I am new to the Forum, what an outstanding resource, keep up the good work. I have done my homework and Dodge is the only logical choice for a Diesel 1 ton pick-up. I was a Ford guy but I don't want to take the chance of dealing with Ford issues. GMC/Chevy, no comment. This will be my first Dodge after 38 years of driving.

I will be purchasing a new 2007 Dodge 3500 within the next 2-3 months. Besides general transportation I will be towing a 5th wheel trailer. I wanted to get some opinions and feedback on what transmission choice I should make. I would like the ease of an automatic but wonder if a manual might better for less maintenance issues, more dependability and if it might be better for towing.

Thanks in advance for your input

 

Welcome to DF... cant comment on the 6spd trannies but the auto is ok... previous generations of trannies had thier problems and they seem to have ironed them out with the current one. plus you can easily mod it ($) to make it bullet proof...

 

i own an 04 2500 ctd and i pull cars every now and then and it pulls just fine.

 

I pulled my 16 foot trailer 5000 miles last month working around town, hauling about 3 thousand pounds and my 2500 hardly knows it's there, I have the auto, but I buddy who has the 3500 CTD has a manual and he does beat me fuel mileage wise by 3 mpg with a heavier trailer load.

 

My self I got the auto as I got tired of shifting all of the time and the new 6 speed auto should be even better. Now the question you have to answer to your self is this, do you live & drive in a town that has a large amount of stop and go traffic, if so then you may want the auto trans. But if you plan to tow heavy most of the time and drive in very little stop and go traffic then maybe a 6 speed manual would be the way to go.

Good Luck when you do get your new CTD truck.

 

Ya know... I have the opposite opinion on the city driving after having my CTD ram... in stop & go driving when I get going, the turbo will start building boost & the truck can surge from time to time... there have been times where i'm on the brakes pretty quick while the motor is still motoring forward pretty strong. with a clutch, your disconnected... Personally I hate auto's and going with the auto in my truck was up for much debate, in the end my truck gets used for buisness from time to time and an auto is a better choice.

 

Steve,

So are you enjoying then nice winter weather you have gotten the past few days? The nice storm took a left turn (I would almost bet you and your hot rod CTD had something to do with it making the turn [sm=icon_stickpoke.gif]) and they now tell us we may get 9 or more inches of that white stuff by tomorrow. The nice thing is we are at a warm 15.5 right now and not in the sub zero temps they say we will be at in a few days.