Manuals Matter: Hot Shot’s Secret Offering Up Magic Sauce For G56

When it comes to trucks, there are two types of people. Those who like the comfort of throwing it in drive and just going and the person who likes to grip and rip gears in a manual transmission. Unlike automatic transmissions, manuals are often overlooked when it comes to performance, cooling, and longevity. Most people say “Let’s throw a better clutch in and it will be fine!”

While that can and will help, some manual transmissions deserve more attention than that. This includes the G56 in the 2005-2018 RAM trucks. From 2005-2007, the first version of the Mercedes-Benz-built G56 was put into the RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. These transmissions replaced the much heavier cast iron NV5600’s

Over the last 15 years, there have been a few flaws with these transmissions and alongside Hot Shot’s Secret, we will show you some go-to items for your G56 that can cure your problems. Keep in mind, Hot Shots is very early on in the testing, and sometimes to make these products of theirs perfect it takes time.

Can’t Find Em’, Grind Em’

Being around the industry for quite some time, I’m used to hearing issues with certain models and brands. One that stands out is getting into gear. I’ve heard some people really have to get mean with the shifter to get it into gear. As a matter of fact, a close friend of mine has a G56-backed RAM from 2006 with similar issues.

The truck can operate fine and shift perfectly but once he tows his camper, it’s a different ball game. “I get set up at the campground and unhook the camper and it is like the truck can’t find any gears. If we take the truck into town and come back to hook up, the reverse gear is almost impossible to get into,” he said. ” Is there anything that is offered that can help?”

Naturally, I reached out to the lubrication specialists at Hot Shot’s Secret and let them in on what was happening. Wouldn’t you know it, they were already in development for something. Turns out, the gear selecting has been an issue along with a temperature control issue. They said they’ve had complaints about the temperatures getting really hot in these transmissions.

You can see the difference in the shift patterns from the older NV5600 compared to the G56.

There are companies who offer a standalone oil cooler for these G56’s but what if we could do just a fluid change and really make it disappear? We didn’t think this local truck had a temperature issue, but we needed to find out because these two items could possibly go hand-in-hand. With the help of Edge Products, we set this truck up with a CTS2 monitor and it came with their performance kit. This allowed us to input a sensor in our pan of the trans to get a reading.

We wanted to get some initial data before we changed over to Hot Shot’s Secret’s sauce that would hopefully fix all. By using our CTS2, we noticed that the fluid was only reaching a temperature of 180-degrees. As I mentioned earlier, the temperature issues have been above 200 and even gotten into a 220-degree range.  So, it looks as if our truck here isn’t suffering from that issue.

The main concern was to get this truck to go into reverse easier. With multiple trips to camp, the temperature never got hotter than 180-degrees but as expected, it did not want to go into reverse. So, it’s time a change was made.

 

Secret Sauce

This product from Hot Shot’s Secret is still being tested and developed but we wanted to be a test mule and find out how far along the testing has gone. By simply draining and refilling the transmission with this fluid, we were ready to hit the road again. Keep in mind, these trips are weeks of each other and trying all different speeds and ambient temperatures.

Thanks to the super easy to see CTS3, all of our data was showcased at eye level where we could monitor all parameters of the truck. After a few weeks of trips, we, unfortunately, didn’t see a change at all in temperature. The fluid temperature got up to 180-degrees and just stayed. I am not saying this fluid isn’t working I’m saying this truck just isn’t suffering from the same issues others do.

With that being said, what about the shifting? Can it go into reverse better? “The truck would go into every gear fine pulling or not pulling but reverse once that truck was hot would not want to work with me,” the truck owner said. Praying that the fluid helped out with that after weeks of anticipation, it worked.

The transmission works better overall but even hot and attempting to get into reverse isn’t a fight anymore. The truck softly and safely gets into reverse with no issues. We haven’t changed anything except the fluid and we’ve tested this for multiple trips and I feel comfortable in saying the change was for the better.

Our 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 test mule is back and better than ever.

Being a test mule for this product has been exciting but also not surprising. It seems like every time we or someone we know uses products from them, they’re happy in the end. We can add another driver to that list as camping just became that much easier. We can’t thank Hot Shot’s enough for coming on board and helping us out on this issue.

Here are some testimonials from their testers.

“So far so good, hooking to 18k worth of trailer this weekend, overall quieter and about 20-25* cooler”

“Cheers to a good product”

“All I can say is awesome work, guys! Unloaded, I was seeing 160-170-degrees with 80-95-degree ambient temperatures. However, loaded I saw 195-205-degrees at the same temperatures with 15,000-pounds behind me! Quicker operation, smoother shifts, and better synchro engagement already!”

But wait, there is more! Hot Shot’s Secret is still wanting to further develop this product and is looking for beta testers right now. They want to run these fluids through as many trucks as possible and figure out how to make it perfect. If you’re interested in running their fluids and testing for them, check out this link right here.

Stay tuned for the full label release from Hot Shot’s right here on Diesel Army. If you’re interested in using or learning more about their products, head on over to their website here. Stay tuned to Diesel Army for more on part reviews, truck features, and event coverage.

 

 

 

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About the author

Artie Maupin

Artie Maupin is from Southeast Missouri and has an extreme passion for anything diesel. He loves drag racing of all kinds, as well as sled pulling competitions.
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