New Ram has dial shift on their 8 speed trans instead of column shifter. Has anyone used one for plowing? I hated to go that route with dial shifter but went that way anyways figuring i would get used to it. I liked the mechanical feel of shifting. I feel the dial will cause a slight delay which im sure i'll get used to but after 25+ years of plowing,,,i'm thinking it'll be hard to get used to. Any thoughts? Thank You for help in advance. Mark
It’s not a perfect comparison but some of my trucks have push button Allison transmissions and I’d never go back to a column shifter. After 30 hours of plowing I’ve found myself struggling with the column shifter and missing my gears. The push button is idiot and sleep deprivation proof. The other big plus is it’s much easier to keep the controller in your hand and push a button than to pull down on a shifter. I don’t know how easy the dial is but that was one of the big pluses for me with the buttons.
Fly by wire . An idea Get a second gear selection knob Then you need a harness extension For it. Then mount it right next to or to your plow control .
The dial on the new Rams performs the same function as the column shifter; it sends a signal to the computer that controls the transmission. There hasn't been a solid connection (cables, levers, etc) between the column shifter and the transmission in years. So there's really no difference in the speed that the truck will select 'Drive' or 'Reverse'
My 2019 GMC has a cable that is connected to the side of the transmission... as does my 2016 Chevy too...
The problem that I find is that the dial is located somewhat near the radio dial. And the dial for the radio and shifter is roughly the same size... After a long day of plowing, and when your attention is on what's going out outside, it would be easy to grab the wrong one. If you are trying to turn down the radio and grab the wrong one and throw it in reverse while driving forward... Idk if that's a legit concern
I'm not sure about the GM's; I've never owned one. I chat with the techs at the Ram Stealership whenever it's there for service, and from what they've told me all that the shifter does is send a signal to the transmission computer to engage drive, reverse, etc. and that it doesn't actually have a solid connection any more. Of course, dealership techs being dealership techs... I will confess to not having crawled underneath and felt up my tranny to confirm what they've said
Correction... The 2019 2500 and 1 ton do not have a dial shift... I went and test drive a 2500 today and it was lever shift. On the dodge website has a dial shift pictured on the 2500 and 3500. So I don't know if that is for the 2020s or if they got lazy and used a 1500 picture for all 3 pages
