percentage of Manual transmissions.

[Rob4]

Anybody have any facts or figures or SWAG on the number of 5 speed manual transmissions that were put in the 1993 and 1994 6.5 diesel trucks as compared to the 4L80E automatic transmissions? A bunch of the trucks I see on Craigslist are manual. I didn't think manuals were as common as the automatics. Thanks

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

They aren't near as common. I thought I had read around 15% of trucks were equipped with the NV4500.

[Hubert]

Yeah probably 15% overall. Then if you break it down further the ratio gets more lop sided.

Maybe....

2500 Ext cab short box 4x4 was 1%. It is a more rare combo. It took me a long time to find one. I saw a different mix of 2500 & 3500's in different configs when I was looking.

Probably most commonly I saw was 2500 long bed reg cab maybe 8%. Then it was ext cab long bed and then 3500 reg cab and finally 3500 ext cab.

Didn't see many crew cab manuals.

[trbankii]

I know it took me quite some time to find mine. Of course, right after buying mine I saw several more.

I also think that it probably varied by region. As Hubert implies with the regular cab long bed (like mine), I think probably the people buying them for work/farm trucks saw them more often than the suburban buyer.

[Robyn]

I have been around the GM diesels now since they showed up back in 82.

I can count the number of stick shift rigs that I have seen around here on one hand in all those years.

The numbers are indeed very low.

Not sure where you would look to get accurate ####

Most rigs that were ordered on spec (dealers stock) were ordered with the 4L80

I can say, I have never driven a 6.2 or 6.5 with a stick.

I was actually shocked the first time I saw one in a K5 Blazer (6.2 with a stick) :eek::eek: WHATS THIS????????

Try searching the net and beating around in the corners of the cyber closet and see whatcha can find.

Missy

[Robyn]

My guess would be that for the one exception of special order trucks, the largest numbers of sticks would be utility rigs destined for use by contractors, farmers, etc that do heavy work

The guy who just loves a stick will order a top of the line rig and doll it up along with the 5 speed.

Myself, being a commercial driver and yanking a gearbanger all day long I dont even want one.

For 4x4 service I would not even consider a manual box.

The hydraulic drive is sooooooooooo much smoother and easier on the drive train out in the nasty stuff.

The only exception might be a "Rock crawler" or ??? some other specialty custom beast.

Just some thoughts

Missy

[Hubert]

I agree with what Robyn was saying about special orders. My truck I bought from the original owner and he ordered it with a stick. I will venture to say it was less than 0.5 % of the non std cab long bed work trucks that were made with a stick as an intened mix for sales. In other words anything with 4x4, ext cab, or options with a stick was probably ordered that way.

With the occasional exception of a few dealers in rural mountains and rural midwest that may have ordered a few other manuals because thats typically where more manuals are sold. I found mine in western NC that the guy towed an RV with it and liked to hold a gear going down hill (the allison towing button wasn't out yet).

Heard GM makes more money with automatics so they don't like to build manuals. The only reason they make a few std transmissions in a basic truck is probably to have an advertisement base truck (low sticker price) to attract buyers to the lot. Its actually a mis marketing thing and business strategy to charge more for the automatics (more profit potential with autos).

The number of people that preffer to drive a stick is dwindling ( really fast with the new autos). Have heard estimates that within 10 +/- years all cars and trucks 1 ton and under will probably be autos in the US.

[SmithvilleD]

Mine's the heavy HD 3/4T 4x4 NV4500 in Silverado trim. Having one, my tendency is to pay more attention to them when checking out the forum pics/garages, etc.

As was mentioned, the majority of 6.5T NV4500's I've seen have been regular cab/long beds either like mine, or the 3500's - SRW or dually's.

Buying the truck new, I wouldn't have favored the manual. But when buying a used 160k miles truck for a project, I kinda like the simplicity & possibly less major maintenance (barring the 5th gear nut loosening that seems to happen most often in NV4500's behind the Cummins in the Dodge's). Clutch, pilot bearing, throw-out, input shaft/bearing, master/slave cylinder systems are all mainentance, but still cheap compared to a quality 4L80E rebuild & converter.

The manual's downhill/grade control can be nice, but loosing boost on shifts starting up grades pretty much averages that out. Do like one less heat source in the radiator/cooling stack.

[Rob4]

Thanks everybody for the reply. I thought the manual transmission numbers would/should be low. I have been keeping track of the 93's and 94's for quite some time and looking for one with a NV4500 transmission and only recall seeing one truck with a manual transmission on eBay a few years ago and the seller was from a town nearby. I bid on it but didn't get it. About a month ago three trucks with NV4500 transmissions showed up on craigslist all at the same time and all within about 100 miles from me. As it turned out I bought two of them. A 1994 3/4 ton Silverado extended cab 4x4 and a 1993 regular cab farm truck(for parts). Both with the NV4500 and 6.5 turbo Diesels. Two days ago on Craigslist a one ton 6.5 turbo was listed with a manual tranny. It just seemed strange that all of the sudden manual transmissions seem to dominate. I appreciate the input. Thanks again everybody.

[trbankii]

I’ve been looking for another 6.5TD/NV4500/4x4 truck lately - particularly a ’93 so it still has the MFI. For the time I’ve been looking, the pickings have been mighty slim. Seems like 2WD is more common than 4WD models for having a stick. And as discussed above, usually the regular cab models.