Automatic or Manuel

[Kathie in Thorp]

I drove both today. The only thing I didnt like, about the automatic it was a little slow starting off. Seemed like it had plenty of power after that. The standard had all the power, start to finish. I'm just afraid I wont like the auto, when I load it down. Just cant decide.Thanks for every one's Opinions.

The problem is both are choked down with the exhaust . Dpf and egr . I removed all of that on my truck . The auto seems slower but it's really not . I've owned both . I can pull a 40 foot float with 24 4x5 rolls at 70 no problem . Might be a little flat here but I haven't smoked my auto yet . Out of the 40 k miles on my truck this year . 32 k of it is towing . You can manually shift the auto also

My step-son has encouraged me to "chip" my Dodge 3/4 ton diesel/manual. But I have an extended warranty to 70K, and I'm not quite at 40K now . . . so I'm not ready to go there yet.

 

[A.J.]

Sounds like you've got a great dealer to work with there. That would go a long way towards me being a repeat buyer from them in the future. With diesel prices high as they are that was $800 well spent.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

I will add another little Dodge story here . . . . Before I had the '06 diesel, I brought with me from the "previous life" an 02 Dodge dually diesel, auto tranny. We pulled a big load of tractors from the midwest with that, and maybe we'd have burned out a clutch doing it . . . don't know. But I traded that in, because I was relocating to REAL SNOW country, and that dually had been gutless in a bad-traction situation before.

 

[Till-Hill]

Had a 2000 auto 3/4 cummins, hated it. Traded in on 02 6sp with high output. Put 135,000 on that truck, hard farming pulling miles. Heated the clutch up once hauling 9-10 ton hay across a rough CRP field then never had a problem till I smoked it at 135k. My fault and it would have ran longer. Got an 08 auto Duramax now. Like the truck but hate the tranny and motor does not have the power my Cummins did with 80 hp chip. Next truck will be manual Dodge if wife will drive it!

 

[bigbull338]

i can see both sides of the deal.an yes from what ive seen i learn more to the auto side because i know what the auto trucks have been put through an not lost the tranny yet.theres 1 that comes to mind that started slipping at 300,000 mi.an the guy traded it off right then.

 

[ohiosteve]

The Allison 6 speed auto behind a Duramax is hard to beat in my book. Very durable. Many of the guys I work with on a daily basis are switching to this combination in the harshest of oilfield conditions. Overloaded and through very muddy conditions. I am not a brand loyal person.I couldn't care less Ford Chevy or Dodge, just my observation.

 

[hurleyjd]

You folks that are removing the emission components on the trucks could face a huge fine as would your dealer. The trucks will not pass the safety inspections. I think I am right on this but maybe not. Emissions controls are inspected by the places that safety inspect my trucks.

 

[JSCATTLE]

That's only true in California or for commercial trucks . But as Long you know where to go and who to talk to you can get an inspection sticker .

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

That's only true in California or for commercial trucks . But as Long you know where to go and who to talk to you can get an inspection sticker .

Not sure if that's totally true, JSCattle . . . I have no idea why not, but Washington, the "green state" does not require annual emissions tests -- at least not in our county -- maybe on the west side ?? Ada County (Boise), ID, does require those annually, although the neighboring, commuting counties don't.

The emissions tests may be something different from state to state, and even county to county. Still, I'm not messing w/ my Dodge until I don't have to worry about the warranty.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I was making a joke about California. Im not sure of everyone's regs. But it's not required here . And if you know the right person you can get the inspection . It's worth the risk to me when it adds 6 miles a gallon . If they are going to regulate the new trucks that more efficiently burn fuel they need to take the vehicles over 10 years old off the street also .

 

[Angus Cowman]

Not to much motor for a standard. Blowing the clutch is operator error. Any time any one wants to see how there truck will pull come see me. Where i live will fry your auto transmission ford chevy or a dodge.

well the guys im talking about has over 100yrs of pulling with the manuals.an you tell them they dont know how to drive emm,an most likely youd be wondering why you was on the floor.theyve ran pulling full loads in the mountains prolly close to 3 mil miles.most years they would put 100,000mi on a 1 ton.an thats on the road.

Bring them on Big Bull I have been on the floor before, I have also been the one left standing. Lots of difference in pulling on the highway and the dirt road we pull on here. Steep assed dirt roads with a 32 ft gooseneck with 22 round bales will make be nice pop. You better have a manual transmission cause you auto is going smoke.

Randy
most on here have never seen the goat trails we lived on our whole lives much less drove on them

as for the dodge diesel with an Automatic buddy has one and it stalled out hauling hay out of our place and I had to push him to the highway the next trip he brought his gas burner with a 4speed and had no problems with the same load and same hills
I never had that problem with my standards
I will say the best Auto I have EVER drove was the Aliison in Jeds Duramax and I was pulling some pretty good loads on the goat trails at home and it never stalled or lacked power

 

[oscar p]

All right guy's. Every body made good points and opinions. I bit the bullet, and bought a new Dodge. I have always had manual transmission, so I went back with one. Had to go out of state to find one with a manual transmission. Suppose to deliver it, Thursday. You know, I looked at all the 3500 trucks. You would think a cab and chassis would be the cheapest way to go. WRONG! The Cab and Chassis is just about the same money as the dually. So, I'm going to take the bed off, put it on Craigslist for $1200 and have a CM bed on it. IF I can get $1200 for the bed, plus the $700 it's going to take to get the BM hitch put in,put $1400 with it, Bam!! CM bed, and gooseneck hitch in one. Another thing, The cab and chassis has the dhf?? thing. The dually doesn"t. Why ??

