Looking for a 4 wheel drive 2500. Is it better to look for a truck that switches into 4 wheel by a floor shifter or a console electric shift? What are the pros and cons of both. Thanks for any help.

 

i have had electronic switches in other trucks and see it as a problem area, I have owned 4wd's all my life and like a manual shift I never really saw a reason for the electric shift other than maybe its easier.. when I bought mine a manual shift was one of the must haves

 

Hey Slacker
Thanks for the reply. I see from your ID that you are from Arizona. I'm from Ottawa Canada and might want to go down south to look for a new truck. I want to get away from the rust we have on our trucks up north. I'm looking for a 06/07 2500 with a 5.9, long box, 4x4, low mileage. Gotta have the 4x4 for my moose hunts. How available are they in your kneck of the woods?

 

I think the manual controlled transfer case is the preferred method. It's just simpler.
Lyall,
Those trucks in the arid climate states are usually the most rust free but the trucks in the southern states that don't get much snow aren't bad at all. Here near Atlanta we didn't get any snow to speak of this year. And no snow means no salted roads and less corrosion.
That said, why don't you just plug an arid state zipcode, (like Phoenix, AZ) into the "Auto Trader" , "Ebay Motors", "Cars.com" search to get some idea of what's out there.
You may also want to consider a 3500 SRW, (not dually), as I think all 3500's were long box units. The 3500 rear suspensions contained the additional overload spring pack as near as I can determine. Otherwise the 2500 and 3500 are basically the same.

 

If it came with a megacab they have the short box, 6.5' I think it is.
Quad cab can be long or short.

 

Oops -- I forgot about the Mega's, they were all short boxes.

Thanks Polarlys

 

By principle alone, the manual selector is more reliable because it's not susceptible to electrical faults.

 

Thanks to all for your help.

 

I had manual in my 3rd gen, electric in my 4th gen. I prefer manual because odds of it breaking (when you need it most) are basically nil. And if the linkage were to break- you could easily fix it yourself, maybe even in the woods if needed.

However, in the third gens I believe you'll mostly find the manual shifter in the STs and SLTs, electric in the Laramies. Only disadvantage to manual is if you ever have anyone sitting in the middle front seat it will be in the way of their feet (but they won't exactly be comfortable anyway- so who cares?).