I just test drove an 06 with the G56. It shifts so smoothly, its very easy to drive. Its a lot of shifting when in traffic and so on, but what manual is not...

I have my mind set on the 6spd as I miss the stick shift. I had a 5spd Wrangler, then bought a Cherokee with an Auto, and I truly miss the shifting and control. Its all personal preference in the end.

 

I love my 6-spd. It turns a little higher in 6th on the highway than I think necessary, but I had an auto before and it never seemed to be in the right gear. Now I decide. Plus, it's fun to row thru the gears and when I give people a ride they always find it interesting that I have a diesel "standard"..they always have questions. The most popular one is "why don't you use Low?" Love it : )

 

Love my 6 speed, but I've always had a stick.
In town you could easily just use 2nd, 4th and 6th.

I didn't want an infamous Dodge automatic, I don't trust them, especially if a guy's planning on doing some mods but mine's still stock and probably wil stay that way while it's under warranty.

I have 285's, 6th could be a little higher, still sounds like it's revving a little too high, other than that no regrets.

 

I have the 48Re...robust but crude compaired to some of the other multispeed autos.
Having said that, for my situation...heavy daily traffic commute..."stick".. out of the question.
The auto is also much quicker and responsive than the stick, which is nice in the "trafic war" I deal with every day.
Not to say I drive agressively, but sometime maneuvers need to be done quickly to be safe.
I don't tow heavy...so the auto is ok for me...but once again this is no Lexus auto.
I guess if I was towing heavy or lived in a rural area and did not have to deal with traffic every day, I might try a stick, but when I test drove these things, I just couldn't see myself living with a standard day in-day out.

 

I have the NV5600 6speed, and do pretty much all my driving in town. I was a little concerned about having to do all that shifting, but 2 1/2 years later I find that it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I am comforted knowing that the only thing I'll ever have to do is replace the clutch, where as I know at some point I would have to rebuild the auto.

LONG LIVE THE 6 SPEED !!!

 

I have both a 49RE and a G56 - I definitely like the manual better, even though the auto makes it easier to enjoy BBQ on the road...

The manual does what you want, when you want, how you want - I like it much more in heavy traffic, as long as both hands are free

 

Put some taller tires on the 6 speed and it brings down the RPM. I am running 34 inch tires (245/19.5/70) and find 70 mph much more relaxing.

 

Yeah - the 315s on mine make a big RPM difference at cruise speeds; IMO, Dodge spec'd the tranny & rear ratios with larger aftermarket tires in mind.

 

i wish i had an auto, the truck would be alot faster.

 

Yes to all!

I'd rather have the 6 spd while in the hills, and the auto for the open road.

If I had it to do over I'd get the 6 spd with 4.10's and 35" tires

I would not waste my time with larger gears where I live and with what I tow!

Rick

 

You wouldn't want the new 6spd G-56 with 4.10. Unless you are towing very heavy!!! And going no more than 60mph

 

I love my 6-SPD!!!!!!

 

I assume this clutch problem is from your clutch friction disk wearing faster than normal for the mileage you have on the odometer. Do you start your truck in motion from a standing still position with the manual transmission in second gear and do you feed large amounts of fuel beforehand? That may be part of your problem causing premature wear of the clutch friction disk facing. Absolutely every time before I move my truck I have developed the habit of putting the transmission in first gear (bull low) and keeping my foot off the fuel feed as I then almost dump the clutch in order to obtain a quick direct solid drive line as soon a possible before instantaneously introducing added fuel. I think but do not know for sure if the computer adds fuel almost immediately when the clutch engages competely and the engine starts to pull. This will somewhat help you if you do not get on the fuel feed quite fast enough to prevent the engine from stalling. If not done correctly the engine will stall, but you will get a feel for doing it properly with practice. Depending on how heavy a load I am pulling and the degree of incline to accend, I will usually run the engine rpm up to from 1k to 1.5k before making a shift to second gear and then engaging the clutch as directly as practical. With real heavy loads and steep inclines the engine rpm will have to be raised much more before shifting, or the truck will have to be driven to the top of the incline in first gear. The six speed Mecedes G-56 manual trassmission has too great a ratio difference between first and second gear for my liking, causing the engine rpm to decrease too much after up shifts in the lower gears. I believe the Road Ranger transmissions have a 450 engine rpm ratio split between low gear and second. That is why it is so simple to smoothly shift Road Rangers without using the clutch. My G-56 could use a closer ratio range within the lower gears, especially first to second, whenever pulling heavy loads, and it could use a higher overdrive gear whenever running empty on the highway at 70 mph to keep engine rpm from going over 2K. This is my first diesel pickup and I am amazed at the low rpm torque that the Cummins has available to the operator. Never again will I buy a gas job for a work truck. I love my truck until I eventually have some problems to complain about. Proper maintanence is critical with a diesel for long life without problems on our farm. I hope the chassis will hold out without problems. The promise of a 4500 or 5500 Dodge looks good.

 

I love my 6 speed. If the auto had more than 4 gears, I might have considered it, but then again, if a 5 or 6 speed auto was just added in 05, I probably would have passed since it was new.

With the low end torque, it's not like you're constantly grabbing gears when you have to slow down. I'll go from 6 to 5 then 4 (maybe) to take a 90 degree left turn onto an onramp near here. Anticipating the traffic flow ahead of you will cut down on shifting as well. I'm not shifting as much as I thought I would be, if that helps your decision.

My favorite comment was from a friend when he saw my truck soon after I got it. He pokes his head in the drivers window and says "Wow! You got a four speed."

It's a six speed.

"Six? This is a six speed? Really???"

 

I too have the 6 spd, but if Dodge comes out with their rumored 'bulletproof' (yeah - I know) 6 spd auto tranny - especially if it has an automanual feature that's easy to use (either paddle shifters or a steering wheel shifter) I might be inclined to switch to an automatic. Not that I mind the manual, it's just if there were more gears, and more control of those gears in an automatic, I might be inclined to switch. I'll have to see how the new trannys perform when they come out.

Besides - I don't really have any intention of trading my truck right now - I like it too much.