It is my understanding that the 6 speed manual transmission is only available on the 4 door short bed with the big V6.

For me a truck with a 6 foot bed has no use. The short bed of the 4 door is even worse. It's got to hold 4X8 sheet stock with the tailgate up or it's just not a truck.

This entire concept of luxury trucks with leather inside and auto everything else make little sense. To me trucks are for work. I want simple which will last 20 years. I want to be able to maintain it myself. No carpet, I want to be able to hose out the mud after miles of dirt roads in the rain.

It's hard to find plain trucks, most are recliners with 4 wheels. Fleet sales are about the only place to find these kinds of trucks. In the used market only about 1 of a hundred are plain trucks.

I have my doubts a heavy complex automatic trans will last even close to the time a 2 shaft manual will. When it does go, I have a feeling a rebuild of a 6 speed auto trans is going to cost 5000 dollars. Add that to the 3000 at purchase time and we are at 8000 plus tax. Not a good deal in my view.

The huge motors are silly. When I was a brick layer years ago all our trucks were 250 cubic inch GM trucks with 3 speed transmissions. We ran them for years. Our biggest truck was a 1 ton flat bed with a 200 motor. It was slow but it got the job done. Ford lists their new diesel at 800 foot lbs. Where is the small 3.0 L diesel we all need? 800 foot pounds with a 25000 pound towing capacity and 99 percent of them are on the freeway empty. I just don't get it.

What ever happened to trucks?

L