal:smokin:


I would look into a free spin kit for the front end, or at the very least, pull the front drive shaft and inspect and lube it well, it's somewhat common for them to let loose and grenade a t case

I'd figure out what guys are doing to prevent injector failure and/or catch it early and stay on top of it.

Not my first choice, but can't beat getting a nice truck for 40 cents on the dollar:grinpimp:
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Thanks - I am pretty damn happy with it so far. Definitely not my first choice either, but sure can't beat it. I will pull the front driveshaft for now and do just that but definitely want to get some sort of lockouts or free spin kit down the road. I'd also like to get a mega cab rear driveshaft and eliminate that carrier bearing. For the injector failure I want to get a FASS system to keep the fuel clean.

I did go through and change all filters, fluids, etc on the motor and intake. Fuel filter, air filter, oil filter, etc. Plan is to drop the trans pan and do filter, adjust bands, etc here soon.
 
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