auto to manual swap on an 03 HO

[XcumminsX]

Wondering if anyone can give me the details on swapping my 48re to a 6 speed manual?

 

[BMF]

You would be better off trading the truck for a new one. A stick to auto conversion might not be so bad but the putting a six speed in would be allot of work and very expensive. I drove a mega-cab with a six speed a few days ago and the new six speeds are really nice. The clutch feels dif. and the gears are closer together. I think I liked it better than my NV but would have to drive it more to know for sure.
Before you swap it would be a good idea to drive a manual for a couple of days. Shifting in heavy traffic gets old quick. I live in the boonies so it doesn't bother me so much. My old auto was much quicker off the line than my current six speed too. The manual tows allot better though.

 

[holtzer1]

like he said...trade it for a new truck..or a slightly used manual truck. the swap requires too many bits and pieces that will be hard to find in a salvage yard and if you were to purchase them seperatly would cost a small fortune. shoulda bought a manual in the first place...an auto has no business behind a diesel...especially a cummins..thats just my .02

 

[Headhunter_5.9]

An Ole boy back home just finished his Junk-o-matic to Manual swap in an '03, ya hit the nail on the head of a small fortune, after getting most of the parts from a friends rollover, the parts that were shot after the wreck, were as expected, the most $$PRICY$$! he wouldn't tell he how much "exactly" that he had in it all he would say is that he could have just bought one with the manual in it for less money, and his truck was down for almost a month! so I'm just guessing he had around $15 to 20K in his, and granted money is no option, He has one of them $$$$$$ trees in his house, but I've never found it,

 

[rubberfish]

Swapping from auto to a stick isn't all that hard.
Mine used to be a s/b auto. You need pedals,
and hydraulics and a few odds and sods.
Unless your fussy enough that you
want to swap out the column as well.
I just pulled the shift lever off and voila.

an auto has no business behind a diesel...especially a cummins..thats just my .02

I couldn't agree more.

 

[The Warden]

Maybe the Ram is different, but I helped a buddy swap from an auto to a 5 speed in his '99 Dakota about 5 months ago. It was actually a relatively painless swap; I don't think we did any fabricating at all other than a little bit of creative wiring.

He found an all-Dodge junkyard in the Sacramento area, and I think he wound up paying about $2K for everything, including a used tranny and re-sizing his driveshafts. He later put out another $1K or so to have the 5 speed rebuilt (2nd syncro was NFG), and has been very happy with the swap. IIRC, including having issues with the gearshift lever (they gave him one out of a Ram, and it fit differently than the lever for a Dakota), the truck wasn't down any longer than 2 weeks, and we did it all in his garage with floor jacks and bricks

Like I said, maybe the Ram is different...

 

[Headhunter_5.9]

well I personally wouldn't think it would be that hard to do the swap, but the guy I was refering to above isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the package. knowing this clown he probably bought a bunch of parts he 'thought' he needed! and wondered why they were left over when the guys got done doing the swap!

and I'm not sure what else he did to it during the month it was down!! there's no telling with this ole boy!

next time I'm home I'll do some checking into the ins and outs of what all he did!

 

[steved]

Since the 03 uses a computer controlled auto, the computer would also need swapped to keep from setting off the check engine light (and also limiting how it runs).

At one time it was painless...today I would not even consider it...just trade for another one...the bad part is that for every 6 autos made, there is only one manual put in...they are hard to find.

steved

 

[XcumminsX]

thanks guys