horselady

I put everything on the SLT that is on the Laramie except for the dual climate control and the electronic transfer case, and of course the leather seats. The difference is about $2,800, or $30 a month.

sCreamin400

$2800 sounds high but could be. That would be the sticker diff. You should get closer to invoice. $2800 is more than 30 per month unless you are going to finance for a very long time. On a 60 month note 2800 will be about $55 per month. You need to see if anyone you know works for chrysler to get the employee discount. You could end up with a laramie for the amount you want to spend. Jim

horselady

Two of my husbands friends work for freightliner, and worst case my mother works for a construciton company that builds their plants, but she would have to buy it and then sell it to me.
I cam up with 46,860 for the laramie, and 44000 for the SLT. I think the employee discount is good for about 7,000 , then I have the equity in my PSD, already have a buyer for it.
I/m just glad that it was a glitch in the system on the laramie package for the towing rating. WHEW!! I'm having a hard enough time looking at the new front end. If I am ever unfortunate enough to have some one hit it, and take out the bumper and fenders, i will have it repaired as an 05, then it'll be perfect. Or if any one out there with a flame red 05 wants to trade grill, fenders, bumper, and headlights, let me know!!
That employee discount sure does help, but even with out it, the dodge is cheaper than the comparable ford or chevy. And I have found another 6.0 owner with 20K miles on their second engine!

sCreamin400

I like the looks of the 06. Maybe it will grow on you? Jim

Patrick Campbell

Did they change the front end for 06 on the Non-Mega cabs???

BTW I would NOT trust the Dodge.com truck builder nor would I trust the sales reps to know what options are available with other options.

FamilyDiesel

I have a CTD with an auto trans and it tows ok. It is real nice and easy when stuck in traffic jams. When towing my trailer the auto takes care of all the shifting so I can give more attention to all the other things we need to be alert to when towing.

That said, if I had a choice, I would take a six speed manual over the automatic in a second if I could!! The RPMs used to spool up the torque converter on the auto, totaly waste all that nice low end torque that the Cummins makes! And I would prefer to choose the gear I need or anticipate needing over leting the auto 'guess' what gear is needed.

If they only offer the 3.73, it really should be more than enough for a 13,000 pound trailer. For the rare case that you would have needed the 4.10, just gear down to 5th and go!

Just my 2 cents.

y22man

Jan. 1st 2005 the 6 speed changed from the New Venture NV5600 to the Mercades built g56 6 speed. The G56 6 speed is geared differntly then the NV5600. With the G56 gearing and the 3.73 rear it is the same as the NV5600 and a 4.10 rear. Thus the non-offering of the 4.10 with the 6 speed. So at 70 you are running the same RPM as a NV5600 with 4.10s. Look for a posting by Klenger. He has a excel spread sheet that shows you the ratio and RPMs.

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klenger's site
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From what I have read from many posts in stock form the auto is much better and not a weak link. It will hold its own. With that said, I like to row much better. And for Longevity I think the 6 speed would be cheaper maintaince wise. My 95 auto is the last auto I will buy.

donhov

My opinion get the cheaper one. I guess I'm just too much old school also. Really like being able to manually select 4 wheel drive, never sure what the "Electric switch" is doing where with the handle you can feel it going into 4x4. and from a few other posts concerning the leather seats maybe the cloth are a bit more long lasting. I do know my 04.5 is kinda uncomfortable for long drives but I'm working on that. Hoping my local upholstry shop can figure out what is wrong with the seat and "Fix" it for me before the end of the month.