My buddy had a 2001 with a 5 speed and beat the snot out of it daily , had very few issues of any kind ..It ALWAYS had a 1000 lb bobcat welder in the back , and most often it had a trailer with 5000 lbs of steel on (he built high class steel fencing for rich people)

When he was on off hours he was pulling his 28 foot enclosed with his dirt cars and again, loaded heavy

Again let me stress ,he worked this truck hard
countless times, I ASKED him about 5th gear
he would tell me to shut up

well, at about 335,000 it spun the gear off

He fixed it himself, welded it on !

Sold the truck this spring with 385,000 on it