ckennedy

what are the issues with the manual trans on a 2004' 2500 diesel?? edited post...... my 2004 auto dealer trade fell throu...

now wondering if I should get a auto or manual...

DFD536

none so far on mine

I haven't really heard of any... why do you ask??

Dennis

ckennedy

well my on dealer trade truck fell throu.. After reading and reading around here I am wondering if I should get a manual instead on automatic.....

bulabula

...nuthin' wrong with my 6-shooter either. Still can't get that silly grin off my face every time I run it through the gears; and its been almost two years now.

RonsRig

You have to row through the first 4 gears really fast. The torque on this monster motor takes you up to red line before you know it. I ususally start out in 2nd or 3rd, but that doesn't mean I don't use 1st. It is nice to have when you are creaping through parking lots or on ramp entrances.

MikeyB

After owning the 6spd I don't know if I could go back to an auto. The manual is big, meaty and proven. It's kind of clunky without a load but under a load shifting is smooth as butter and really makes the Cummins shine.

MikeyB

Bigredmachine

A good friend of mine in Wyoming had to have his manual replaced after about 3000 miles on his 04.5 3500 LB QC 2WD. I don't know the details, he was pulling a pretty large loaded horse trailer at the time. Tranny was replaced with no questions and no problems since.

Equalizer 2

6000 miles and 2800 of them pulling about 8500 lbs of 5er and no problems. The speed really comes on once you hit 5th gear and it flies in 6th.

triplenickel

6 shooter all the way. I always start in 2nd and when in city traffic 2-4-5 is all a guy needs. It's a very sweet combo. IMO

big red psd cc

2-4-5 or even 2-4-6 if its got some mods

AaronT

I had the NV5600 in my 01 and in present 04.5 and they are great transmissions. My 01 shifted smoother/easier but this one will probably breakin a little.

Hawkeye 04

I've got the 5600 and my partner has the auto. I can pull circles around him, even before I put my EZ on. There was an instance where we were working on the top of a super steep hill and I was pulling 6000lbs with alot of tongue weight and couldn't pull the hill unless I was in 4WD. I pulled it in 2nd gear and even shifted into 3rd and my partner was pulling 4,000lbs and had to stop just as he started up the hill and tried to take off again and couldn't get it going! He even claimed he put in 4 Low, but I really doubt he did. He tried several times and all he did was slip his torque converter.... I ended up going down and pulling the trailer up for him.
Both of our trucks had approx 12,000 miles at the time.
Go with the manual. The hassle of always shifting is easily justified by the durability and longevity.

blown32

It just ain't right to have a transmission tell you what gear to be in. Go for a 6sp and make the choice yourself!

grizzly660fan

one bit of advice. if you tow on either tranny (auto or 6speed manual) be sure to get yourself a tranny temp gauge.

my 6speed can heat up under load. without a tranny temp gauge, I would have cooked my trans oil by now.

I tow about 10,000 lbs and on the flat the tranny will run up to 200 degrees. If I climb hills and stuff, or just go to fast on the freeway with this load, the tranny temp will climb and climb. I have read that 230f is when you burn the tranny fluid in these nv5600's.

solution when tranny gets hot - slow down, drop to 5th gear (direct drive). in 20-30 mins the trans temp drops back down and you can drop to sixth again and hammer down.

just my humble $0.02 worth.

forcefed88

I have the 6 speed, my company has an auto. I like driving the auto better, but bought the 6 speed for reliability. Unloaded the trans is kind of clunky, and takes a little effort to get it to shift smoothly. 2 through 4 does come very quickly. I would definitely buy the 6 speed again.