 

[Angus Cowman]

All right guy's. Every body made good points and opinions. I bit the bullet, and bought a new Dodge. I have always had manual transmission, so I went back with one. Had to go out of state to find one with a manual transmission. Suppose to deliver it, Thursday. You know, I looked at all the 3500 trucks. You would think a cab and chassis would be the cheapest way to go. WRONG! The Cab and Chassis is just about the same money as the dually. So, I'm going to take the bed off, put it on Craigslist for $1200 and have a CM bed on it. IF I can get $1200 for the bed, plus the $700 it's going to take to get the BM hitch put in,put $1400 with it, Bam!! CM bed, and gooseneck hitch in one. Another thing, The cab and chassis has the dhf?? thing. The dually doesn"t. Why ??

there are several differences between a cab and chasis and a reg dually
1 most cab and chasis I have had have been double framed from the cab back,
the C&C also has a different frame with and it also has a narrower rearend, plus a few other small details
on the DEF it might be because the C&C falls under the commercial truck category where the dually is still considered a passenger vehicle ???
I know the earlier yrs the exhaust on the C&C were diferent than a dually
my last C&C didn't have a muffler on it was a straight pipe from the factory

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Yea AC these steep dirt roads ain't like rolling down the pavement. Where i live here the automatics will get bad hot before you hit the top of the mountian. Top speed up the mountian is only gonna be 15 to 20 mph. You gotta have a four wheel drive cause a two wheel will spin out.

 

[dun]

Yea AC these steep dirt roads ain't like rolling down the pavement. Where i live here the automatics will get bad hot before you hit the top of the mountian. Top speed up the mountian is only gonna be 15 to 20 mph. You gotta have a four wheel drive cause a two wheel will spin out.

A couple of months ago a full size 4wd dodge pulling a hose trailer got into some loose dirt on the shoulder and couldn;t budge it. I hooked up to it with a chain from my auto trans Ford and pulled him out and to the top of the ridge, about a 1/4 mile. The Ford just ahppens to be a 6cyl Ranger. Knowing what your doing can work wonders.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I does Dun, it takes about 30 to 45 minutes of a steady pull to get on top of the mountian from where i live. The slow steady grind is what heats the Auto trans on my little hill.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

All right guy's. Every body made good points and opinions. I bit the bullet, and bought a new Dodge. I have always had manual transmission, so I went back with one. Had to go out of state to find one with a manual transmission. Suppose to deliver it, Thursday. You know, I looked at all the 3500 trucks. You would think a cab and chassis would be the cheapest way to go. WRONG! The Cab and Chassis is just about the same money as the dually. So, I'm going to take the bed off, put it on Craigslist for $1200 and have a CM bed on it. IF I can get $1200 for the bed, plus the $700 it's going to take to get the BM hitch put in,put $1400 with it, Bam!! CM bed, and gooseneck hitch in one. Another thing, The cab and chassis has the dhf?? thing. The dually doesn"t. Why ??

I don't know what the changes you want to make will do, but, in general, I think you'll be real happy with that Dodge, Oscar! I figure I'll have Ruby for the rest of my life, but if there was a wreck or something, I'd be really hard-pressed to buy anything other than a Dodge.

 

[gimpyrancher]

I don't know about your neighborhood but I've towed over both the Siskiyou mountains (CA-OR) and the Grapevine/Newhall Passes (Southern CA) and while I can't say I was absolutely loaded but I was heavy for me and I didn't seem to get noticeably hot doing on any of the passes. My Allison transmission is almost unnoticeable but I don't seem to have to crawl either.

 

[kyfred]

I bought a Chevy several years ago with a automatic and then when I was at a auto parts store picking up my transmission cooler to help protect my transmission a buddy of mine was there and he told me "Any time you have to go adding any coolers to a truck to be able to use it, you bought the wrong truck".Just my experience with pickup trucks, with an automatic towing heavy loads. Something will usually get hot. A lot of times you see a vehicle overheated sitting along the road is due to the transmission overheating and the heat going to the cooler in the radiator or in front of the radiator will have enough heat to where the radiator will not cool the engine. At least with a manual transmission you don't have to worry about the transmission overheating.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I don't know about your neighborhood but I've towed over both the Siskiyou mountains (CA-OR) and the Grapevine/Newhall Passes (Southern CA) and while I can't say I was absolutely loaded but I was heavy for me and I didn't seem to get noticeably hot doing on any of the passes. My Allison transmission is almost unnoticeable but I don't seem to have to crawl either.

Totally differnt pulling as you are on a highway at highway speeds and pulling long grades
what RBB and I are talking about is going 5mph down and then a several 100ft climb right back up
Jed can attest to the roads that I am talking about
He says you can't call it a road when ya have to use 4WD just to get down the county road when your not even pulling a trailer