Bring back the stick shift

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

Sadly, if I get a nice family pickup it's going to have to be automatic so my wife can drive it

She used to drive sticks; at one time that was all we had. But she gets sloppy about it and then gets upset when I correct her. I can have her driving all nice and smooth with a clutch and stick and then six months later she is lurching around corners in high gear

Originally Posted by davischevy

My wife learned to drive on a stick shift.

In 1990 I bought a new K1500 with a five speed. She complained about that truck for five years, and never drove it once.

In 1995 I mentioned to her a new truck I saw at the Chevy dealer. Saturday morning she asked if she could go trade for it. I told her what I would pay and the conversation died.

Later that morning I was in the shop and heard my truck back out of the garage. I stuck my head out and asked her "I thought you said you couldn't drive that truck." She said "No, I said I wouldn't drive this truck.".

She traded for less than I said I would pay.

I think I've said it before that I like the manual in my truck b/c my wife can't drive stick. I was about to say it again until I was reminded (by her) about the little '60 ragtop Bug in our garage (that I have to restore some day). She can drive that little car like it's some kind of fast and furious drift car when she's behind the wheel.

Sadly I was also reminded that I was the one who was backing it out of the garage one day, looking over my shoulder and almost put it through the kitchen wall. I mean I came within 2" -3" of the wall kinda close. Any other manual trans - no problem. Those damned Vee Dubs with their push down, out and do the Hokey Pokey to get reverse! Forget it! I'll put my foot out the door and push it backwards!

I think she likes her '60 for the same reason I like my truck!

[mick53]

Back when I was young and beer was more important than a battery my stick shift got me started many times. Had to park on a hill and hope nobody parked in front of me.

[1976gmc20]

Some people just have no clue how to listen to an engine.

They have to be told to shift at X and Y speeds and cannot understand how that might vary according to conditions and that you can shift just fine without a speedometer. Or a tach, but that would be like trying to teach rocket science to a gerbil.

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by mick53

Back when I was young and beer was more important than a battery

It seems I have come full circle.

[davischevy]

My dad bought a brand new C10 in 1969. 350 automatic, the first V8, automatic truck he had ever owned.

When the first snow came I got in his new truck and took off down the hill from the house. The fast idle was still set when I came to the steep little section of road at the T.

I hit the brakes and the front wheels locked but the back were still pushing.

I could see my life flash in front of my eyes. If the crash didn't kill me my dad would.Then I gathered my wits, and kicked it into neutral. I can credit that bit of wisdom to the fact that I lived to tell the story.

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by davischevy

It seems I have come full circle.

These days, getting rid of the used beer may be the most important

[dajn]

Originally Posted by special-K

I find it interesting how you have people who feel working a clutch and shifting as an avoidable chore while at the other end you have those who never give it a thought. It's not about the transmission, it's about the people. We have differences in how we cope with things, react to things, how we adapt, accept, and deal with things. Many are all about anything more convenient while others just don't mind doing what that convenience is meant to save you from doing. We could be having this conversation over roll up windows vs electric.

It's funny to see someone suggest a 19 year old truck is the thing to have and call the other two companies junk. Is that trucks of the same age? How do the current Dodges (sorry, I mean Ram) compare? Does the current Duramax have all the problems Dodge has had with their automatics? Lets compare those to a 19 year old Allison since this is a transmission thread

I quess I would have to write a book to explain my opinion. Of course a brand new 80 thousand dollar pickup is better. I am talking about a pickup that checks all the boxes. Reliability, performance, fuel economy that most people on this forum could actually afford. I didnt say it was the best pickup ever made. Just a good pickup. duramax has came a long way from what I hear. They were never really garbage but definitely a poor design at first with the internal injectors. People still talk about how great the 7.3 powerstroke was. From my experience with it, it was good. But there's a reason no real truck that requires more than a class d to drive has a v8 in it. What would you rather have? A 2001 chevy with 250,000 miles and the duramax or a 2001 dodge with the 5.9 with 250,000 miles with all else being equal? And I repeat. Of course brand new 80 thousand dollar pickups are better.

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by dajn

What would you rather have? A 2001 chevy with 250,000 miles and the duramax or a 2001 dodge with the 5.9 with 250,000 miles with all else being equal? And I repeat. Of course brand new 80 thousand dollar pickups are better.

I have one of each and the Ram is going to auction next week. The Ram would make a heck of a truck for some one who wanted to give it some TLC.

This is not a cut and dried subject for me. (Unless you try to make me drive a Ford). An important part of the equation is maintenance, some of It is luck and then perception.

I had a 2003 Dodge Cummins HO six speed, with a chip. Can you say hot rod? I loved that thing until the injector pump started giving trouble.

Then the 05 Duramax. I love that truck, and it is what I drive most. That said, it blew a head gasket at 98,000 miles. The factory warrantied it and installed a new head.

I will keep driving my Duramax most of the time, but I admit the Cummins is hard to beat.

[1976gmc20]

$80K ?????????????

That's not a lot less than what we paid for a house and 40 acres, 17 yrs ago.

