Dodge 6 speed auto

[hookman]

How is the new Dodge 6.7 and 6 speed auto working as I am thinking about upgrading

[mtpocket2]

I had the 04.5 CDT also. Should have kept it. Never went back to the dealer in 60000 miles and never gave me a bit of trouble. I believe it ran better (pulled harder) and at least 4 more mpg. 04 could accelerate up any hill pulling any load. New truck in the shop 2 or 3 times in the first 2500 miles. After the last re flash it has not been back but with the pollution stuff I expect it will be seeing the dealer more. Less cooling capacity and runs hotter. More rattles. Fuel filter is much harder to change. Shop manual says remove front wheel and fender liner. You have got to be kidding!! To change a fuel filter? Haven't tried it yet so I cannot say for sure there is no other way. Its the whole canister you replace not just the filter. Cannot let it idle long or the DPF will fill causing a trip to the dealer. They cheapened up the rear under seat fold out storage. Went from metal to plastic.

Six speed is nice and so is the exhaust brake. 4 speed was fine also. 6 speed doesn't seem to want to downshift on the hills and so you have to do it manually otherwise its smooth. Tow haul it hits the gears hard especially on the downshift. In traffic you will want to manually choose a lower gear to avoid sea sickness. Great getting off highways when loaded. You rarely have to use much brake on an exit ramp. The exhaust brake does a good job.

I only got rid of it because we went from a TT to 5th wheel and wanted the long bed dualie. I wouldn't consider it an upgrade yet. Hold off till they get things worked out. Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

[Capt Kidd]

I have the new 6 speed auto and love it. You get a double overdrive, .8 in 5th and .6 in 6th. Really handy when you have 4.10 gears. The exhaust brake is also a great thing. The truck shifts up and down with absolutely no sweat. I use tow/haul when towing and it goes thru all the gears up thru 6th and downshifts great.

[sreigle]

We have 17,000 on ours and love it. I towed with two other diesels, a 2003 Ford and a 2005 Ford. Both had the 6.0 (so can't compare to the new 6.4) and both had the 5-speed TorqShift with tow/haul. Neither had an exhaust brake.

The 6.7 is an awesome towing machine. It equals or betters the 6.0 and pulls those steep grades at lower rpm and less fuss. The transmission in the Ford was described in a magazine test a couple of years ago as being stronger than the Allison and smarter about when to shift, both up and down. I find this new Dodge transmission to be even smarter about shifting and it's smooth. When in tow/haul it shifts more firmly but still not at all obtrusive and it holds gears longer, same as the Ford and GM. What I really like is how smart it is about knowing when a shift is needed. The Cummins hardly seems to be working hard at all.

The exhaust brake I've learned to really enjoy. It is on when we are towing and often gets turned on when solo and approaching a long downhill or an offramp at highway speeds. It's just a matter of pushing a button on the dash.

Before buying this Dodge (we took delivery last June 6th), we drove the Ford, GMC, and Dodge. Twice. I loved the Ford except at that time was not yet comfortable whether the 6.4 would be a good engine or not. I really loved driving the Dodge. Now that we've towed this Montana (14,620 lbs) 5,916 miles with this Dodge, I'm convinced we made a good decision in buying the Dodge.

One thing I did not care for on the Dodge was the characteristically Dodge firm ride. The new ones are less firm than older models but I was used to the Ford ride. So, on the advice of a friend, we swapped out the shocks in favor of the Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks with incab controls. Major improvement in ride yet can firm it up at the touch of a button.

on edit -- I meant to say that sometime when towing through a town I will turn off either the exhaust brake or the tow/haul as that combination at low speeds can result in a jerky downshift when braking to a stop because of all that weight behind us pushing forward while the downshifting action is causing a sudden slowing, if that makes any sense. Turning one of them off really smooths out the action. Otherwise, both tow/haul and exhaust brake are on constantly while towing.

[mtpocket2]

on edit -- I meant to say that sometime when towing through a town I will turn off either the exhaust brake or the tow/haul as that combination at low speeds can result in a jerky downshift when braking to a stop because of all that weight behind us pushing forward while the downshifting action is causing a sudden slowing, if that makes any sense. Turning one of them off really smooths out the action. Otherwise, both tow/haul and exhaust brake are on constantly while towing.


Yeah thats what I meant. When the wife's 44 OZ bladder buster soda from quickie mart spills everybody gets it. Radio will not get loud enough to cover that racket!

[sreigle]

And that's why I turn one of them off. That eliminates that problem! It only happens at slow speeds so it's not a big deal to hit the button to turn it off and the advantage of tow/haul and the exhaust brake the rest of the time is sure worth the effort.

Mine also does downshift on hills as needed. I never need to manually downshift it although sometimes I use that downshift button just to see what gear it is in. When you click the button it immediately shows the current gear.

You might have yours checked if it's not downshifting as it should.

[smc]

Just made our first trip from Southern alberta to Yuma. We love it. Lots of power on the hills, the tow haul and exhaust brake are a great addition. The truck rides better than our 04. The only down sides, the seats are not as comfortable as the old one and the plastic instead of metal. Also miss the hook on the dash, it was great for holding a garbage bag.