dealseeker

I mentioned elsewhere that I just ordered a 2500 QuadCab 4x4 S/O diesel with an automatic tranny. The majority of my driving will be done in city/suburb areas not towing. I have a fifteen minute drive to work. The trailer that I will be towing has a 7000lb GVWR. I live in Alberta so no doubt we'll be in the mountains somewhere along the way. My wife can drive a standard but definitely would be intimidated in doing so in such a large vehicle. I certainly never considered a manual when I was still considering gas so should getting the diesel make it more of a factor to look at. I guess I'm looking for someone more knowledgable than me (not too hard ) to say, "It'll be fine, you made an excellent choice".

pwabbott

Welcome again, Dealseeker. Many Ram owners have no problems towing heavier trailers with the 47RE. The first thing I would do is to install a transmission temperature gauge. the sending unit should be installed in the line from the tranny leading to the cooler. This will tell the maximum temperature of your tranny fluid. Remember that the higher the temperature the shorter the lubricating life of the fluid. The second thing is to change the fluid and filter every 12,000 miles without fail. (If your temp ever gets up to 235 degrees F, the oil is shot in about 7000 miles.)<br><br>You may want to switch to a synthetic such as Amsoil. The advantage is synthetics can withstand higher temps without breaking down. Also, synthetics run cooler than +4 tranny oil.<br><br>When your tranny is in lockup, in 3rd or fourth it will run in the 170 to 190degree F range. The main source of heat is when it is not in lockup, the torque has slippage. The more slippage the more heat.<br><br>Hope this answers your questions. Take proper care of your tranny and you will be ok

Superduty12v

The 6 speed practically drives and shifts it's self. I say go test drive one. I've had my time with a slushbox auto. The last one I bought I told myself not to.... and of course kicked myself for it when it slipped left and right and burned the clutches. I will never own another dodge automatic. P O S slushbox. Everyone that owns one has trouble sleeping at night. I don't blame'em. JM2cents

dealseeker

Well, no surprise that I got two differing opinions. Thank you both, but come on Superduty, &quot;everyone that owns one has trouble sleeping at night&quot;??. I was reading in the tech section general info about automatic transmissions. Member Den052, a &quot;diesel and automatic transmission mechanic for over 30 years&quot;, says, &quot;an automatic transmission can pull extreme loads better than a stick&quot;. I realize that he is not referring to particular trannies, but in general that is a statement I hadn't heard before. My present trailer has a GVWR of 7000lbs; the most that I could ever foresee myself towing is a trailer of 10000lbs any time in the near future. 90% of the time I won't be towing anything. Everyone may now chime in and say I'm definitely OK going with the auto! I've already ordered the darn thing!

PADZZ

Pull my 9K lb trailer w/ the auto and no problems or dissapointments to report.

converteddzlr

I too is from the land of no hay and much oil. I also have a 47RE on order (already born just waiting for the stork to arrive!) and have no regrets yet. I'm sure it'll handle all the hauling and the mountains and the city driving just fine .. but like they say, it'll only treat you as good as you treat it!

Luke S

I have a 47re but I got 4.10 gears and it pulls good. If you look at my signature at the bottom of this post you can see what I pull.

dealseeker

Luke S - As far as I'm concerned you have final say. I've got more than I need most likely...well I guess you can never have too much . Thanks to everyone who replied.

Superduty12v

An automatic can pull more weight because it doesn't &quot;shock&quot; the rear axle or drivetrian. It kind of rolls the load on the drive train. The same effect can be had with a manual... but that's burning the clutch. It's just a matter of shockload.

jgilbert

[quote author=Luke S link=board=20;threadid=6850;start=0#65152 date=1037040434]<br>I have a 47re but I got 4.10 gears and it pulls good. If you look at my signature at the bottom of this post you can see what I pull. <br>[/quote]<br><br>Luke,<br><br>I traded my '00 2500 CTD LB with 3.54 gears and auto transmission because it pulled okay, but there was a definite &quot;dead zone&quot; in the power band or accelleration area. Once I hit 65 mph, there was NO more power for accelleration. It made pulling my TT a chore and not a joy. I traded for an 01 F250 SD PSD with 3.73 gears and auto. I don't know if it is the higher gears or the different truck, but there is NO power loss at any speed. However, I still like the Dodge, and would come back in a heartbeat if the dead zone is now gone. What say you?<br><br>Joe

PADZZ

Luke also has the 3500 w/ 4.10's. FWIW. :

PADZZ

Oops, looks like JGilbert chimed in at the same time I did :-[.<br>Going uphill w/ OD off, I can accelerate til red line w/ 9000 LBs, pretty much regardless of the incline; w/ 4.10's. That's pushing 70 MPH..pretty decent if you ask me 8). On the level, I can hit 85 MPH's pulling that load w/ OD on. It will yhave that 'dead spot' when the OD is on heading up an incline though...just have the OD off when pulling a hill.

pwabbott

To prevent shock to drive train the super low(creeper) 1st gear was provided 1st on 5 spd ratio of 5.61, 1st on 6 spd ratio of 5.63, 1st on 47RE ratio of 2.45. 1st gear has mucho torque to wheels without much velocity. Very little shock to drive train or wear on clutch if 1st gear used with heavy loads.<br><br>The trade-off with an auto is torque converter slippage. The shear to the lubricant generates heat, mucho heat (kilocalories) which shortens the live of the fluid. I will have to disagree with Superduty12v being able to to pull heavier loads. Take the 2003 Ram 2500 with Quad, standard output, 2WD, Long bed, with 4.10 axle as an example. With 5 spd manual tranny GTWR is 13,450#. With 47RE auto tranny GTWR is 13,500#. The difference of 50# is not significant when you consider that the manual tranny and clutch weigh 50# more than the auto with torque converter.<br><br>If you consider the California certified version equipped the same as the previous comparison, the one with 5 spd manual has a GTWR of 13,450#. With the 47RE auto tranny the GTWR is 12,500#. Here the manual tranny has a considerable advantage, 950# over the automatic tranny.<br><br>Have you ever seen a gravel truck towing a transfer trailer with an automatic tranny? They have manual trannys because auto trannys burn up under with GCWs of 21 to 24 tons.<br>

Hunter

Very good point Phil<br><br>You will never see a heavy duty truck with an auto. <br><br>They will not take the load. <br><br>I know too many people with Dodge Cummins autos that have puked on them, many 2-3 trannies that tow. Dodge has for sure made good on them warranty wise.<br><br>But like my dealer said (the warranty guy that underwrites repairs) &quot;I would not be caught on the middle of a Mexican hill with a Dodge automatic&quot; 'towing' anything<br><br>We will have 1,000 opinions, but how many 5-6 speed owners have lost a transmission?<br><br>So, if you are gonna tow, and you wanna tow reliable and not have to have Dodges 800 number programmed on the cell phone, you won't buy a 47RE and I would not buy a 48RE for some time.<br><br>JMHO<br><br>And that of many friends who will never touch another Dodge Cummins with any kind of auto<br><br>Until I started doing a survey a long time ago in various places and by various means (I wanted an auto really bad due to knee problems) I had no idea the trannies were that bad for towing etc.<br><br>I for one don't want to have gauges and smauges hooked up special to my tranny to keep it below such and such a degree, and not have the torque to coast over a hill, and change tranny fluid every 12,000 miles or so. <br><br>Why go thru all that hassle when you can sleep like a baby at night with the little 6 speed stick waiting for you to run her thru the gears?<br><br>And BTW, the most important thing I think I ordered on my truck was the adjustable power pedals and power seats. Anyone with any kind of knee and or back problems (me with both) will kiss the ground the engineer that developed those options walks on!<br><br>Use the adjustable pedals and power seat almost more than the 6 speed shifter to keep knee joint and back pain to ZERO ;D<br><br>Hunter

Luke S

All I have to say is the 4.10's make a hell of a difference. It really makes a truck out of it. I had an 01 1-ton quad cab 4x4 with the 47re and 3.54 gears and that truck didn't pull my big trailers to good. But I'm movin a hell of alot of weight. I had to run with the overdrive locked out all the time and I did not really like that. I could go about 65-69mph with the overdrive disengaged but that was running 2600-2900 rpm's which I did not likew to do. If you plan on pulling light loads 5-8000 lbs the new 3.73 gears mated to the 47re will be adequete. But if your gonna go any heavier than that get the 4.10's or your gonna have to make some tranny mods. Some people don't like the speed that gets robed with the 4.10's but my truck is hooked up to one of my trailers almost all the time and I can still run 80-85 pulling so I think that is plenty fast with the loads I got.