2015 auto or manual trans?

[GCroyle]

RVTRKN,

That's a pretty impressive cooler setup. Between the wanna sell your truck back thread and having a cast iron handshaker, feeling pretty (knock on wood) good. Truck just needs a bath.

For you guys familiar with the eastern half of our roads, just pulled I-77 NC to VA up to Fancy Gap. Locked it into 5th and rolled right along. Eng temp picked up less than 10 deg on the Banks 6 Gun PDA temp display. And that was pulling my 30' Airstream.

Gary

 

[RVTRKN]

GCroyle, did I miss something, locked in 5th, do you have a new truck with an auto?

photowrite, I'm sorry I forgot to mention what oil I'm using. I've tried a couple of different concoctions and oils, but I settled on Mobil synthetic transmission fluid 50. I tried Mobil trans SHC DC and a 50/50 mix of Royal Purple syncromesh and Mobil synthetic transmission fluid 50 and finally settled on strait mobil synthetic transmission fluid 50. One thing to consider when selecting oil for the G56 is the ability for the oil to dissipate the heat. Heavier oil retains the heat easier and therefore your trans will run hotter. But with the trans cooler I setup, I can remove the heat generated, and run a heavier oil. After talking to a couple of factory reps about using ATF as the oil, that was one of the considerations when they answered a direct question as to why Dodge chose ATF. The thinner oil will dissipate the heat easier than traditional gear oil.

 

[photowrite]

One thing to consider when selecting oil for the G56 is the ability for the oil to dissipate the heat. Heavier oil retains the heat easier and therefore your trans will run hotter. But with the trans cooler I setup, I can remove the heat generated, and run a heavier oil. After talking to a couple of factory reps about using ATF as the oil, that was one of the considerations when they answered a direct question as to why Dodge chose ATF. The thinner oil will dissipate the heat easier than traditional gear oil.

Thanks for sharing.

Heat dissipation, particularly without a cooler, is a valid concern.
In the case of the ZF-S5 I mentioned I always ran Red Line MTL, and changed it every 10k.

For my first early G56 oil change, I put Red Line MT-90 in the case, which hold about double the lube of the ZF-S5. However, using the lighter MTL would likely not only help with heat transfer, but would allow me to stock less oils. I'm also using MTL in my T-case and my TDI transaxle.

 

[GCroyle]

RVTRKN,

Nope, same truck. Maybe just my way of saying no shifting, no pulling a 7% grade in overdrive, no racing the grade just a solid get 'er done mode. I'm sure many could have beat me to the crest, but Clydesdale's ain't built for racing but they can pull all day long.

And coming down the same grade, tap the truck and AS Dexter 4 piston disc brakes a couple of times. That was all it took.

 

[Newsa]

With my limited experience with my '15, and me being a HUGE manually transmission fanboy, I can say the only issue I see is the dead pedal...which sucks pretty bad, I admit. When I put it in gear, it engages pretty hard and clunks. I think this clunk is emphasized with 4.10 gears. I've however gotten rid of most of the clunk now that I have a steel driveshaft, and not the factory aluminum. As for hard shifting, it ****s hard in tow/haul mode when unloaded. I haven't noticed hard shifting when loaded down with a trailer though. Any shifting weirdness (mainly short shifting at barely above idle) seems to go away when loaded IMHO.

Didn't know Ram went to a factory aluminum drive shaft. My 2013 is steel. I've heard of people paying alot of money to go aluminum.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Didn't know Ram went to a factory aluminum drive shaft. My 2013 is steel. I've heard of people paying alot of money to go aluminum.

My drivelines are steel.

 

[Mingoglia]

My drivelines are steel.

