I would love to have a 5 or better yet 6 speed in my D. Most parts could be had from a 4x4 5spd v8 Dakota.

 

Hey there Gas. Welcome to the DOC.

There's a user here, HeavyD with a manual. He needed it for the strength, however most get by just fine with the stocker auto or an upgrade to it. Spend your money on better mods elsewhere!

IndyDurango

 

You're bucking the new norm in that respect. More cars are sold with automatics, regardless of size, than anything else. I guess folks don't like rowing gears during their commutes. The automatic just removes one job that they have to pay attention to so that they can talk/text on their cellphones more easily and not drop them during a shift I guess.

 

I'd LOVE a manual, the work to do it would be nothing to me, but having a wife that can't drive a stick is a problem. But man, a stick would be so much better for when I go offroading! Grrrrr, now you've got me wanting a stick even worst. lol

 

I'd love a manual transmission but the world is all marketing and there aren't enough people who'd buy a manual because their wives can't drive em. And in the end 90% of the big SUV's are kid haulers.

 

Hey there Gas. Welcome to the DOC.

There's a user here, HeavyD with a manual. He needed it for the strength, however most get by just fine with the stocker auto or an upgrade to it. Spend your money on better mods elsewhere!

IndyDurango

Actually Heavy D doesn't have a manual tranny Indy. He has a specially auto tranny that was built to mate up to his Mopar engine. I believe it started life as a Chevy Turbo 400 tranny.
He does however have a floor shifter.
Steve
DOC Pres

 

Hey there Gas. Welcome to the DOC.

Spend your money on better mods elsewhere!

IndyDurango

Thanks for the welcome, Indy. The thing is, I don't want the stick for strength so much as I want it because driving the auto irritates me every day that I drive it. The added simplicity and ease of repair are just very nice fringe benefits. I've wanted a stick for years, but now that I'm having difficult to diagnose tranny issues I can't stop thinking that I wouldn't be having these problems if I had a stick right now. I'd just be pushing in a clutch, moving a stick, and letting out a clutch. And I'd be so much happier with the vehicle, even if I'd never had a tranny issue.

sw1tch_nut: I feel your pain. My wife can't drive a stick either. I'm fortunate, though, because she has the Odyssey. Great van. Reliable like a hammer. At 100,00 miles, it feels newer (overall driving feel, switch operation, seat comfort) than the D did at 40 or 50,000. If it just had 2 more cylinders and RWD, It's be a world beater. I figure if it breaks, we'll rent her something in the meantime. How likely is that anyway? So far, it's been a champ.

 

The trend for off-road is also toward the auto as it's easier to start on a hill with an automatic. Almost 99% of all the competition rigs are going with automatics as well. Any more it's not a matter of strength, but personal choice. Yes a stick is easier to repair, but the numbers really do prove the advantage goes to the auto.

 

Most don't want to do the extra work as far as shifting and installing it!

 

Automatics are a LOT gentler on the rest of the drivetrain as well.

When they break, automatics can be hard to diagnose. On the other hand, everything about automatics is designed for shifting and shifting is a bad time for manual transmissions and that's when things usually go bad for them.

The 545RFE behaves quite a bit better than the 4*RE because it has more shifting choices. Behind a 5.7L it's even better (the PCM/tranny lets the engine lug it out rather than hunt for gears and the engine is perfectly happy to comply.)

Though today, on an early morning romp thru the hilltowns of western MA (maple sugarin' time don'cha know), I did hit the tow/haul button a few times just because the PCM wanted to keep me in 5th/lockedup/MDS more than was appropriate for the ups and downs.

There are times when I still wish I had a manual, but those times are few and far between.

Standard transmissions (and people who don't know how to operate them) provided great entertainment for my Daughter when she was living in a dorm at the University of Vermont. After a good snowstorm, they'd sit in the common room of their cluster and count "Subarus On The Hook." People who destroyed their clutches trying to power their way out of being plowed in.

 

I just like to throw it in gear and go.

