kindof a B*tch in traffic but hey thats where the granny comes in! Its an awesome tranny to learn with though, Very forgiving and if you choose to you can really float all the gears and its easy as hell. I had a 1/2 ton gasser b4 my cummins and the overdrive started goin out at 70k... That led me to the NV4500 behind a 12v and its great! I'd recommend it to anyone looking for Long term reliability.

 

Am I right that you can convert an auto to the NV4500? Might be something for me to look into if I get this truck!

 

if the truck is 4wd .. ur pissin money at a fast rate by swapping the auto to manual ..

if its 2wd then ur not gonna be out a bunch of money and time to fab and such...


I have a 47Rh .. and I love the crap out of It .. I can stay on the turbo, I rarly loose 1/8 mile drags .. LOL
and I haven't got a ton of cash into it .. I have a single disc converter, a SunCoast VB, and a Billet Serov kit .. Done, Shifts awesome and I can shift up and down , lock 2nd gear .. I am planning to install switches to lock in when I want to and O/D when I want it ...

I say a small investment in the aut and your still money ahead.

 

Yea i'd prefer a 4wd, like the one i listed above, so i guess it just depends on whether i get this one or wait for a manual to come along. Getting pretty psyched!

 

There are advantages and disadvantages both ways, for sure. I always drove stick until I got this truck, and most of the time I miss it very much. There are so many things that can and do go wrong with an automatic that are just not a concern with a standard, not to mention they just plain drive differently. If you're used to the constant engagement of a stick, you can spend insane amounts of money building one of these autos to give you some semblance of the same driveability and control. That said, there is no way to make a 12V stick anywhere near as fast as a built 12V auto with factory cases, and there's the whole sitting in traffic thing to. Up here, plowing snow is pretty much a deal breaker.
But I make a living driving my truck all day every day, then it's my toy on the weekends so my demands are a little different than most people who own one. If all you're going to do is tool back and forth to work, pull a little trailer every now and then or something then you aren't going to spend enough seat time in it to really justify going hog wild with a trans one way or the other. If you want a cool truck, either one can do. If you want a light duty work truck, a stick will probably be better, as long as you don't have snow to plow or massive traffic to drive in. If you want a race truck or sled puller, a built auto is the way to go. From a sales perspective, the manual trucks seem to be more desirable and harder to find, and tend to sell faster. In the end, it's all about what you want. That said, I would have to really, really be sure I knew I wanted to live with a standard to buy one before I'd even learned to drive one.

 

Traffic aint so bad if you drive it like a big rig, just put it in first, and let it roll with plenty of distance! the standard trucks are definetly way better, and your nipping a problem in the bud that could come back to bite you later. unless your in seattle or new York. I think hes running into the problem that all manual cummins powered 2nd gens are like 3500 more at least, and if there not there usually spanked. idk I would save some more money til you could buy a stick. just a personal opinion on it, or find a fummins

 

Well thetruck sold so I missed chance on that one but now I have a better idea of what to look for. Anyone know, besides craigslist, a decent website(s) to look for used trucks?

 

I have had great luck on commercial truck trader. I know it sounds stupid, but they usually have low miles and are fleet maintained. I bought my 6.0 there 3 years ago with 99k for 10.5, bought my 7.3 for 4500 there with a little under 200k, plus I like how you can search a 3/4 ton, and 1 ton at the same time. theres tons of trucks in az im always lookin at there too. id try that, or a manheim broker, those guys get you into the car auctions, and you can go get a super nice truck for much cheaper.


Just throwing out ideas

 

Thanks for the suggestions unfortunately they didn't have any listing for a 1996-1998 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins though i will definitely keep my eyes open as time goes on