I have had the pleasure of driving all three motors 4.7(mine) 5.7(moms) and the 5.9 CTD(dads). and ive towed plenty of traielrs and pop ups with all three of them. The Hemi is a great motor as long as you treat it right and will haul your more common stuff. but like said previously don't expect to pull a 5th wheel with one and not feel like its really *******. I have hauled my 2500 88 suburban behind the 3500 from Texas to Arkansas and man it felt like nothing was back there, and If anyone has to take a trip we usually take it instead of the others. due to gas mileage, and the video set up in it.

here is a comparison fo MPG (Based on the three dodges at my house and the way they are treated) city/highway.

4.7 - 16/21 if i stay off the throttle use cruze and use premium non ethanol.

5.7 - 14/? i refuse to drive her Sport ed. on the highway she has trashed it and i feel like its going to shake apart

5.9- 24/24 and the CTD only gets better as it breaks in.

 

In 03 and 04, they had three engines and three or four transmissions.

235hp SO. Available with 5 speed manual (NV4500) or auto (47re)
245hp Cali emissions (50 state legal). NV4500 or 47re
305hp HO. Only available with 6 speed manual (NV5600) until the mid-year introduction of the stronger 48re automatic.

04 was the same only without the 47re. Mid-year 04 saw the introduction of 50 state emissions 325hp HO. Available with NV5600 or 48re. This lasted until 07, with the manual changing to the Mercedes-sourced G56 in early 05.

Move outta the ghetto then! Haha. They aren't like rare or anything. There's plenty of them out there. Dodge has always sold more manuals compared to the other two manufacturers, and they are the only one that offers a manual behind a diesel.

You can find them all day long. Yes you need to look a little harder to find them in real great shape and be willing to travel often times, but they are out there.

 

I'm the last two peoples. ^


When scanning through I read someone wondering the MPG of a 3/4 ton Hemi. So far since last year, with mine I have gotten a solid 12.5-13 MPG just using it as my daily driver... to and from work, no highway, no towing. The best I have gotten was 14.3 MPG, which was again just daily driving. I have yet to go through a tankful on the highway, but I would expect somewhere around 15-16 to be quite achievable. The worst I have gotten was 11.2, which was while towing a jeep. Fuel efficient? Nah. But, its not ridiculous for a 3/4 ton truck either.

 

Ghetto? Nope about the farthest from it, deep south farm country where people work their trucks to death before they get rid of them. Chrysler data shows that 3rd Gen automatic transmission CTDs outsold manual transmission CTDs by about seven to one, btw...

Two Cummins, a Challenger and a Roadrunner? Impressive list of vehicles! Not trying to make up for something (or the lack of something) are you??? LMAO!!!



Yeah, I was the second one at the time, now with this economy I'm in the last two also. Plus as I've gotten older I've smartened up a bit. When I was in my twenties, I would have dropped the extra $17k on the CTD in the drop of a hat, but as you get older you realize that there are other priorities and you have people in your life who you need to spend the money on.

It's nice to have toys, at one time I had a 4x4 diesel truck, 4x4 SUV, ATV, bass boat and sports car all at the same time. Then I grew up and realized that there are other things WAY more important in life...

 

Haha yeah, I have no idea what's out that way! Figured must be the city or a little town. Here they get worked, but a lot get taken pretty good care of. And of course some just get trashed...usually find a pretty decent one out of Salt Lake City on KSL.com though.

Meant in a ratio compared to Ford or GM manuals; those are hard to find compared to a Dodge manual.

Nah, not making up for anything. Hell the only one in my sig that runs is the 07; the 03 has a hole in the block, the Satellite is on the rotisserie, the Challenger sits under a cover outside waiting its turn on the rotisserie, and the Roadrunner has sat in the same spot in the garage for the 8 years I've owned it, stripped bare and surrounded and covered by boxes of parts. Haha but thanks, one day I'll start a thread on the restos...

 

Yeah, it's small town, mostly farm country 'round south Georgia. You actually would have better luck finding an older Ford 7.3 PowerStroke with a manual tranny around here than a CTD. Which incidentally is about the only diesel I'd have besides the venerable 5.9 Cummins. But again, whenever you find one, it's beat up.

The cars sound like awesome project cars. I had an Olds 442 back in the day, ran like a top but the body was rusting out when I sold it. Would love to find me an old 'Cuda to restore some day...

 

I took forever on making my mind up between the two also. My lack of towing a fifth wheel, and other factors just could not justify buying a CTD. I wanted the reinforced frame of a 2500 but with the ease of maintenance of a gasser. No complaints with " lack of power" with my Hemi, and my gas MPG is around 12 in town.