Anyone have a 2500 with 5 or 6spd?

[TP from Cntl PA]

I don't really need another truck, but I really like the new body style GMC's so I decided I'd wait till they came out with the 2500's and then maybe look into buying one. Well, turns out I waited it out too long........The new body styles can't be had with stick...........And I won't own a truck with a slush box. So I've been looking around for a 2000 to '07 2500 Regular Cab with a 6.0/5spd, or a 8.1(Or 6.6) with 6spd..........4x4 of-course. Well, like a needle in a haystack, I haven't found many, and only one I found really caught my eye. I was just curious as to how you guys with sticks like them? The truck I am looking into has a 6.6 Dura-jap with a 6spd. My neighbor has a GMC setup the same up the road, and it seemed really doggy when I drove it. That was right after the D-jap came out, and this '05 maybe different(I hope). I'd really like to find one with a 8.1 and a 6spd, but they are like non-exsistant. I don't believe the mileage offset with the diesel would pay now, considering I'd have to drive across the county for diesel. Anyone with a 6.6 and a 6 spd figure out their mpg? This one has 3.73's in the rear.

[DirtyLarry]

I have a 2500HD with an 8.1L and S6-650 ZF 6 speed manual transmission that I bought new in 2001. Manual shift transfer cases were hard to find back in 2001 let alone a manual transmission. I got lucky and found one in my home town even in the color of my choice and with bucket seats. We got the wife a new car last summer and I started driving her Tahoe since then so the HD just hangs out in the garage most of the time now. It just turned 50,000 miles and had gone less than 500 miles since July 2006 when we got the G6. No, I don’t want to sell it..

If you find a truck with an 8.1L and ZF 6 speed it will be the last manual transmission truck you will ever own because you will hate it so much you will never want to drive a stick again. Yeah, I friggen hate my ZF badly. Talk about an awkward knotchy transmission…… I wish it would have had a NV5600 instead. Nothing like launching the truck from a stop sign only to find yourself going backwards in reverse because 1st and Reverse are so damn close it is easy to stick it in the wrong gear. It still bewilders me why the hell GM used the ZF behind the Dirtymax and 8.1L in that plateform for those years. Idiots!

The 8.1L is a great engine and gets 10 miles a gallon loaded, unloaded, on the highway or parked in the garage. It needs a quart of oil every 1200 miles like clock work. I am not complaining as low fuel economy and oil consumption are common on bigger bore engines. The 8.1L is not fast…but pulls like a freight train. It is a very economical alternative to a diesel if pulling is your thing. The 6.0L with the NV4500 is a nice combo as well and equally as hard to find but probably be a more practical as a daily driver.

Manual transmissions will be available in the 2008 2500 and 3500 GMT900’s second quarter of this year. The transmission is rumored to be a Tremec this time opposed to New Venture and ZF as GM used in the past. The 8.1L will no longer be offered in the Silverado line up but there the 6.0L is a pretty nice engine as well. There will be a supercharged 6.2L coming to the HD line up within the sometime in 2009. Knowing how GM is they probably won’t offer it with a manual trans with that engine because you know, people would probably want to by that combo or something.

[TP from Cntl PA]

Is the stick be an option with the new body style just a rumor or fact?

I've found acouple trucks that I like but they have the Duramax(Personally I am a Cummins and Cat Inline 6 guy myself) but may go that route instead, although I'd rather have a 8.1.

I don't recall my neighbors ZF being touchy, but its been acouple years since I drove it.

[44th Miss Inf]

I talked with GM the other day about getting a Dmax with a standard transmission. NO GO at the moment. Only thing they are offering with a standard at the moment is the 6.0 gas burner. Looks like I will do the Cummins swap on my 96 crew cab Chevy SRW 1T, with NV4500. Plus no notes! (Good because we are about to build a new house)
Maybe something will change now that it is after the 1st, but I doubt it. I was offered all kinds of incentives, discounts, etc, but I don't want an auto.

[TP from Cntl PA]

Originally Posted by 44th Miss Inf

I talked with GM the other day about getting a Dmax with a standard transmission. NO GO at the moment. Only thing they are offering with a standard at the moment is the 6.0 gas burner. Looks like I will do the Cummins swap on my 96 crew cab Chevy SRW 1T, with NV4500. Plus no notes! (Good because we are about to build a new house)
Maybe something will change now that it is after the 1st, but I doubt it. I was offered all kinds of incentives, discounts, etc, but I don't want an auto.

Yes, I was told the same thing. I wanted to get one now, although I really don't need a truck as my '72 K-20 just don't give up...........But I imagine in the not so distant future none of the big three will offer stick in a pickup. The demand isn't there, and they'd have the added issue of design and building it on the line with parts that aren't common, not to mention most people rather buy off the lot than order anyhow. So I wanted to get one before that happened, and the way I take care of a pickup, it would last me a long, long time. Now, I can't get a GM new with a stick, and I don't want a Ferd or a Dodge(Even though the Cummins is the best of the 3 engine wise), so I guess I have to find a good used one before they are all gone as well.