[ChrisBigHorn17]

All of these people seem to have a different opinion.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/automatic-shifters-proceed-with-caution/

http://bestride.com/news/industry-news/the-worst-shifter-designs-of-2015

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/a5obz4x/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nhtsa-investigates-dangers-monostable-electronic-gearshift-fiat-chrysler-jeep-grand-cherokee/

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/03/cr-takes-stand-on-modern-gearboxes/

https://www.cars.com/articles/carscom-editors-sound-off-on-electronic-gear-selectors-1420683874162/

That BestRide link is hilarious. First they say Lincoln has it right with the separate buttons right near the touch screen. Then they say GMC has it wrong with the separate buttons right near other controls.

Well, which is it?

I think the rotary knob is OK. Takes a bit of getting used to, but its fine.

The knob, IMHO, is better than:

the joystick setup

Mercedes "is it windshield wipers, turn signal or transmission control?" stalk

And I even think its better than the pushbuttons for each separate setting. How does one not think THAT is easier to hit by accident than turning a knob?

 

[SpartanDonM]

I do use my brakes for STOPPING. I use the engine/transmission for slowing down.

And now you are slowing down and changing speeds with no brake lights or even a tapping of them which I do to take myself out of cruise control. I understand no one should be following close enough that it matters but when you slow using the brakes you give indications to those behind you that you are slowing down. When you just use the engine to brake like that you don't.

 

[Thunderhorse]

Mercedes "is it windshield wipers, turn signal or transmission control?" stalk

Oh man, I forgot about that one! I had a rental with that shifter and it was the #1 most heinous shifter I have used in my life

 

[guy65]

I do use my brakes for STOPPING. I use the engine/transmission for slowing down. Makes no sense to ride my brakes down a hill or into a curve when I can grab a gear and let the engine/tranny (machinery that's much more robust than calibers/pads/rotors) do the work. Staying off of the brakes on slippery roads also keeps me from relying on ABS and whatever else the truck does to keep from skidding. If I'm not putting on the brakes, I don't have a chance to skid. I find engine braking to be a smoother (and more engaging) way to drive. I'm sure you've seen the polar opposite type of driver, they're either on the gas, or on the brake. I call them "digital drivers".

Try following: when you go down hill, step short on the brakes. The transmission will shift a gear down and you're in the push mode. works with my truck. No need to lock the gear manually.

 

[striker2237]

I do use my brakes for STOPPING. I use the engine/transmission for slowing down. Makes no sense to ride my brakes down a hill or into a curve when I can grab a gear and let the engine/tranny (machinery that's much more robust than calibers/pads/rotors) do the work. Staying off of the brakes on slippery roads also keeps me from relying on ABS and whatever else the truck does to keep from skidding. If I'm not putting on the brakes, I don't have a chance to skid. I find engine braking to be a smoother (and more engaging) way to drive. I'm sure you've seen the polar opposite type of driver, they're either on the gas, or on the brake. I call them "digital drivers".

AND THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE WRONG. Go look up what happens when you engine brake an automatic transmission, you are LITERALLY subjecting it to forces it was not designed to handle long term.

You are also SO SO SO wrong about the skidding comment, if you drop into 1st from 3rd going 55 you have a very real chance of breaking the rears loose. Also people who REALLY know how to drive oftentimes use BOTH the gas and the brake at the same time to control the vehicle weight and get way better speeds through corners.



EDIT: Can this thread be nuked from orbit already?

 

[ChrisBigHorn17]

Oh man, I forgot about that one! I had a rental with that shifter and it was the #1 most heinous shifter I have used in my life

Even possibly part of the reason this happened:

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/did-a-merecedes-shifter-contribute-to-the-fatal-metro-n-1684219528

So yeah, I love when people say the knob is unsafe when its probably one of the better implementations of electronic controls.

 

[K-Dawg]

Try following: when you go down hill, step short on the brakes. The transmission will shift a gear down and you're in the push mode. works with my truck. No need to lock the gear manually.

So force the transmission to downshift by tapping the brake instead of tapping a button on the steering wheel or a shifter stick? Seems like just a different way to do the same thing. I know how the 8AT down shifts when you brake. I just don't like to brake. I prefer to down shift. It's how I drive. And if I had a proper shifter in the RAM, I could drive it how I like to drive it.

 

[Thunderhorse]

I want to slow down but I don't want to brake

:4-dontknow:

Man, now I feel like we're getting trolled :shy:

 

[ChrisBigHorn17]

So force the transmission to downshift by tapping the brake instead of tapping a button on the steering wheel or a shifter stick? Seems like just a different way to do the same thing. I know how the 8AT down shifts when you brake. I just don't like to brake. I prefer to down shift. It's how I drive. And if I had a proper shifter in the RAM, I could drive it how I like to drive it.

To each his own, but I look at it this way:

it is far easier and cheaper to replace brake pads, rotors, calipers than a transmission.

Same goes for a clutch in a manual transmission...out of all my friends and I, I was the only person that did NOT believe in downshifting into each lower gear as I came up to a stop. "Engine braking saves your brakes"....what does it do to your clutch?

