my sons truck is having trans trouble,its a automatic,due to a tuner.it lost second gear,completely.a very reputable shop that came highly recommended by half dozen garages,looked at it.shop said we got lucky cause the band came loose.common problem I guess??.fixed it f0r 180,worked good,even towing.now it acts up,only if you try and drive it at 15mph.the total rebuild was quoted as 2800-8000,depending on upgrades.the tuner has been removed too.the boy would really like a manual 6 speed,we have called several salvage yards and it looks like 5000 for everything needed,plus a clutch.my thought is couldn't a tranny from a bigger truck be used,like a manual out of a mid sized truck.im basing this on the 5.9s were used in everything and the trannys are priced way way cheaper,and id think they would stand up to a tuner a lot better.anyone ever done this before??.im sure the shifter would need altered in length,or bend also.i was thinking of something like a school bus size truck as a donor.the trans shop says the dodges just have trouble sometimes,he doesn't see why my idea wouldn't work,and that would be a sure fire fix.i think it wouldn't be a bad job,we have access to a good fab/machine shop at no charge if needed too.