RUMOR: Is Dodge changing to CAT diesel?

If true it may be good news to those of us for whom the current 3500 dually is a perfect fit. Power mongers such as yourself will dump their current models for the '07, leaving the rest of us with some good deals on the used ones. Kind of like the summer of '97 when the 4-door QC replaced the 2-door CC.

I'm kind of in the same situation as you Ed, looking for a 3500 dually. With a potential layoff looming in the wings and negroes now living on three sides of me I figure the net of my severance check would be a nice sendoff to take to the dealership. Buy the truck, put a 4-sale sign in the yard and "me and momma" will just drive off into the sunset and become full-time RV'ers.

Happ>Last week I was at a dealer looking at a new CTD 3500 for towing a 5th >Wheel.

That was what I was thinking myself. There may be some excellent deals this fall and perhaps I can persuade the wife that we can live with less trailer. Although, I must point out that I'm much happier when SWMBO is happy, but she is reasonable and frugal.

The wife and I are retired and want to take extended trips to see the country. We have a 'vacation trailer' but it isn't conducive for full-timing.

Sounds like an idea, I have a nephew who was a steam fitter who liked to work construction on the coasts and power plants, especially nuclear. I don't understand the in's and out's of the trade but he seemed to keep jobs lined up. He and his wife lived in a trailer or 5th wheel for years and raised two kids. Between jobs they took vacation trips around the country. And he tried to find jobs where they hadn't been before.

They had a home base near Ft. Smith Arkansas where they retired to between jobs and when he finally retired.

I can agree with that. I spent a whole year there one hot week in August. The humidity was a killer, especially for someone from the desert where 30% humidity was considered high. The next time I was there was in January and it was nice.

Ed

Thanks John, Yeah, it hurt having to leave it behind but that's the fun of being with the military. Right now I am trying to get my hands on another LCF C800 but this one has a 413 gas engine with a 10 speed RoadRanger tranny. Would rather have another Cat powered C800 but the one I left in Alaska is the only one I've ever come across with the Cat option. Most of the diesels were either inline 6 Cummins or Detroits. To add insult to injury there was not enough room to put the inline 6 diesels under the hood (due to the snub nose) so they had to notch out the firewall and use a cowling in the cab (like a full size van) to cover up the rear of the engine. This cowling is hard to find so converting a gas powered LCF Dodge to an inline 6 diesel is next to impossible. I know where a turbocharged Detroit 6V92 is and might try putting that in place of the 413. The bad part with that idea is that the old Detroits got about the same fuel mileage as the 413 did and with the cost of diesel fuel being higher then super unleaded I don't think it would be worth it. Oh well, six of one and half a dozen of another I guess.

Ruppster

We're only here because 19 years ago a job transfer I couldn't afford to turn down brought us here from Kansas City. It sure wouldn't be my choice. Housing is really cheap even for all-brick homes, but that's about all. As miserable as the climate is in June thru September, the city has recently become a hotbed of crime, far moreso than ever before. Of the estimated

200,000 "evacuees" who landed here in Katrina's wake, most of them came from "the projects" which in case you haven't noticed, AREN'T being rebuilt. New Orleans doesn't want the scourge of their society back. They're Houston's problem now.

No. See:

I hadn't thought of that. A 200,000 population increase of questionable characters must have put a huge strain on law enforcement and the law abiding citizens.

You mentioned you were thinking of full timing. Can you retire or would you just move to a new job and call the 5er home? Actually, it sounds like moving into a trailer and out to a 30 mile commute or so might be worth the trouble.

GT

Houston's extremely popular mayor (won reelection practically by acclamation) is very sorry now that he opened up the Astrodome and welcomed "life's walking wounded" with open arms. He has now turned to FEMA asking for $6 mil to offset addt'l police overtime in the areas of town where these people went after they left the "Dome".

I'll be only 60 this year and so cannot really "afford" to retire since I won't be able to start Social Security until I'm 63. I do have a small retirement + small 401K (approx $350k total combined) which spread out over (guessing) 20 years doesn't allow for a very lavish retirement, even invested at 8~10% return. The problem is our home isn't paid for and won't be for several years, but we do have about $70k equity in it right now.

We also have some issues that we need to address. We desperately need to move due to a recent and rapid deterioration of the neighborhood (white flight). We can neither afford nor do we want to purchase a new home in an Anglo neighborhood because taxes would double, house note would double, commuting distance would double, etc. The idea of full-time RV'ing seems to have some positive appeal although we would be in much closer quarters and maybe claw each other's eyes out after a month or two of living in 320 Sq Ft after previously living in 1900 sq. ft. We also have pets; 2 golden retrievers and 5 (yes, 5) cats. All are indoor pets and are considered "members of the family". Are we nuts or what?

We've thought about going to the 5er now or within a year and continuing with the job as long as it lasts, but knowing that a layoff is imminent and could come at any time. Ideally I need to work 6 more years until I'm

66, but minimum I need to work 3 more until I'm 63. The layoff could come in a year tho and at age 60 you're kind of unemployable, so we were looking at full-timing as a potential way of DRAMATICALLY cutting our living expenses. The idea being that the home sale would net enough to pay off the RV and the severance check would nearly pay for the truck. We really don't want RV or truck payments in our retirement (voluntary or forced).

That looks like a spoofed site.

It may look like it, but it's not (unless the entire Cummins website is a spoof). Maybe this looks less spoofish. Is that even a word?

the heading DodgeRam, click on #28.