And to apply it to an automatic, what does the constant forced downshifts do to it? Its one thing if the transmissions "knows" it needs to downshift and does it when its expected per the programming, but if you are downshifting before it wants to, you are essentially putting it at higher RPMs (and presumably, strain) than its expecting.

If the trans is robust enough maybe it doesnt let you make that downshift, or it can hold up to the strain maybe. But if not......

 

[K-Dawg]

AND THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE WRONG. Go look up what happens when you engine brake an automatic transmission, you are LITERALLY subjecting it to forces it was not designed to handle long term.

You are also SO SO SO wrong about the skidding comment, if you drop into 1st from 3rd going 55 you have a very real chance of breaking the rears loose. Also people who REALLY know how to drive oftentimes use BOTH the gas and the brake at the same time to control the vehicle weight and get way better speeds through corners.



EDIT: Can this thread be nuked from orbit already?

This is merely a discussion on different ways to drive your vehicle. There's no right or wrong, just different preferences. Only a complete arse would drop from 3rd to 1st going 55 MPH. But dropping from 5th to 4th when going 35 and entering a curve on a winding road is a perfectly acceptable way to decelerate the truck without using the brakes. There's no overwhelming forces that the transmission can't handle. Just a gentle deceleration (easily seen on the speedometer and tach), and then you smoothly accelerate through the bend, and the brakes are never used.

 

[Thunderhorse]

You can also just take your foot off the gas and coast to slow down

 

[guy65]

So force the transmission to downshift by tapping the brake instead of tapping a button on the steering wheel or a shifter stick? Seems like just a different way to do the same thing. I know how the 8AT down shifts when you brake. I just don't like to brake. I prefer to down shift. It's how I drive. And if I had a proper shifter in the RAM, I could drive it how I like to drive it.

Why do I get the impression, that you should start building your own vehicle which does exactly what you want, how you want.
You don't want to use breaks, but strain the transmission to the core. might does nothing to you, when you plan to get a new truck every 2 or 3 years- feel just sorry for the second owner.
you want to shift electronically, how you would do with a manual transmission and all that with an automatic transmission... uh... you can ask VW if they can sell you one of them double clutch transmissions- they some kinda do that.


When I read, what you write, I come to the conclusion- a truck is not the right vehicle for you. seriously.

 

[K-Dawg]

I want to slow down but I don't want to brake

:4-dontknow:

Man, now I feel like we're getting trolled :shy:

Open your mind, brother, there's more than one way to slow down. Brakes are nice, but not the only way. You can safely decelerate using throttle control and down-shifting (manual transmission drivers have been doing it forever). They put auto-sticks in Chargers and Challengers so we can drive our automatics that way. Those cars have the same transmission as the RAM 8AT. If it's ok to Auto-shift the Challenger and Charger, it should be ok to Autoshift the same transmission in the RAM, without destroying the transmission.

 

[K-Dawg]

Why do I get the impression, that you should start building your own vehicle which does exactly what you want, how you want.
You don't want to use breaks, but strain the transmission to the core. might does nothing to you, when you plan to get a new truck every 2 or 3 years- feel just sorry for the second owner.
you want to shift electronically, how you would do with a manual transmission and all that with an automatic transmission... uh... you can ask VW if they can sell you one of them double clutch transmissions- they some kinda do that.


When I read, what you write, I come to the conclusion- a truck is not the right vehicle for you. seriously.[/QUOTE

Well, if I could figure out a way get get a load of firewood in the back of a GT Challenger (AWD) and it had the ground clearance to get down in the woods where I hunt, I probably wouldn't need a truck.

 

[jrtubb]

I heard that Fred Flintstone used his feet very well to stop, maybe that is the next option...

Seriously I didn't even think people use those shift buttons for stuff like this unless you had a trailer or heavy loaded truck. This is pretty amazing to me...

 

[Thunderhorse]

Yeah man, you are a very unique individual and in an extreme minority of people who want their truck to function that way.

From what you describe I bet your brakes outlast your torque converters

 

[K-Dawg]

I don't want a custom designed truck. Just the same shifter they put in the Durango and Wrangler (similar size/weight vehicle as mine). I wonder how those whacky Durango and Jeep drivers use their auto-stick?

 

[SpartanDonM]

99% of them don't use it for anything but shifting between P N D and R.

 

[striker2237]

Open your mind, brother, there's more than one way to slow down. Brakes are nice, but not the only way. You can safely decelerate using throttle control and down-shifting (manual transmission drivers have been doing it forever). They put auto-sticks in Chargers and Challengers so we can drive our automatics that way. Those cars have the same transmission as the RAM 8AT. If it's ok to Auto-shift the Challenger and Charger, it should be ok to Autoshift the same transmission in the RAM, without destroying the transmission.

Yes the 2000lb heavier truck is the exact same stress wise as the cars. I have driven plenty of manual cars and a manual these trucks are not.

 

[Thunderhorse]

I don't want a custom designed truck. Just the same shifter they put in the Durango and Wrangler (similar size/weight vehicle as mine). I wonder how those whacky Durango and Jeep drivers use their auto-stick?

I used the paddle shifters once when I visited my uncle in the Ozarks.

My wife has never used the paddles and is the primary driver.


I am not sure how the other Durango and Grand Cherokee drivers do it; perhaps my wife and I are not "whacky." :4-dontknow: