I'm thinking about getting a 600. I have always preferred manual boxes but the wife wants me to get an auto. Two questions:

How reliable are Dodge's auto's
What difference in mileage between the two

Thanks!

 

Both of my HD Rams have had the manual and I have been very happy with both of them.

Mileage: Over the life of my '98 V10, 12.5 MPG. I heard that most of the folks with the autos were getting around 11 MPG. So there is a difference. Over the life of my '00 CTD, I am getting 17 MPG. That is loaded and unloaded, with my Edge and without, with 35inch tires and without. My biggest problem is that I drive it like I stole it and it's my diesel sports car.

Love the tranny on both, wish I had installed the shifters available from Geno's, but didnt' know they exist. I will when I get the new ride in a week. They are truck trannies so they don't speed shift really well, but they handle the loads that we throw at them. Mine has been abused pretty heavily, but is still holding on well.

I will say this much, I will be getting a SB DD Clutch at some point for the new ride. The trannies are good, but I am hell on clutches.

 

Welcome. There are a bunch of friendly, well informed folks here that I'm sure will chime in to help you out soon.

From what I've seen, the auto might cost 1 mpg or so? With so many other variables (4x4 or 2wd, driving style, axle ratio) it's hard to find identical trucks to compare.

Although I recall hearing something about a recall for an oil cooler line or something, from reading here and having friends who own them, the 48RE seems to be a pretty reliable and good transmission so far.

Personally, I went with the stick, figuring the engine would probably go over 300,000 without a rebuild if taken care of, and I thought the stick would give me the best chance of having the rest of the drivetrain hold up that long.

Also, I enjoy shifting, and also wanted the Jacobs... On the other hand, even a straight piped truck with an exhaust brake is not likely to drown out an angry wife…

Anyhow, if the wife really insists on the auto, I wouldn't be afraid to go that way, but if I were you and she is willing to be flexible, get the 6.

 

If she's gonna be doing driving duty (or you would like her to), and she wants an auto; nuff said.

In my search I drove LOTS of auto tranny diesel trucks, both Dodge and Ford; I drove one 6 shooter - I bought it.

I didn't care for the shifting characteristics of the auto tranny's. They always seemed to be in the wrong gear or something. But if I had to drive in bumper to bumper traffic daily, I'd buy an auto truck.

Just like anything else, if you take care of them, they'll take care of you. If you abuse it, it'll abuse you back. I think they both have the same fuel mileage capabilities - but personal driving habits figure greatly into the the numbers.

Auto's have a higher OD gear too - something to keep in mind if you go with 3.73's and huge tires later on.

No matter what you get, it'll give you a great big grin.

 

If you are running stock you should be fine, if you are towing heavy or otherwise running heavy I for one have my doubts about Mopar autos. I have replaced more than one in 2nd gen trucks, in every case the trucks were regularly running at or near GVWR. I have no experience with the 48re, but IMHO D-C has a track record of only marginally meeting the capability of their autos with the capability of their H-D trucks.

If your wife has some experience with manual trans vehicles, she will find that the Dodge/Cummins with a manual is a piece of cake to drive. It is very difficult to get one of these trucks to stall. I have accidentally started in fifth, and regularly start in second or third.

I doubt that there is much of a difference in mileage between the two.

Good luck.

 

Get whichever makes the wife more comfortable, if she's gonna drive it. My GF didnt care what I bought, because she's not going to drive the truck.. I wanted the 6 spd, and thats what I got.
Scott

 

my truck, my hot rod, my tranny... the little woman doesn't drive it!

 

I'll be driving it 95% of the time. She'll just drive it when her's is being worked on, or we need to take a pickup. Her 'truck' is the Excursion.

BTW, this looks to be a great site! I have spent years on 'thedieselstop' site which also is a fantastic site, but is for primarily for Fords. I have been happy with my Fords, but with all the problems they are having with the 6.0 PowerStroke, I'm afraid to buy one, so, I am beginnng to look at Dodge.

 

Take her to a dealer and let her drive one with the manual. I suspect she might just change her mind. Let her see how easy it is. Worth a shot anyway...

 

If it wasn't for the traffic around here...... After 13K the 48RE is still alive and still shifting like a Dodge auto. .

Its the best auto I've ever had in a Ram. I love it every time I hit heavy Atlanta/Alpharetta traffic, which is every day.... 7 days a week. The road I live on is stop and go most of the day, every day. The auto is nice to have.

 

lol atlanta and most every other major city like that is stop and go all day almost every day

and everywhere else all it takes is 1 accident and suddenly everyone has to do 10 mph to take a good little peek at the crash and who died

thats why i love the auto baby. auto is plain sexy.

ive got... 5500 miles on my truck now and im still lovin it. im really happy i went with the diesel over the hemi, talk about bad mileage the hemi is HORRIBLE, i test drove it and was getting 12 mpg i couldnt believe how bad it was.

got in my diesel and im pull 15.4 mpg while doing 70-75 while pulling 5000 pounds.... when im not pulling anything im getting 17mpg 70-75 and in the 20mpg area in town (very light traffic) either way i just chose the auto because traffic is a bit annoying for manual and my wife is so sexy i have to see her driving this truck

 

I'm in Dallas... we have traffic... I still row gears like a man

bumper to bumper is no biggie in these trucks... they've got such a low 1st gear and you don't have to give them throttle like a gasser when letting out the clutch, it's really no big deal at all.

don't get me wrong, if I had $5k laying around, I'd get a fully built automatic setup so I could lay down some times at the strip, but they just cost too much to hold any real power

but I'm a bolt action guy through and through

Forrest

 

heh, i love manuals also, i own 2 1970's dodge challengers with 440's, 4 speed on the floor i love them, they make me alive i just dislike traffic, and since im older now the leg dont like it either

when i was a kid all we could afford was the manual, and thats all i drove for most of my life till the 80's then all we bought was auto's

 

Wife is a non-clutch driver, but was willing to learn, so 6 spd for me. Now if I can just get her to calm down when she misses a gear....