I have a 2WD V6 with the 6 speed manual and 3.21 gears. For light duty I think it's more than sufficient. It's not a fast vehicle, but I don't really understand why people want fast trucks...get a motorcycle

What the 6 speed does have is a granny 1st that can get the truck moving without touching the gas pedal, and nice close 3-4-5 ratios that offer alot of flexibility when climbing grades with a load. The clutch action is direct and smooth, unlike the Tacoma with a delay valve...ugh... and once the transmission gets warm, shifting has a nice solid feel. On cold mornings though, it's best to take an extra second between gears.

The hardest I've worked my Dak was a 900 mile move from SC to NY with 1,000 lbs in the truck and a stuffed UHaul 5x10 in tow...probably another 2,000 LBS. Some of the steeper hills in the mountians required a 3500-4000 RPM pull in 3rd gear to keep up with traffic, but I never felt I was abusing the truck.

My best ever MPG was over 25, granted I was really really trying, but a casual 21-23 MPG is usually no problem.

If you can find a V8 with the stick, which are rare but were offered at least in the '07 model year, you might have the best of both worlds.

And lastly, I'm coming up on 30,000 miles with no reliability issues at all. Country roads are taking their toll on my front shocks too, but the ride quality is still perfectly acceptable by my standards.

 

I think you meant 05-06, in 07 the option for the V8s and a stick was no longer available

 

Hey make you sure you tell him that frenchys is an 06...since ya busted my *** about the amp wattage haha

 

Thanks for all the info, everyone.
I ended up buying a Black 07 SLT Club Cab 2WD with the 4.7.
It only has a little over 8K miles & I got it for $12,300.

Now I'm looking for a decent bed cover & possibly a rubber bed mat.

Take care!
M.

 

i thought they stopped offering the manual w/ the v8 in 08,
that it was still available in 07

 

The 235 HP V8 was available with the manual in 05 and 06, but not 07...I had it mixed up. You could get the 310 HP 4.7 and manual in the 08 Rams, but no longer. I wish I had waited for one of those...damn.

It's a real shame; but there's hardly any demand for sticks in halftons anymore. Chevy doesn't even offer them in the HD trucks anymore I believe; since modern (aka not Dodge) automatics equal or sometimes beat the sticks in EPA ratings, I think they're going to continue to fade away except for the medium size trucks for the price advantage.