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Dodge 500 series

21st April 2011, Page 28
21st April 2011
Page 28
Page 28, 21st April 2011 — Dodge 500 series
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

My nomination is the Cummins V8 diesel-powered, 16-tonne Dodge 500 Series (vintage 1963-68). The 500 Series hadn’t been a bad truck in its original variant, but when Chrysler (Dodge’s owner) dumped the Commer TS3 two-stroke motor for their joint-venture product with Cummins, all hell broke loose! The V8 was a high-revving engine, reaching top power at 3500rpm, in a time when most drivers were used to low-revving engines, mastering gearchanges with a six-speed crash box was an artform well beyond the skils of most of us.

As a result, the transmission got well and truly hammered. Other faults included flywheel bolts breaking; the fan coming off the crankshaft pulley; pulley breaking in half and hitting the radiator; and the hole in the oil pressure relief valve was not big enough so when the oil was cold, it blew the end off the sender unit.

Ron Cater, CM’s road test supremo of the time, forecast it would be a troublesome beast when writing about the Kew-built product at the time of the launch. In 1968, Chrysler finally saw the light, switching to a Perkins V8 and its own five-speed gearbox, reinvigorating the fortunes of a range – which for a while was definitely the worst truck ever built.

Ian Salter (Former driver, owner-driver, operator – and the boss’s dad)

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