[72 k15]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

For the actual pleasure of the drive or afternoon cruise, a work truck or a beginner kid car my vote is for the stick shift. Once a person masters the use of a stick if they want to move to an automatic, so be it. I think it should be taught in Driver's Ed with a stick shift but then most schools now days don't even teach Driver's Ed anymore! It was required when I was in HS and helped lower the insurance $$ at the time. Hard to buy a family sized type truckster with a stick shift now days. I admit I swapped my '71 4x4 to a TH350 but being 70 years young with bad knees and arthritis that didn't like the heavy clutch action it was a choice I made to keep from losing my '71 4x4. Still miss the SM465 stick. The only stick shift left in the stable is my old former 1/4 mile race car: '57 Chevy 2 dr. sedan. 283, dual fours, 4 spd Muncie, buckets, long tube headers and 3:55 posi rear end. About as an old school hot rod as you can get but damned if I'll go to an automatic in that one !!

Like you said dam hard to find a full size truck with a stick. Took me 4 years to find a 2000 silverado extended cab 4wd 5 speed with a nv3500 best part? it has a 4.8l v8 and power windows and seats! (Ls) I think no more than 100 were made with those options had to be special ordered. Id guess like 10 or less were made in that config

[dajn]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

$80K ?????????????

That's not a lot less than what we paid for a house and 40 acres, 17 yrs ago.

Go price a brand spanking 3/4ton with the diesal.. your best bet is a stripped one ton. Come back to me.with the prices..

[special-K]

All can say is there's a lot more to a good truck than the motor. Like how about transmissions or the rest of the truck? A truck that goes through transmissions is a p.o.s. as much as one that goes through engines. But wait, the '01 Duramaxes didn't go through engines, that was the Fords after they stepped away from the 7.3 (which was and still is an excellent motor. The first D-max had fuel rail issues. I got 335k out of my '92 6.5TD GMC and it weighed over 8k minimum. I used the heck out of that truck for 22 years. That does not define a P.OS. I made over a million dollars out of that $20,500 truck. In ordered that one with a 5spd

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by special-K

All can say is there's a lot more to a good truck than the motor. Like how about transmissions or the rest of the truck? A truck that goes through transmissions is a p.o.s. as much as one that goes through engines. But wait, the '01 Duramaxes didn't go through engines, that was the Fords after they stepped away from the 7.3 (which was and still is an excellent motor. The first D-max had fuel rail issues. I got 335k out of my '92 6.5TD GMC and it weighed over 8k minimum. I used the heck out of that truck for 22 years. That does not define a P.OS. I made over a million dollars out of that $20,500 truck. In ordered that one with a 5spd

They all have their issues and their fan base that figures out how to overcome them. The diesel Fords though. There's one, I forget which because it's been a little over a years since I was shopping, but you have to remove the cab to fix a common engine problem. If you shop used diesel trucks, the Fords are by far the easiest to find and the cheapest. Shame because the body and interior is nice.

[Boog]

Yeah that Ford diesel issue was if the heads had to come off the procedure was to raise the body off the chassis to gain clearance to remove the heads. I believe the shop rate allowed something like 8.5 hours to do the job. Not something you'd want to attempt at home. My nephew did a few of those.

[burnin oil]

That Ford was the 6.0. Sadly it had a good life in medium duties before Ford hot roded it. It also had other issues besides head gaskets.

Chevy and dodge used the same basic CP3 unit for diesel injection. Early duramax did t have a lift pump though. The big issue wasn't the pumps but injectors as they kept raising I jection pressures for emissions. This was causing injector bodies to crack and was fixed with new stainless injector bodies. Injection pressures raising 4 times also caused a sand blasting effect to the nozzles. Last I heard injection pressures was up to 30k psi

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

They all have their issues and their fan base that figures out how to overcome them. The diesel Fords though. There's one, I forget which because it's been a little over a years since I was shopping, but you have to remove the cab to fix a common engine problem. If you shop used diesel trucks, the Fords are by far the easiest to find and the cheapest. Shame because the body and interior is nice.

One of our neighbors had one of those Fords. He said it blew out on him in the middle of Wyoming and took a long time to get fixed. Then they bought a 1500 Silverado (2015?) and he said it's been great. After they moved here he bought another pickup, a Sierra Duramax 2500HD. But about all they do with them is drive to town or wherever else they go. Just big cars.


The fiber optic construction company had a bunch of Silverados and Sierras. I was somewhat amazed at how they beat on them, driving through the sagebrush and off of nearly cliffs.

[davischevy]

Hey guys, I know I participated, but this is a stick shift thread, not a diesel thread.

The Ram (Dodge) we are taking to auction has 296,000 miles on it. It was turned over to pipe line crew when new, and has never had any respect. That thing has been abused every day of it's life and kept on ticking. Now, the input shaft bearing is worn out. We thought about fixing it, but, we are selling it, because nobody seems to be able to drive it. Of course we have a couple of guys that know these trucks, but the majority of people now days can't drive a stick shift.

I may have mentioned it here, and, Some of you know we had a truck stolen a while back. It was a stick shift, so I guess somebody still likes them.