iam thinking about selling my truck to buy a 06-07 6speed truck. this is my first automatic, i bought it to give it a try. now that i tried it i dont like it at all. its ok to putt around town in but it slips aready with just a smarty jr. and 23000 miles on the clock. it is way to expensive to upgrade compaired to a maual trans. its so much easier and more reliable to put a clutch in it then to burn up a auto and spend 5k for a rebuild. any thought on the subject? i love my truck i hate the auto. i dont pull heavy but i like to shift. is it worth it?

 

there is a reason for test driving vehicles???? i am just kidding, i sure enjoy my 5sp. except in traffic while towing.

theres nothing like grabbing gears

Good luck

 

The 2006 6 speed manual gearing is a little off for good fuel mileage highway gearing. They did a much better job on the 07.

 

What auto do you have?? 6 speed or 4 speed, I am trading up to an 08 auto from a 06 stick, the only reason I got the stick was I wanted a dodge and the 4 speed auto sucked. The new 6 speed auto is a dream come true(LOL), the stick sucks if your try to go fast, plow snow , tow in town ,drive in traffic, backing up with a trailer, fuel milage over 65 MPH. But going down the interstate its fine. I may just be getting lazy in my old age(LOL)

 

Whatever made you think it wouldn't slip, shuttle shift, and generally under perform when you turned the power up? Its not like that was secret info.


If you want a stick get one but be prepared to take a loss unless you are extraordinarily lucky.


If you want to fix your auto so it is a lot more functional and fun and NOT spend $5k, that can be done also.


FYI, I am running a full Smarty on Wild using #5 and #7 with excellent results for about $220 in parts and labor.

 

I would say its a 5.9 with a 4 speed because I I now have a 08 6.7 with a 6spd auto and it pulls better than my bosses 07 3500 MC DRW 6spd manual with a Edge EZ (65 hp). So much so that he bought a Juice with Attitude (120hp and 250tq) that I sold him and installed for him after we used my truck to pull our work trailer one day. I never thought I would have liked an auto but this 6spd is great. I have a very strong running 96 with a 5spd and have never liked stock auto's but with 6 gears and the tow haul and exhaust break I would not have the 6spd manual. I have had to put SouthBend clutches in 2 07 with less than 35K on them and did not want to have to work on a new truck ( the hole reason for buying a new truck) when the 12K warranty runs out on the clutch. Plus I really don't like how the G56 shifts. Look at all the junk in the shifter there are about 10 pivot points on it to were out and make it shift worse+. I real think that you should give the new auto a drive. Also the new 6.7 is rated at 350HP and 650TQ. I drive my bosses truck often and I would not trade his Laramie Mega Cab Sun roof leather 5.9 3500 4X4 DRW 6spd manual for my Lone Star SLT QC SB 6.7 Cloth 2500 4X4 SRW 6spd auto. And I get 4MPG better and run 1800rpm at 70mph with 3.73 gears, he runs 2250rpm at 70mph with 3.73 gears.. But now you can get 3.42 gears in the 6spd manual.

 

Whole lot cheaper to just mod the auto. You will loose at least 5K if try trading it in. Bye the way it is not 5K to mod. For the parts, TC, VB, Flexplate, billet Input it is only right at $2700 dollars........

Edited: Made a typo on the amount.

 

Once again, the RPM difference you have in your auto compared to the new ratio manual is going to close the gap on the fuel mileage difference due to the drop in RPM. Additionally, you are comparing mileage of a dually 3500 to a SRW 2500. And you are comparing 2 different motors between the 5.9 and 6.7. With all the variables involved, you cannot draw a good conclusion that a 4 MPG difference is because of the new auto.

 

Here is a cheap solution for anyone that doesn't like the way the auto shifts.

Switch it to Tow/Haul Mode. Makes a night/day difference in shift feel. Auto locks on 3rd and 4th, plus holds the gear and down shifts. I like the feel of the 48RE auto better than my previous Allison.

 

I agree with Spooler. You are going to take a bath trying to trade your truck in. You might as well spend that money on building up the Auto. Then you will have the best of all worlds, imo. Power, quickness, towing ability, whatever.

If you just prefer to drive a stick....then go for it and trade it.

..

 

I love my truck, and I like shifting gears, but my legs get very tired when I hit the stop & go traffic which is everyday on the way home from work... I end up using my left hand to help my leg push down on the clutch. I have a CON OFE clutch BTW. I have considered doing the opposite of what you are planning but having had two bad auto trannies in a row makes me scared of doing that. The thought of driving something other than a CTD has crossed my mind too..

I may just look for a commuter car but after driving a big truck for so long I just don't know if I can do it. I know those new Denalis get some pretty good gas mileage for a big old SUV. Heck I still have my friends problem free 6.0 Excursion that I could buy if I wanted to...

 

Tim fixed that problem on the 03 though, right?


..

 

if you hate the truck trade it in. keep the mods you can and look around. some dealers are nuts but you might find one that will give you a decent trade. if you built that auto you might hate it even more. with a built auto it brings out alot the little things alot more you dont notice when its stock. if you plan to mod alot a stick truck is fun but with a grabby clutch driving in traffic is a big pain

 

Yeah that excursion would make a real sweet commuter . But then you wouldn't get in that left side workout every day !!

 

My 03 trans had some quick shifting issues that got better with the new trans but never did go away fully. It would shift from second to third so quickly at part throttle that you could not even feel it. If I put my foot to the floor then it shifted fine but while driving around town it was still there. I was something to do with the PCM learning my driving habits which included lots of traffic. I actually had to pull the TV cable adjustment as far back as I could just to make it tolerable. I should never have had to do that. The strange thing is that when Tim did the trans he also did my injectors. He had the truck for a week and he was driving the truck for that period. When I finally picked it up from him it was shifting perfectly. I was so happy I was calling my wife and friends and telling them the great news! Well, within a week it was back to where it was prior. Tim offered to do some VB adjustments but I knew it was something to do with the PCM so I never took him up on the offer. That was a great truck and the trans was the reason I don't have it now.
As for my current truck, it has been 100% trouble free except when I put mods on it. I love rowing through the gears and I will have a hard time getting rid of it just because my legs get tired. It has been the perfect truck. Unfortunately I sometimes dread leaving work to go sit in traffic and the traffic is not going away but instead it keeps getting worse and worse. I'd love to get a commuter vehicle but work has been slow and I just can't afford it. I am, however thinking about selling my trailer which would give me some nice scratch to pick up another car. If I don't have the trailer though, I really don't need the truck! I have a 5.0 Mustang in the garage but it's a 5 speed with a HD clutch too so that doesn't help me any either...