I know that the 6spd seems to be the preferred trans for towing, and I plan on towing a 7k lb trailer around and was thinking about the 6spd. However I still have flashbacks to the congestion in some of the national parks like Zion where it was a PITA sitting stuck in traffic on a hill with a car. I can imaging the pain of being there with a manual trans and a trailer. Do you trailering guys run into this much? I hate to go to an auto for just one instance...

 

I've only had that happen twice so far, but the 1st gear in the 6-speed makes it no problem, as all you have to do is let out on the clutch. You're not gonna stall the engine. (my foot accidently slipped of the clutch one day when I was pulling my camper, had to hang on for dear life, but the engine did NOT stall.) FWIW. CC

 

the 03 has a routine built into the computer to help in starting with loads. You just let off the clutch and the computer will sense the load and start adding fuel for a smooth start.

 

It's called a governor. Even the old injection pump engines will do that if you let out the clutch gradually. That is the correct method for getting a load moving with a diesel. The engine pulls down a little and the governor moves the rack to add fuel to bring the rpm back up to the commanded setting (idle, in this case). In this case, the computer signals the injectors to inject more fuel to bring the rpm back up.<br><br>

 

Trailer Life an issue or two ago tested a 3500 with a 14,000# trailer. They also indicated they could take off with the trailer by just letting out on the clutch. I see no peoblems with the 6-speed towing. Hopefully, I'll pick miine up tomorrow...if they can find it between the Lawrenceville, GA rail head and here!<br><br> BTW, I can replace a clutch, but I can't rebuild an automatic!