Gear + and Gear -

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I'm new to the Dodge Truck family, and really enjoying mine. I do have a question about the Gear + and Gear - on the steering wheel. On the 5.7, I know you can press it up to the eight gears, but does the truck still automatically shift for you or do you have to shift with the buttons? Also, does this turn the 'Eco' mode off until you start the truck back up? I've heard using the Tow/Haul will also turn 'Eco' off. Sorry for the noob questions, just new to Dodge. Thanks.
 

22hemi13

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It will up shift “to highest gear selected” and downshift. It’s a “gear limiter”. Whatever number it’s on is the highest gear it will shift into. MDS is turned off yes and also off with tow/haul.
 
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frankcastle865
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It will up shift “to highest gear selected” and downshift. It’s a “gear limiter”. Whatever number it’s on is the highest gear it will shift into. MDS is turned off yes and also off with tow/haul.
Thanks for the quick response! So the truck still does shift gears automatically, it just shifts it up to the highest gear I choose (8 being max). Does this setting need to be applied while in park?
 

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Thanks for the quick response! So the truck still does shift gears automatically, it just shifts it up to the highest gear I choose (8 being max). Does this setting need to be applied while in park?
Yes. Automatically. You need to be in D. It won’t allow you to select gear while in park. Lots of people manually select 8 to deactivate mds.
 

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And from what I understand, eco and mds are two different things. Eco is just an indicator that you are driving economically and not coupled with the mds. You don’t really know when mds is running, although you might be able to tell if you develop a good feel for it with hearing and spidy senses. Like 22 said, you can turn mds off manually and then you know it’s not running. But when it’s on, the eco light does not mean the mds is on. I think.
 
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frankcastle865
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Yes. Automatically. You need to be in D. It won’t allow you to select gear while in park. Lots of people manually select 8 to deactivate mds.
Thanks! Another dumb question, but with truck in D, does it have to be a certain speed to select the 8 gears?
 

MADDOG

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When in "D" the truck will shift based on the programmed parameters.
 

22hemi13

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On my '15 tow/haul does not disable MDS, only having a gear selected with +/- will disable MDS. I understand this to be the same of other 8-speed transmission trucks.
Could be. I had a 13’ with 6spd and now a 2500 so very well could be different with an 8spd
 

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On my '15 tow/haul does not disable MDS, only having a gear selected with +/- will disable MDS. I understand this to be the same of other 8-speed transmission trucks.

Same with my '14, the MDS is not disabled when in tow/haul.
 

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