The only real reason I see to use a manual tranny is for towing. The boat I tow puts a good load on the D's automatic, but it still handles it well.

 

If you live in any big city with traffic, the thought of engaging/disengaging the clutch 500 times each way on the commute is enough to keep me in an automatic.

 

This is going to sound odd, but that's when I like a stick the best. I've spent probably 15 years driving a stick in town and I miss it a lot.

 

Even tow trucks are going to automatics. The proverbial Allison with a PTO can do almost anything. Even tractors have automatics.

 

This is going to sound odd, but that's when I like a stick the best. I've spent probably 15 years driving a stick in town and I miss it a lot.

You sir, are insane. I drove a friend's manual Subaru for three days in my commute in NH-Boston area and I wanted to kill myself after the first 20 mins.

I'm a chick and I know how to drive one, but I just can't imagine having to do that every day. There's still a contingent of people who believe in towing horse trailers with manuals, but pretty much everything is going auto these days. I really think the only appropriate use for a manual right now is in a sports car where it's part of the "experience", but in just a regular old daily driver, not worth the extra effort and wear.

I think the shiftronic and CVT "manuals" that exist now are a much better solution. I've used the one in Dad's Jeep a few times and it does the job and is WAY easier on the drivetrain than me trying to execute those same shifts myself. I'm personally considering an upgrade to a Honda Fit with the paddle shifters for my next tiny car.

 

Lauren, can Dad's Hemi spin the tires when you put the Auto Stick in 1st gear?
LOL
Wife's Avenger R/T has the Auto Stick and that makes for some real fun.
Steve
DOC Pres

 

Lauren, can Dad's Hemi spin the tires when you put the Auto Stick in 1st gear?
Steve
DOC Pres

Heck, just turn off the stability control and it'll spin the tires in Drive? until the 4WD locks up at least.

I'm assuming Lauren hasn't attempted to prove this. :bugeyed:

 

LOL

 

Alas, my 2002 Scotts riding mower has a hydrostatic automatic transmission, so it's simply hit the gas and go, as MWeed said earlier. I can see OP's stick preference and I think it'd be pretty neat on the D and, if there was a fairly cheap and easy 5 or 6 speed manual swap, I'd do it for fuel economy reasons too. My Rangers were sticks and I always liked the baseball bat shifter sticking up from the floor. My teeny little Festiva was a 5 speed and the throw was like 2 inches, hilarious.

 

Lauren, can Dad's Hemi spin the tires when you put the Auto Stick in 1st gear?
LOL
Wife's Avenger R/T has the Auto Stick and that makes for some real fun.
Steve
DOC Pres

I'm sure it can but, seeing as the result incurs a penalty of death, I'm not sure I'd live to tell you about it.

 

As my main long distance travel vehicle, I prefer the auto. I have a 5sp manual in the Jeep that's my commute vehicle so I get plenty of quality stick time behind the wheel. When we take our family vacations, the D is our choice vehicle and sitting in traffic jams for an hours at times (just trying to leave the NE) is enough to keep me happy with an auto in the D.

 

I enjoyed driving a stick in a smaller sports car, not interested in one for the Durango. On the 40 mile, one-way, daily commute I used to have, I can vividly remember getting half way there, suddenly having to make a shift, and having the realization I couldn't remember the first shift of the day. To have driven 20 miles by then, obviously I had shifted. Driving a stick had just become commonplace and something I never thought of after a while.

IndyDurango

 

Commuting in stop-and-go traffic where you get to 3rd and have to start over all of the time is a real pain. That was part of the reason I traded the Stealth for the D. Got real tired of rowing the gearshift for over an hour each way.

 

When it was time to replace my last car I said my next car WILL have 2 things!! A sun roof and a stick!! Then I found out Durangos didn't come with either one and I was too in love with it to not get one. So here I am with my next car and I have neither one but would LOVE to add both!! I too love the feeling of being in control that a stick gives you.

 

You can add a sunroof. And after yours you could get one from the factory.

A stick? well now that's a different story.

IndyD