Eliminating the rotary shifter?

My 2014 Ram has the ridiculous shift knob on the dash. When I first got the truck almost 2 years ago, I thought I would get used to it. I still hate it. Does anyone make an after-market shifter that is a lever? Or are the new Rams available with a real shifter instead of the rotary knob?

Thanks, Joel

I just took delivery of my 2016 Ram and it also has the "radio tuner" shift knob.

- EM

Agreed!! The engineer and and marketing people that came up with the twist knob gear shift should be FIRED!! I have a 2016 for work... I cant tell you how many times I have tried to put my 04 Ram in park using the fan dial knob... And grabbed for the actual gear shift in the 16!

That is the reason I bought a 2015 2500, still had a stalk shifter! I don't know if they all have the rotary or not now, I wasn't taking any chances...

I think all 8-speed equipped trucks have the rotary shifter. A friend of mine has a 12 or 13 Ram with the 6-speed(or is it 5-speed?) and he has a regular shifter. The 8-speeds are all electronic so I doubt there is a replacement.

After driving my 14 Ram and getting used to the shifter, I had to drive my dad's 03 Dakota for some reason. I went to put the trans in reverse and grabbed the blower motor knob by accident. I felt really stupid.

Once I was stopped at a railroad crossing and it was apparent that I would be there a long time. I turned the knob to what I thought was PARK and shut the truck off. A warning on the dash display said that I was in reverse instead of park. The truck automatically shifted into park when the truck was shut off. My wife said she did the same thing once.

The 8 speed transmission has the rotary knob. I haven't seen anything aftermarket for them. With a little work you might be able to hook up the console type shifter in the Grand Cherokees and cars that they're recalling. You nudge it up or down to change the gear, but it springs back to center no detent.

Another stupid example of an engineer inventing something so he can justify his job.

While working repair on the assembly line I was talking to an engineer about a part that had been change is such a way that it made it difficult for the operator to install it I asked a Chrysler engineer why changes were made that seemed like they weren't necessary.

What he said was "To stay in the running for Best Engineered Vehicle there must be 50 engineering changes made every model year."

They don't have to be good or useful changes, they just have to be changes.

So essentially changes are made just to try to win awards.

As far as why a twist knob, it's probably so that in the future the computer that's plugged into the grid (skynet, lol) can drive your car and no mechanical input from the driver will be required.

Just like drive by wire. I cannot stand the delay when you stomp on the pedal and the vehicle goes nowhere...

There's a guy in town that has a 15 SRT Challenger. He says the throttle is very responsive and doesn't have any lag. My 14 Ram is not fun to drive. The lag is very noticeable and it drives me crazy sometimes. It must all be in the "tune". They probably have the trucks set like that to protect the trans. It probably cuts down on warranty claims. I've read that the lag can be fixed but you have to buy an aftermarket controller. My guess is they are anywhere from $300-$500 which I refuse to buy. The lag is my biggest complaint about the truck.

That is what I figured, to protect the trans, I probably shouldn't get the tuner...

These newer trucks are huge and heavy. My 2007 1500 2wd short bed REG cab weighs almost 5000 lbs, pushed around by essentially a small block.

My 2015 392 SRT is very touchy, took awile to get used to it so I wouldn't blast across the lot or from a light (embarrassing, the other guy thinks you're showing off) my 06 3500 is slow to respond, quite a difference between the two. I might just buy a new Ford next time.