My first gen is in the body shop and MAY get totaled. If it does I'll be buying a new truck. Has Dodge fixed the auto trans so that the diesel doesn't eat it up? My first gen (92) had the tranny rebuilt twice by Dodge under warranty and then again out of warranty. If the Turbo diesel still beats the tranny up, I'm inclined to go with the six speed. If I can find one here in So Cal.
I tow a 30ft toy-hauler when I tow. Weight around 6-7,000lbs. Too much for an auto?
My son is a salesman at a local Dodge dealer so finding exactly what I want, as soon as I know what I want, shouldn't be a problem.

 

If you want to go fast and rebuild the auto then get the auto, if you are more interested in pulling and highway driving then get the 6. In my opinion the only reasons to get the auto is if you want to race and if you drive around town alot auto is easier.

 

The Auto will get you higher MPG, the 6 Speed will give you more pulling power.
A 6-7k Load behind either is like a knat on a horse..it wont know its there.

Nav

 

why is it that an automatic gets better mileage than a 6spd?

 

Taller OD ratio on the auto.

 

I've had both... get the 6spd

 

They're both good, but I like the G56 more... I'm a driver

 

and thats the only reason? I wonder if you could order 3:54 gears for these rear ends?? anyone ever looked into it? not saying from dodge but from a differential place.

 

No, only 4:10 or 3.73 ratios are available for the AAM 11.5 axle. According to the AAM webpage the differential housing can handle gearsets from 5.13 to ~3.42 but nobody is putting forth the effort to make the differential carriers or the gears.

 

so different gears arent an option for better mileage unless you have the 4;10's and bigger tires and wheels are around $5000!! , so has anyone tried a gear vendor overdrive and if so was there a mileage increase?

 

They have a couple of 6-speeds at West Oaks in Thousand Oaks, CA. I drove both the auto and 6-speed '06 CTDs, and, frankly, the 6-speed seemed a lot more refined. In fact, when I drove the auto, I came away thinking "I don't know if I could live with all the vibration and noise of the Cummins." Then I drove the 6-speed, and it was like a different truck. The extra flywheel weight resulted in much less vibration. The engine also isn't under torque converter load when waiting at stoplights, so that makes it smoother, too. The clutch was a light as a car, and the shifter was precise. It is a very, very nice package. I drive a lot of heavy LA traffic, but when you have a lot of torque, as the Cummins has, a manual trans. is no problem. Besides shifting keeps me from getting completely bored to death in heavy traffic.

Michael

 

I to own both an auto and a 6 speed and my only 2 beefs with the stick are that the gears are so close together(meaning that you spend all your time shifting) and that the rpm's are quite a bit higher on the highway. my auto is smooth as glass and I notice NO vibration of any kind. the auto is also showing 22 on the overhead and actually getting 20.5 on the highway at 65. the 6 speed gets around 15 under the same conditions but has only 5 k miles. I strongly suggest you drive both before you buy or you may regret it.

 

my 6 speed is getting around 20, that is at 70 mph and 2150 rpm...i will be getting a gear vendors unit in a couple of months, that'll drop the rpms to about 1500, so it should get better mileage

 

I like my auto....but then again, I don't tow much...and I spend a lot of time in heavy traffic.
BTW... no vibe problems.

 

There is no law that says you have to go through every gear when accelerating or decelerating (unless you are after the big rig sound). I skip gears all the time. That's the advantage of the manual. You only use the gears you need at the time.

Michael