I have the 48re and 3.73's and I tow a 43ft gooseneck loaded for GCWR of 22000 pounds and mine is just fine. Oh and it has 31000 miles on it 27000 of them towing and my dealer says the auto still looks great.

 

The reliability issue with the 6.7's is almost 90 percent with people that dont use them to pull stuff every day or consistently enough. With the new flash and pulling the way you do i would think you would be sitting pretty good with a 6.7. Mine is in the shop but i only pull every other weekend and mine was pre flash truck. At the dealer that mine is at there is another pre flash truck that went 50,000 miles before his DPF went he was a long hauler as i saw his DOT sticker in the side window. Just make sure what ever you buy you get one made in June or July or later.

 

I tend to believe they will figure out the DPF programming soon if this new flash hasn't already done so. The motor seems solid, I have yet to hear any complaints on the motor itself or the 6 speed auto. The problems I have read in here are EGR and DPF related, which is no different than the GM and Ford sites. That being said, many of the posters talking about EGR and DPF problems are running additives in their tank. What in the world would possess someone to add a smoke generating gummy fluid to a truck equipped with a DPF and EGR is beyond me...but old habits die hard I suppose. That and the dealers are not explaining to people trading in what the differences are and what those additives will cause.

All IMHO, of course.

 

I agree about the 410. Mine was 373 and I was towing at the limit. The biggest problem I seen is the tranny want pull the load from a stop. Plus I live in the mountains so it made it worse. The dealer knowed what I was going to pulling and they said I would be fine. I wasnt and the lied there way out of it to. If your pulling open road the 410 should be fine but I wouldnt trust it. You couldnt give me another auto in anything to tow with.

 

Im trying to keep reasonable MPG too, wouldnt the 410's put me another 300 rpms. How much worse MPG am i lookin at. I do know it would be better for the tranny cause in my jeep i went from 3.07's to 4.56 and my tranny luvs me for it. But now im also doing 65mph at like 3 grand rpms

 

In my auto I got terrible fuel miliage it changed gears around every curve. It acted like a 4 cylinder auto. I jumped to fast and didnt test drive the auto enough. I also drove other autos while I was trying to get mine fixed they acted about the same. My advise is drive them both and give them the same tests and go from there. The 410 in the auto will help on take off alot and I dont believe you will lose much fuel miliage on top end. Plus if you went with the 6 speed they offer another overdrive gear for open road. I cant remember the exact name but it has been talked about alot on here. If you go the auto route I hope you have a good dealer and like to go there alot becuase it want hold pulling. I am not trying to be mean or anything but I have lived it and Chrysler will not help you. All they said to me was sorry sir. You see my trailer in my pic. The stupid thing wouldnt even pull it sometimes and if you are concered about fuel mine got 8 mpg

 

If you are going to pull everyday and you want reliabillity the only way to go is the the 6 speed 5.9. nothing against the 6.7 they will be just as good in time , but its to early to tell. the 5.9 has been proven for many years now. Personally if i was going to pull every day I would never own and auto I want to be able to control my shifting JMO

 

Purchase is on hold till next wednesday!!!??? Fly to houston from tampa, drive to dallas to pick up 48ft trailer weighing 7000 pounds. I would think that would put me in just under a 500 mile breakin for the next 7000 pounds towed will be 1000 miles nonstop back to tampa. Sounds like fun!!! Hopefully I dont break down on the way home from dallas. LOL gosh I would be so ******!!!! p.s. new sig is up

 

Have fun with the truck!

 

Well, im flyin into houston in 12 more hours to get my new inferno red 6.7 6 speed auto with a few nice options including infiniti speakers. Only 1 mile msrp of 45+ and im getting for 35, or 38+ out the door with gap! I will be driving her back home to florida picking up my 53ft trailer in mississippi!! she should have a good 500 miles on nice drivin till picking up her 7000# load. for another 600 miles. I will get back with you saturday and tell you mpg and results of all that i know off that i can blab about. Hopefully she dont break down on me! Cant wait to drive her home

 

As a counterpoint I have a '07.5 6.7 with a Asien 6 speed. The 6 speed is a proper truck transmission. Not an addaption of a older car based system. The earlier 3 speed autos I'd avoid if pulling heavy all the time. I like the truck and the tranny. I've had no problems at all. 5K miles, mixed hauling heavy and light. Trailer hauling farm tractor, (flatbed and tractor 15K), horse trailer, at about 10K, and empty. Mom drives this rig most of the time. She can't shift anymore due to a knee injury. If you have an option and want the best long over the road economy get the manual. I still think this will be the most trouble free option. You shouldn't have trouble with the Asien 6 speed though. If any of your towing is in town you will probably like the auto better.

 

I would definately go with the 5.9/6spd. My buddies neighbour has 2 6.7's he just bought for rv hauling and is having major prob's. He has now put a sign on the side of one of the trucks saying what a lemon it is and he's taking Dodge to court to buy them back. The 5.9/6spd. is a proven reliable combo.
By the way my friend is a huge Duramax lover and this is giving him lots of ammo.

 

Would sure hate to have to make a decision based on all the advice on this thread!! Opinions seem to vary from end of the spectrum to the other. But you're the one who has to make the final call AND pay for it!!
I've posted about this before, put a total of 330k miles on my 04.5/Auto/4:10 truck in less than 3 years, meaning it was running almost 7 days a week. 3/4 of those miles were towing something up to 18k lbs. The fuel mileage was fantastic for a truck of it's size!! The 48re held up pretty good - 220k miles before I got rear-ended with a 32' TT on the hook. I believe this caused a "premature" failure in the tranny which I had rebuilt. Prior to that I only had 1 problem with the tranny - a governor pressure switch needed to be replaced. When they tore the 48re apart it was still in decent condition, a large snap ring had broken causing a shifting problem. The 48re always felt sloppy but it got the job done. My 07 has 36k miles on it now. I would NOT go back or even consider a manual. Drove big trucks many years and miles, just don't want to be doing all that shifting anymore. Despite a few glitches with the EGR system on the 07, which I may have caused due to old habits dying hard, I wouldn't go back.
We're all gonna be EPA compliant in a few years anyway. Yes, with the 07 I seem to be giving up a couple m.p.g.'s but it's still not broken in yet. It took about 50k miles before the 04.5 started getting good mileage. Probably by the time I got 50k on this beast they will have figured things out better OR the aftermarket will come up with something.
I would never judge an entire manufacturer on one or even a couple bad experiences. There's always a couple bumps in the road of progress. Lest I jinx myself, XXX, I think the Auto 6 speed is the ticket for towing especially when hooked to the 4:10 rear. It is definitely an improvement, drivability-wise, over the 48re. AND the auto 6spd with 4:10's runs @ less r.p.m.'s than the 48re with 4:10's.
Just my 02.

 

Just wait till your friend gets his turn in 2010. Us dodge guy's will be running with the 6.7 that has no changes since 2007.5 and when they have problems with the new Dmax we will just say told ya.

 

All I can say is what an exact oppisite from my ford!!!!!!!!!! 500 miles a tank on highway and thats with 3 gallons still left in the can. And thats on my first fill up. Even crusing at 85-95mph alot on 1 tank, I still got over 450 with 3 gallons in the can. All I can say is wow!!!!! My trailer bit didnt happen so no towing yet!!