Alaska Rumor of Allison problems

[Web]

My buddy in Alaska called today to ask if I new anything about all the problems with the Allison tranny he was hearing about in Alaska. We lost the cell connection (he's a tugboat captian) before I could get any specifics on the rumored problems.

I told him my truck was doing fine and I hadn't heard of any problems besides the occasional oddball problems that always are out there.

I will try to connect with him once he's back in port again but if any of you have heard of tranny problems in general and in alaska specifically, please let me know.

Thanks

[JoeyD]

Maybe he is just hearing about the bad switches and programs in the early Allisons. It would take awhile for that to travel that far thru the grapevine. :D

[sdaver]

I would say that we definitly need more information.......this is the kind of post that gets bad rumours started......theres been a few early issues with shiftyness 4 to 5 which was corrected with a update and several here with the nbsu........hey call him back and get the rest of the story......... :D dave

[MAV]

I was up in Alaska from May 01 to just last week. Only cases I heard of were in winter when it was -40 F below. They wouldn't shift. But thats what they were designed to do when its that cold till they warm up. Max speed on the North Slope is 45 mph. Most of the D-max Allison trucks up there do not get worked hard enough to built any heat. Most complain about the heaters not blowing hot air because the motors are cold. They all run both bra's and a high idle. They'll figure it out. I never had a problem with either of my Allison's while living there.

[Nixter]

I live in Alaska, meet many Dmax owners and have never heard that rumor. I do know of an Alli that had to be replaced in a coworkers truck. It had something to do with bolts not being properly tightened at the factory. My service writer earned some of my trust when he mentioned that incident without knowing that I already had knowledge of it. It also supported the notion that such a thing is quite rare.
Prior to buying my Dmax I had discussed it with many owners here and never heard a serious complaint. Also FWIW they seem to be very popular up here. More so than other places I have been recently. And I am seeing many 03 chevys already. Just today I spoke with a new 3500 D/A flatbed owner. He was pretty excited about being able to outrun most cars in his construction rig. --Nick

[Web]

I was finally able to connect with my buddy again and ask about the specifics of the rumors. He said he always heard the rumor 3rd hand and couldn't track down anything solid himself.

So it seems it was just a bogus rumor.

Thanks to all who replied.