Manual or Automatic?

I'm looking into getting a dodge pickup 3500 I was wondering which would be better for towing with a manual or an automatic? I live in kentucky so I have to deal with the mountains. I will no way push the limit of what the truck can haul. I mostly haul a single car at a time.

Just looking for some opions on what you guys like.

Thanks
Don

 

I say manual, it wouldn't be good if an auto burned out on you in the boonies.

 

If its a Dodge then get the manual, their autos suck. If it was a Chevy get the Auto, their manuals suck.

 

Just for clarification, its not the trans itself that sucks in the GM's (its the same ZF used in the superduties), its the uber-stupid dual mass flywheel that causes all the issues.

To the orriginal poster, it comes down to personal preference. While i do like driving a manual and have one in my trail rig, it is nice sometimes to not have to deal with that third pedal in the tow rig. I was orriginally looking for a NV4500 truck(and would still prefer to have one), but settled on the auto when i found the truck i bought, for me it wasnt enough of a difference to make or break the sale. Like i said, go drive them and decide what you prefer, everybody has their own opinion.

 

If you get the dodge, manual all the way. Their autos are junk. If GM or Ford, go auto.waytogo

 

Prefer automatic myself. Yes, I am lazy about shifting.

 

Id go automatic, I hear there autos are getting better

 

For your application I'd go with an automatic if thats what you would prefer. Dodge's autos are fine when they are treated right.

Don't add any power adders that actually do anything for power gains, a different exhaust and intake should be fine if you wanted that. Keep good oil in the tranny, change it every 30K like is supposed to be done.

On average most 47 and 48RE's last a long time. I got 119K on mine and that was with originall oil. I guess the previous owner figured trans oil changes were not something to worry about, it never saw fresh oil until 113K. I figure I would have got another 20K out of that trans if it would have been treated right with oil changes.

The manual is nice for towing, but thats about it IMHO. I have an '01 with an automatic and my dad has a 6spd. His truck has a slight gain when towing from the extra 2 gears but in everything else I've got him beat.

 

manual is the only way in my eyes. select your gear, no extra heat, longer life, less to rebuilt if/when needed.
Grant

 

Test drive both and see what you like. If your gonna be in the mountains alot, I think the manual would be better for you. We have an 03 Dodge with the auto. 1st-3rd it runs good, but once you hit OD it falls flat on its face. The truck runs good up the hills, but once your out of OD your running close to 2800 rpm at about 65 mph. With the manual you can run it in 6th gear and run 75 mph easy. Just my .02 cents.

 

I would say go auto nobody makes a good manual anymore and you can beat a converter for multipilcation that a clutch just cant handle.Honestly is now seems that the big three make better auto than manuals these days.

 

I personally am a big fan of the manual. When I bought my Dodge I wouldn't even consider the auto. I looked and looked the used adds till I found a good truck with a manual. Dodge autos are a liability IMHO unless you can afford an ATS or the like, especially if it is used.

Chevy doesn't offer manuals in there diesels.

Harley

 

They offer a manual, but they are hard to find, and not available with the LBZ. They are even harder to find used than new.

 

Costs a ton of money to build up an auto. to handle extra power. You can get by with a much cheaper fix on a manual by gettin a clutch. If you go with a newer dodge, the 03-04.5 i think had the NV5600, a real strong 6-spd, and the 05 and up have the G56 6-spd with the dual mass flywheel, not hearin the best reviews on that.

I wish we got a standard, but now the truck is built up pretty good, so we'll be stickin with it. But, theres always room for a 2nd gen. :stir:

 

2001 and 2002 H.O. model 2nd gens used the 5600 also.

 

Well, I was all set to get the Dodge manual in my 3500, that is until I test drove one, keep in mind that I had manuals in most of the sports cars that I have owned, Z-28, RX7 etc.. But, truck tranny and car tranny are two differant animals, anyway, to make a long story short after I drove one and it took what seemed like 20 min to get accross an intersection I said no way in hell.
Now keep in mind that I only tow 7,000 pounds about 10 times a year, which is nothing for a 3500 truck, if I towed more often and heavier than I would have went with the manual.
I don't care if the manual lasts 1 million miles and my auto only lasts 80,000 miles, life is to short to drive something that you don't really want just because it lasts longer, but hey thats me.
I planed right from the start to have my auto race "built" so I can have a nice tranny and actually get my brick moving from a stop... FAST!

 

I prefer manual. My K5 is manual, the dumptruck is manual, the plow truck is manual, and our flatbed with crane and liftgate is manual. Though I will be using an 86 F250 auto as our new plow truck just because it's in better shape than our old one. Funny thing is when I go to start the 86 I am always slapping my left foot to the floor looking for the clutch.

 

if i were towing every week or something i would have gone with the manual. for the kind of driving i do (around town in traffic sometimes) the auto is just a lot more practical... i just spend the extra couple hundred for the extended warrenty for WHEN the transmission goes out... after the warrenty il just buy an ATS imp:

 

4054X4 is right waytogo. I heard all the horror stories of the auto and how it wouldn't go 30k. Well I tow a enclosed car hauler quite a bit thats 8000K. Granted thats not a lot of weight but most all the hauling is in the southwest at 100+ heat and it lasted over 90K. Actually when I changed it out the trans was still good. It turns out that heat build up doing some 4X4ing created more heat than any towing I ever did. I changed the trans oil every 14K along with filter. Buy it and run it until it breaks and like 4954X4 says buy an ATS. Oh ya I also ran a VA box from the week after I bought it, so you can put some power on also.

 

Thanks for the input I believe a manual will be what I get.

This site rocks!waytogo