I have been learking on this site for a few months now and its has come time to pic up a 05 CTD and I want your opinions on the AT vs the MT

I dont tow anything ** please dont pic on me for this im working on getting some toys to haul** just need full size truck with midsize economy.

I want to know what tranny will last longer if I take the plunge and pick one up I plan to keep her till they breaks down or the truck around the cummins falls apart witchever comes first. I do plan to BOMB just alittle like kill the kitty and open up the exhaust a bit and mabe a drop in filter the add a Simple box.

The only thing I have not decided on with my future purchase is the tranny any and all feedback and help would mean alot .

AT
I know they will slip a bit with a box on a high setting but in the long run how lond do think a AT can hold up to the 610 lbs of TQ with proper maintance.

MT
I found a 3500 wiht the NV5600 and I know that its a proven tranny from what I have read on this site and most swear by it. I have not driven a MT as of yet but I was wondering how fast u can shift? I mean since its a truck tranny and if I was hussling the truck can the syncro's keep up with my shift quickness or am I gona grind the Edit out of it every time I want to have a bit of fun.

How many MPG better should I expect to see with the 6spd over the AT granted I were driving both normal and not hot rodding around town. I drive 70-100 miles a day to my fire station and I need the best ecomy as possible I usualy drive a granny slow 65 to save some coin with todays gas prices .

Thanks in advance to all that reply

-Chris

 

In regards to the NV5600, yes its a truck tranny, and no you won't be able to speed shift it. treat it like a truck tranny, and you won't have any problems with it. I love my NV5600, and it will shift pretty much as fast as I want it to, but you arent going to be able to speed shift it with the long throw between gears that it has, so keep that in mind. Ive driven the auto as well, and didn't care for it as much, but I think it all comes down to personal preference. I get about 18-21 mpg highway and about 15-16 mpg city with my NV5600.
Scott

 

NV5600 Manual is a much better tranny than the 48RE Auto. Any box over 100HP you will have to re-build the auto tranny. The NV5600 can hold up to 400 RWHP stock from the factory floor. For $1000-1500 for a new clutch, you can have it hold what ever you can throw at it.

Long term reliability goes to the NV5600 as well. It is a monster of a tranny.

Now, the NV5600 is not a speed shifter. If you wanna drag race, forget about it. You can make a sandwich in the time it takes to shift gears. It does have a long throw between gears.

Which one to get really depends on your driving style. If you do alot of city driving, shifting the NV5600 gets old real fast. Auto is much better. If you do more highway driving, then the shifting of the NV5600 isn't so bad. You will get better gas mileage with a manual vs auto tranny, but that is just general among all vehicles.

 

I asked the same question a couple years ago when I was looking to buy my truck - Everyone kept saying GET THE MANUAL!

Well I do a lot of city driving....I tow, but not all the time... And I have little experience with manual driving & read a bunch of posts about how the Dodge will NOT stall, and as a result you could find yourself surging forward in stop & go traffic unless you really know what you're doing...Which could cause some nasty rear end collisions...

I went with the Auto & 18 months later I've extremely happy with it!

ZS

 

First off, if you know how to drive a manual trans, you won't have any issues with surging. That 3rd pedal is there for a reason.. Use it. Second, the surging only happens with you are in a gear and bogging down, braking, and not pushing in the clutch.. thats just a plain stupid way to drive IMHO. If you have that surging problem, IMHO, learn how to drive a stick.
Scott

 

My 5' 2" wife drives my truck sometimes and for that reason I chose the auto trans. My previous CTD (92 4X4) had an auto and it worked great too. It was a bit slussy at take-off but it never caused a problem. My 04 trans is much better. I get about 18-20 MPG around town and 23-24 MPG highway.

 

I bought my 05 6 speed two weeks ago. I still have my 95 gasser for sale, which is still my daily driver and only have 300 miles on the Cummins so I'm a newbie as far as using a stick behind a diesel. It isn't my first stick, though.

If you're pulling onto a busy street from a stand still, it's challenging. I want to wait before I go the 2-4-6 route, but I'm usually starting out in 2nd. With the redline @ 3200, you're shifting faster than you would with a gasser stick. The power is there, but as it was mentioned, it's long throws between gears. I enjoy the NV5600 and rowing, but it is stiff when new. I'm looking forward to doing the first fluid change and getting a few thousand miles on it to break it in. I also plan on keeping mine a long time.

