6 speeds is even better----it does EXACTLY what I want it to do---I just can't shift as fast as an automatic

 

I appreciate all of the clarification.

Now, if these trucks have two overdrives, then it wouldn't really seem to me that these trucks have a true tow/haul mode right? When I was towing the trailer through the back roads at about 50mph, whenever I'd get stuck behind somebody, I could just feel the dead spot in the transmission...you know, that terrible feeling like it isn't moving and your just better off cutting your losses on keeping momentum and letting off the pedal to let it downshift into third gear. As some of you have already mentioned, I've found it very useful to hit it a little harder to get it up to speed before I let it shift into 4th and 5th gear. I don't oppose the five gears, but I am used to taking it out of overdrive, and it actually feeling like I have a ton of power right there.

 

I have 5 gears and absolutely love it! Of course, I have to shift mine manually. I had to look long and hard to find a used 1/2 ton long bed 4X4 with a 5-speed manual. Maybe I'm dating myself, but I remember when the majority of trucks were standards, now it seems like everyone wants an automatic.

Obviously a tranny choice depends a great deal on what your intended use is. If I lived in an urban area with a lot of stop-and-go traffic I might prefer an auto.

 

Doesnt one of the tuners take care of the crappy downshifting?

 

Does your tow/haul also do o/d off? I'm thinking it's only the 06+'s that have it...anyway it would solve your problem completely by only allowing the firs 3 gears.

Yea the predator does...some years have both partial throttle up and down shift like 05 and some years like mine only have upshift right now. But you know they blow trannies after one trip around the block right?

 

05DodgeRamHemi-I came from a 5.9 98' to an 04' hemi so i'll share my .02 I pull a 30' boat to our lake cabin once a year, its the heaviest load i pull. My 98' would lock out o/d and be screaming down the highway at 3k @ 65. I have to go up a fairly steep grade on the way, and i would loose speed even when floored. This weekend was the first time my 04 pulled the boat. With my hemi (tow/haul only i dont have an o/d off) the computer kept my RPM's at about 2,300 @ 60ish when i had a 10-15mph headwind and on a flat road with little headwind upshifted so i was well below 2k. My fathers silverado does the same thing when he tows. I know what you mean about how it feels different than your 2nd gen, but these newer trucks are set up to be economical (and annoying). The computer thinks it doesnt need the power so it upshifts as it would without a load behind it. Put a good load on your truck and it will behave similiar to your 98'. And as for that grade, i actually gained speed when the truck downshifted, and best of all, a new Ford pulling a slightly smaller boat behind me got to watch my rig fade into the distance as he struggled up the hill. Gotta love these trucks!

 

Not an issue with a Diablosport Predator. It downshifts out of 5th quite fast with the latest update. No more lag like stock and with a SC tuner.

 

While I do like some of the features that the Diablosport has that the SC doesn’t, like I said before, with the gears, it’s not really a problem anymore. And I don’t really feel like paying $400 for another tuner, when the SC is fine for me at the moment. Plus, I have a list of things I want to do to my truck, and I can use the $400 for them. But maybe, later on, depending on whether or not SC actually adds any of the options they’ve been talking about, I may end up buying a DS or SCT tuner.

 

You mentioned in other posts you didn't like manual transmissions or see what they were good for. This is precisely one of the things that they are good for as a manual transmission would not be doing this. You could make it shift or be in whatever gear you wanted whenever you wanted it to and it would stay there.

 

To me, I would much rather experience the annoying lulls of an automatic transmission, than to have the full time job of shifting my vehicle. Yes, those times your stuck behind somebody causing you to upshift and downshift is annoying, but most of the time an automatic is extremely relaxing and enjoyable.