Death of the 6 speed!

[Bcghosttowns]

Sorry guys i probly should have elaborated a little.
I drive a Tow truck for a living and even though my last 2 trucks have been Dodge i had to buy a ford last week.I get to see first hand what works and what doesnt and i have to admit i am making a living off Dodge right now.The front ends arent holding up to the weight of the motor,The motors just are'nt lasting like they have in recent years and more recently i have towed a few that ended up getting new trannys and man are the 6 spds expensive.On the other hand the autos have gotten better.when i say a few thats is significant in a town of 2500 people.
Chevs are doing fine other than fuel pumps.and fords are doing fine unless they have the 6 liter and those are touch and go.
Now i certainly am no expert nor am i a mechanic but i do get to see what breaks down and what doesnt and i get to see first hand what they hold up like in a wreck.

 

[Bella PSD]

Answer to the custom question.

Most of the 7.3's here locally are really high mileage work trucks or lifted on 37's. Long story short I will either give up on the diesel option (looking at my buddies 2004 V10 6 speed tomorrow) or I will go custom.

To be honest, I wish that that Ford or Dodge would offer a detuned diesel option. I honestly do not need 700+ ft/#'s. I would be very happy with the power and efficiency of an early Cummins in a true crew cab configuration- that I can row my own, of course.

You sound like a perfect match for a 7.3L/6 speed and a true Ford crew cab. The 7.3L is the most detuned engine I have ever had. Lots of power above the stock level. Very efficient at the 275HP stock level. Don't give up just yet, a stock 7.3/6 speed will turn up. Try craigslist or http://craiglook.com/. You can search 100 or 1000's of miles out from your location. I just found 11 searching 7.3 and 6 speed. Good luck!

Louie

 

[RR1]

For the price of a brand new 2011 Ford. Why not build exactly what you want, most likely can do it better and cheaper.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Louie considering how much you love your truck this is surprising for me. You should forward this thread to Ford's social marketing guy. I am on the fence about this personally. I have always been a die hard manual transmission guy (I mean die hard) but I was forced into an auto with this latest one and truthfully I like it a lot. It also makes sense for this particular vehicle considerably though a 6 speed really would be 'balzy..'

I'm not sure what the Dodge is running again for a manual if its back to the NV5600. It was briefly a Daimler product that was superior, stronger, lighter, smaller, whereas the NV5600 (I have one in my FJ55 with a 200hp/550 ft/lb 4 cyl Cummins 4BT) is a massive, 450lb monster, with some retarded stylings like the entire drivetrain built off the bellhousing, so if you get a crack in it from an accident you have to rebuild the entire transmission. So I honestly hope it has been discontinued though it would make life for me easier with cheaper/more available parts as the NV5600 was (formerly) fairly rare as well.

The 6 speed is great though, basically a 4 speed manual with an awesome very fast overdrive, and 1st gear as an underdrive as well. I couldn't stand the NV4500 because it is a 3 speed with an overdrive and underdrive -- too wide gearing and awkward shifting, though it was strong. I would take the famous H55F Toyota 5 speed over a NV4500 any day of the week for that reason...

But a 6 speed would be nice, maybe I don't know what I'm missing. I looked really hard for a shortbed 6 speed 7.3 and found only one in Colorado and ended up getting my longbed automatic here because it was a good deal. But I did test drive one and I was surprised about the streetability of one. I test drove one new in about 2001 and remember the ZF-6 as a clunky, hard to shift transmission. But they are so common and because of the Cummins adapters that go to Ford (OEM Ford 4BT applications that bolt to all Cummins B series engines) you can adapt a ZF-6 to any Cummins pretty easily and I think this is a great approach now because once they break in they are great.

So again, I'm on the fence. But I do agree that it was a dumb move. Also drives up the price of these ridiculously priced trucks even more. I do think that $50K for a working vehicle is just a travesty, particularly in today's economy. People either need to make a lot more (which they don't, just management does, 300 times more.. ) or the price of these things needs to come down..

 

[Juntura]

Bella,

Thanks for the link. I typically use a couple other craigslist aggregators (sic) but that one is really handy for going nationwide.

Buddy decided not to sell his V10 so the search continues.

 

[lstzephyr]

I had a 2008 f250 gas 6 speed crew cab for a company/work/shuttle vehicle two years ago and while I liked it I don't think I would buy one(and I didn't). It had a granny gear plus a 5 speed with a pretty funky shift pattern, a goofy throttle feel and while it had good power it always felt a bit electronic. After I got used to it, it was ok. Damn thing was constantly getting stuck offroad too(but that was crap tires really) I had to get it airborne to even get it up some of our service roads in the mud.:elkgrin: We had a beat to hell pos 87 dodge that could go anywhere even with bald 31s, although admittedly I had to jump the same waterbars with it to carry enough speed up hills. The chevy/gmcs we had rode good, but were snapping frames left and right.

Overall good work truck, but if I my truck was wrecked tomorrow and I could buy anything, I would probably get either a 1st or 2nd gen 12 valve, or build some sort of custom(like a ramcharger/k5 12valve cummins, or maybe a late model fummins).

 

[DrMoab]

I think this is the case with Dodge, Ford and Chevy right now. The newer trucks just have more that can go wrong with them.

Sorry guys i probly should have elaborated a little.
I drive a Tow truck for a living and even though my last 2 trucks have been Dodge i had to buy a ford last week.I get to see first hand what works and what doesnt and i have to admit i am making a living off Dodge right now.The front ends arent holding up to the weight of the motor,The motors just are'nt lasting like they have in recent years and more recently i have towed a few that ended up getting new trannys and man are the 6 spds expensive.On the other hand the autos have gotten better.when i say a few thats is significant in a town of 2500 people.
Chevs are doing fine other than fuel pumps.and fords are doing fine unless they have the 6 liter and those are touch and go.
Now i certainly am no expert nor am i a mechanic but i do get to see what breaks down and what doesnt and i get to see first hand what they hold up like in a wreck.