Bottom line: I bought the stick, which was very hard to find around here....I had to go 93 miles to get this one, for the better mileage, the towing which will be in my future (car trailer and bags of wood pellets) the durability of the NV, for the ease of bombing and for the stick's fun factor. I can add a box and injectors and not have to come up with 3-4 large to upgrade the tranny. My 5'1" wife wants to learn how to drive it, but she won't be driving it often. Not only because it's a stick, but also the size of the quadcab makes her nervous. She'd be almost as nervous if it was an auto, so going that route wouldn't have made much of a difference concerning her.

I'm still on my first tank of fuel and my trip computer is showing 18.4 right now with ~ 2/3rds highway. I'm very happy if this is accurate as one other newbie on DTR said his comp is right on.

Drive both under the type of conditions you'll be doing, then decide. Make sure you're driving the stick at least 20 miles to get a good feel for it.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I should have clarafied about what I meant speed shifting. Thats just my road racing days coming out. I right now drive a 05 4X4 tacoma with the 6spd and its nice short throws for the most part so when I need to get on it i can go threw the gears pretty easily to get ot my desired speed. IM not talkign honda boy racer fast just halh as long as it takes me when I just cruising. I know from looking at teh Nv5600 that its not gona be smooth putting it into gear its gona be like a littel big rig. Plus with the power of the Cummins I dont think I will have a prob if I have to get up to speed just hold each gear a tad longer.


As for shifting I have read about starting in second when unloaded because first being so quick and some guys doing the 2 4 6 shifting. Are the gears realy that close together? I guess it's made that way so u dont bog down with a load there for keeping the truck in its prime RPM range

Well so far im pretty much set on the MT since I can have fun with it when I take the plunge and BOMB and if I make more power I can just change teh clutch out and bring on the stacks or twin's

I just need to get down to the dealer and drive it to see to make my final desicion.

Thanks again to all that replied keep the info poring in

-Chris

 

Drive them both. I have never owned an auto and probably never will. I decided I would at least look at the auto and took it for a test drive. My dad was along with me for the test drives. He just rode, didn't drive and when we got done he said he would choose the 6-spd. The NV-5600 is a truck tranny and it will not shift fast, if you want fast go with the auto and have it built up. Rowing through the gears is fun, and with the NV you can definately describe it as rowing

 

I'm a long time manual transmission fan, and didn't get a stick in this truck. The throws are long and gears so close that it was just too much work and a pain in the butt in the city. I was hesitant about the 48RE but have been pleasantly surprised so far. I have had zero slippage even when trying WOT runs on the quad 140hp setting. My feeling is that this is not a $15k truck, and a few extra grand to beef up an auto down the road if you want to bomb isn't that big of a deal. Most would agree that a beefed up auto is the ultimate...convenience, and also you don't lose boost when you shift.

The only thing I was annoyed about with the 48RE was no exhaust brake compatibility/warranty.. I'm not sure how that will be going forward, but the Jake brake works well with the manual trans.

 

the 48re is a good tranny.The only thing you hear bad about the auto is from the guys that have a stick and the duramax guys with there allys.And they dont have a 48re.

 

I have the 5600 and I like it, but it does shift SLOW. My only complaint is where reverse is... a few times I have had the tranny give me no resistance going to the right and shifted too far over and hit reverse for a split second. It is a horrible feeling. I have always driven manual and this is the only tranny I've had that problem with. I feel if I do it any more I'm going to need a new tranny Anyone else have this problem, or do I just suck at this truck tranny?

 

You get used to it. I did. Just push straight up from fourth and roll your wrist and you will find fifth. Practice this method and you can nail it every time. Every missed fifth gear shift I have is from trying to drive it like my 5 spd chevy. The funny thing is that I drove the old muncie 4spd truck tranny that I think the NV5600 is a short throw. Especially since I can rest my arm on the center consule and work all six gears. I don't understand what people are complaining about when they say the shift throws are to long and the trans shifts slow. This thing is way better shifting than the NV4500. If you want to shift fast just practice it a little. I dont beat the tranny up drag racing but it only took me 2 whole hard quick accelerations to figure out how to get her into the next gear in a hurry. Its all in the timing. Off the throttle and start shifting gears. By the time the clutch is even close to the floor shes in the next gear and you can be right back off the clutch pedal.

 

Yup, thats what I do.
roll the wrist to catch 5th.
Scott

 

I got a CTD auto for a rental while I was having a Jake brake installed in my truck.
The auto felt WAY quicker than my truck, the main thing being my big tranny does not make for speed shifts.
If you are not towing and are doing mostly city driving and would like to blast off the line, get the auto.
For towing you can't beat the six speed.