Really? That's strange. I would have figured our trucks were almost identical seeing as they were built within a couple months of each other. When I got my stretch, they happened to have this driveshaft out, so I took a pic of it. It looks the same as mine and some pics I took previously, but since I was on my back on the ground my pics didn't turn out too well, but this is like mine. It's stamped 6061. I took a pic with my limp wristed arm in the pic to give a frame of reference of diameter. It's pretty huge:

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[Mingoglia]

I found the ones I took from under my truck just prior to the conversion:

#ad

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[SnoKing]

The pickup bed in the first picture looks sick! Snoking

 

[Cummins12V98]

I have drive "SHAFTS" looks like you have one. Probably the difference.

 

[gsbrockman]

The pickup bed in the first picture looks sick! Snoking

Probably another case of someone turning too tightly or not swinging wide enough-----and the gooseneck flatbed tips over after they hit the ditch whilst turning.

 

[Mingoglia]

Probably another case of someone turning too tightly or not swinging wide enough-----and the gooseneck flatbed tips over after they hit the ditch whilst turning.

A fold like that can also be a fifth wheel not properly latched and coming off landing on the bed. Ouch.

 

[Sierra1]

I had both a 5 and 6 speed manually shifted CTD in my 2002 dually and 2003 SRW 3500. IMO the 6 speed high output was the best transmission that was available for the power that motor made. Add in the fact that I had an Edge box on there kicking up the power a bit, the 6 speed was necessary as the auto available at the time would have never held up. Now that Ram has a couple of autos available for the CTD powered trucks, IMO, anyone that 1) has the extra money, 2) is going to work their truck, or 3) has intentions to add a power box to up the power levels of their motor should make the investment in the Aisin transmission. This transmission is robust and was designed for commercial levels of abuse. I know that any transmission can be broken, but the Aisin should hold up to about anything a stock power level CTD will put to it...short of pure neglect and/or abuse that is. Lastly, if you should ever decide to sell your truck in the future, I think the Aisin will up the resale value a good amount. So far I love mine, and with just 1600 miles on the truck I'm seeing about 17 MPG around town, and high 19's on short highway runs.

 

[Mingoglia]

It's my understanding that no one has unlocked the magic of Aisin's computer yet and therefore adding additional power, although it would take it, is probably not the best idea yet. These new trannies call the shots in terms of how much power at different RPM's the engine should put out and if you muck with that without the transmission taking this into account I believe you're asking for problems. Gone are the days of "dumb" (auto) transmissions. Lucky for many of us the Aisin equipped trucks have "enough" power to satisfy our towing needs, at least for the interim. Aisin trucks have more than double the torque the 2nd gen auto trucks had from the factory.

 

[RVTRKN]

Actually, the Aisin takes care of itself with its own TCM and the ECM has little control over it. It is that way because it can be coupled to any engine or make of vehicle, a good example is the Cummins for Nissan trucks with a Aisin auto.

 

[Mingoglia]

Actually, the Aisin takes care of itself with its own TCM and the ECM has little control over it. It is that way because it can be coupled to any engine or make of vehicle, a good example is the Cummins for Nissan trucks with a Aisin auto.

If that's the case, I stand corrected. It's black magic at this point to me.

 

[RVTRKN]

This is from factory reps, they have no control over the Aisin nor do they know of any way to change the TCM electronics. Aisin dictates to Dodge or Nissan or any other manufacturer for that matter, the operation of it. That's probably why there so strong and reliable, if I knew then (in 2006) what I know now, I would have ordered my C&C with the Aisin, instead of the G56.

 

[GCroyle]

This is from factory reps, they have no control over the Aisin nor do they know of any way to change the TCM electronics. Aisin dictates to Dodge or Nissan or any other manufacturer for that matter, the operation of it.

Did I just hear a silent helicopter and guys with really dark suits and sunglasses looking down?

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Sounds like we need to have a clarification article in the next TDR issue about how the Aisin transmission operates.

 

[RVTRKN]

The factory reps at May Madness brought a 68rfe and a Aisin trans we could compare the differences outside the truck. The Aisin is a lot bigger and looks stouter, the question was asked about the TCM for the Aisin and that's what they repeated, that Aisin controls are separate and independent due to other applications.