Since I have not seem many positive posts about the G56 I wanted to give some positive feedback on the new transmission.

My father purchased a 3500 Laramie quad cab dually manual 2 months ago. Since then has pulled a 15k 5er up to Fish Lake by Sigard Utah. Some good pulls. Cattle in Nevada. Drove around Flaming Gorge with the 5er. Some big pulls. Parleys with the 5er several times. And plenty of unloaded highway, city miles.

My dad absolutely loves the truck. His comment was absolutely the best truck he has ever driven for any purpose he has. He was a truck driver for 35 years and has owned many trucks during those times. I never thought anything would replace his love of his 72 Chevy small block 400 with the turbo 400 auto. His 94 Cummins NV4500 came very close. But, he absolutely can not get enough of this new truck. He loves the transmission. He thinks Dodge got it right. The entire truck he can not get enough of.

One mans humble opinion.

 

I love mine too.

I have thought all new vehicles we $hit since the mid 80's.

For this kind of money....I hope the G56 and the rest of the truck stays together.

 

I love the tranny too my only wish was it was a 7 speed.

Joe

 

I have a six speed in my truck, how can you tell the difference between the two and which is better?

 

Right/Down for reverse is the G56. NV4500 is different pattern and the OD is Taller geared.

Joe

 

Uh... hope thats a typo. Reverse in the G-56 is to the left and down. to the left of second.

 

I have an '06 3500 with the G56. Can't say I care much for it, reverse seems to be geared higher than my old NV4500 5-speed and the top gear/rear axle/tire ratio combination makes me run 2200+ at 70mph versus a straight up 2000 rpm in the NV4500 and 3.55 rear end. I don't even have to tell you what that means for fuel economy, it stinks.

But then again, I haven't twisted the nut off top gear yet with this one, either. You can buy a lot of fuel for the cost of having the transmission worked on every 6 months.

 

reverse isnt higher, but ill second that its geared a little lower than my liking, other than that, i have zero complaints on the tranny. its great if u like to run around 60 mph

G-56
1st----------------6.29
2nd----------------3.48
3rd----------------2.10
4th----------------1.38
5th----------------1.00
6th----------------0.79
Reverse------------5.74

NV-4500
1st 5.61
2nd 3.04
3rd 1.67
4th 1.00
5th 0.75
R 5.61 (in 98 it was changed to 5.04)

NV-5600
1st 5.63
2nd 3.38
3rd 2.04
4th 1.39
5th 1.00
6th 0.73
R 5.63

 

According to those ratios the reverse on the G56 is lower, especially when you figure in a 3.73 vs. a 3.55. I think tire sizes are similar on my trucks, so it must just be perception and not reality.

But the final drive ratios are 10% higher than the old models, so your engine is running 10% faster just to maintain highway speed. Which is not good.

 

I love the way the G56 shifts, and if I keep it at 70MPH I get a solid 17MPG with 8000 miles on the truck. Around town driving keeping it under sixty keeps me up in the 19-20's easily. Truck is a joy, and the gearing is a little low, but man, that truck just goes, put it in 6th and keep going no need to hardly ever shift. Scotty

 

LOL

I would love to shift it one more time!! Hopefully Chrysler (or aftermarket) will come up with a little higher axle ratio like the 3.55 or even a 3.31. People say they don't like to DD a 6 spd but I like it.

 

From the little I have driven the truck I really like the transmission too. Just slow down a little. Enjoy what is going on around you. Personally I started running 5 - 10 under the speed limit on the hwy. I allowed a few more minutes to get where I was going. All is good for me, personally. It is nice to slow down. To go from my high stress job as a Senior Network Engineer it is nice to slow it down a little. Allows me to think and reflect on family, house, work, whatever.(of course paying attention to others on the road too)

I know this will cause a lot of flames. But, coming from a network stand point, If it does not do what you want in the first place you should look for other options.(said with love)

Its all good.

On a side note, I have not seen many reports of failures on this board or the pay site with the G56. Granted it is still young. But many are putting more power with out upgrading the tranny. Not to mention I have read a few 100K+ stories.

 

I really only have two complaints.

1. I always start out in second gear, second is right next to reverse. If in a hurry it is possible to back into somebody at a stop light, I got lucky and didnt hit the guy but I am much more careful now.

2. More gears, at least somthing to bring the rpm's down on the highway. Im young and have to be everywhere "right now" I cant help it. Im sure that will fade with maturity though.

 

Mine is really hard to mistake 2nd for reverse, as it takes a good amount of push to the left to go down to reverse. My g56 is as smooth as silk. Only thing is I slipped it a couple times hauling heavy, but I believe it was driver error because I was still taking off in 2nd instead of first to get that heavy load going. One thing I do, though is I hold the clutch in when I shut her down. I heard its better for the dual mass and it doesnt sound like my motor blew up every time I turn the motor off.

 

Slowing down to 60-65 isn't a great option when the speed limit is 75 and you have hundreds of miles to cover.

It does shift smoothly, however. I've found that the tranny will do whatever the NV4500 did in a higher gear - i.e. if you would need 3rd in the 5-speed, 4th will do ya in the G56. But 6th gear needs to be higher, no way to sugar coat that. Either that, or 5th needs to be high enough to haul with and 6th be your unloaded, OD gear.