Manual vs. Automatic GVWR

[Will]

You can downshift an auto, Dustin. There is no difference--you pull the lever down and it pops down into a lower gear.

A manual is much cheaper because if you know how to drive, the clutch will NEVER need to be replaced. An auto, as you said, is more expensive. My strategy is simple--buy vehicles with autos that you trust, or buy a manual. All of my vehicles are selected that way. I prefer an auto, but where I can't get a good one, I have a manual. I mean, no manual is better than the TH400 with the Gear Vendors in a pickup. On the other hand, I didn't want a school bus with an auto. Seriously, on a 6% grade it's worth 14mph to have a manual trans over an Allison 640. That's a serious power hog. I would prefer to have a good auto in my skoolie because unlike a pickup, you have to be constantly on the ball with a manual bus. You need to know where the right gear is despite traffic or grade of hill. If there is a car right on your ass on a steep grade, I hope you know what you are doing with the clutch. It's a lot of work, not fun, going through Atlanta at rush hour in a bus. We went to Gettysburg on the state roads where there are massively steep hills you will never see on the interstate. You get the engine over-speed on a 9% grade and then try to get it into the right gear--forget it. It won't go. You have to know what the hell you are doing. An auto, just click it back a gear.

Like I said, I want an auto that does what it should do. I don't have it in everything I own, but I appreciate it in the vehicles that have it.

A creeper gear isn't used on the road. Actually, it's all but useless. A 4-speed with a creeper is a barnyard tranny. On the road, you have only 3 gears. My TH400 is more than a match for that trans. Especially since I can split every gear.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I know that you can downshift an auto It just never seemed as effective to me as a manual though...

Im not completely against automatics, i just prefer manuals cause ive been burned by automatics more then a few times. Unfourtantly its getting harder and harder to find a manual in anything but a econo box or sports car.

Not to argue with ya will but Creeper gear is a very useful gear....you right, when your bobtail (unloaded, sorry semi trucker term) its pretty useless, unless your in slow moving traffic or in a drive thru line, but loaded up with a heavy load, its invaluable.

When i had to haul my 97 Expedition to the shop (with a bum E4OD nonetheless ) with my 78 F350 i got stopped in tow on a pretty steep grade, Without the creeper it woulda been hell on my clutch, with the creeper i let up on the clutch and shift normally. It also for whatever reason works really well for climbing slippery hills (i cant explain this).

With your TH400 with a splitter you definatly have more of a variety of gear choices then ido with my T18, and the 400 is one of the better auto trannys (The C6 is the best in my book, but the 400 is a close second, once again more in opinion, ive seen 2 400s go out, never seen a C6 give it up).

I like my T18 though cause with a heavy load of whatever, i KNOW its going to shift, i KNOW its going to downshift, i KNOW its going to stay cool, its more of a control thing withme, with an AUto i just dont feel as in control.

Its all a matter of opinion.

later,
Dustin

 

[wildbill23c]

I heard the reason behind the lower numbers with a manual transmission is due to the fact that its far easier to hook up a load with an automatic and get it moving with an automatic, they're basically idiot proof, where with a manual transmission the operator actually needs common sense and the know how to operate the transmission properly without stalling, rolling backwards or forwards, etc. has nothing to do with the transmission being able to handle the weight it has to do with the driver. I like manual transmissions for long drives and for up in the mountains, but driving around town and in traffic all the time its nice drop the transmission in drive and not have to worry about shifting. Not to mention replacing a clutch if you are that bad of a driver is far cheaper than rebuilding or replacing an automatic transmission.

Most cars and trucks come with automatics now because people just plain don't know how to drive manual transmission vehicles anymore. Military did the same thing and phased out all the old trucks with manual transmissions because of this.

Another note: buy a manual transmission vehicle and its less likely to be stolen as well since so many people now don't know how to drive them.

The weak link in automatic transmissions are the damn electronic controls that operate the clutches, servos, etc. The reason people never have problems with the old 3 speed automatics is due to the fact they aren't ran off electronics. Once the electronic transmissions were introduced that's where all the trouble started. Now a lot of automatics won't downshift or upshift until a certain speed has been reached, you can't manually select 2nd gear anymore either, my old '84 ranger you could manually put it in 2nd gear in the snow and ice and start off in 2nd to keep from spinning the tires, can't do that on any automatic now they still shift to 1st.

 

[Will]

Some electronic trannies are mentally retarded, that's for sure. I hate the programming on the one in my Powerstroke van. The one in my wife's Honda Pilot, though, is perfect. To be fair, the E350 van has a lot of different things it could be dealing with, being a truck, while the Honda Pilot is just one thing--a big car.

I had a '74 Pontiac Bonneville with a 455 in highschool. As awesome as that car was, sentamentally, the Honda Pilot is 100# heavier, a 4wd with a locking rear diff, seats 2 more people, and has a motor less than half the size, and is a lot quicker and faster than the old battlewagon. Man, I love technology so you won't see me defending old-school stuff too much. The old Pontiac with the Q-Jet and the air cleaner lid flipped upside down sounded awesome. I later, as an adult, has a '71 Catalina 400 and a '76 Grand Prix 400. They were all awesome cars and I might get another one. I don't drive my wife's car very much, I drive an old VW tdi when I have to and my motorcycle when I don't have to. But the fact is, a modern 4-valve variable-everything engine is an exotic race engine by 1970's standards and the auto tranny is no different. It's like the B2 bomber--with electronics the tranny can make extra gears with the same gearset by manipulating the clutches and bands in a way a pure hydraulic system couldn't. Programming the computer can make the tranny behave like you want it to. I think if you try something new out you might be surprised.

 

[shane96ranger]

I'd take a 4R70W over an AOD any day. Electronic control helped a lot there.

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[85_Ranger4x4]

Another note: buy a manual transmission vehicle and its less likely to be stolen as well since so many people now don't know how to drive them.

If you get one with hand start it will even more greatly reduce the pool of people that would even want to steal it.

Some electronic trannies are mentally retarded, that's for sure. I hate the programming on the one in my Powerstroke van.

That is how my F-150 is too, it just shifts mushy or rather uninspirational.

I borrowed an Edge tuner for it, set it on tow/haul and it was too much in the other direction. When I was getting on it it would shift hard enough to make the accessory belt chirp. If it was my tuner I could probably fiddle with the shifting but I wasn't happy with the boxed tune.

Different tires than stock really confused it too, it felt like it didn't really know what to do and was just throwing shifts out there. Shortshift in to second, wind out to third then shortshift into fourth.

I also don't like how it just downshifts to maintain speed, vehicles of other brands can maintain speed without having a panic freak-out-fit on a hill.

I don't know the build on my C5 but I love how it shifts. It shifts like it means it but not too brutal, just right. I really wish it had another gear though...

I'd take a 4R70W over an AOD any day. Electronic control helped a lot there.

They did play with the gear ratios between the AOD and 4R70W too, IMO they greatly improved them.

I am going to a manual in my Ranger because I am going to need OD, and I don't like the other 4 speed automatic options for it... not because I have to be in control of everything.

 

[shane96ranger]

That is how my F-150 is too, it just shifts mushy or rather uninspirational.

Mine shifts wonderful under light or heavy acceleration. If I am getting into it moderately, it seems like it gets confused. As you know, mine has had the wheels/tires changed - and I'm sure that adds to it. My buddy says he can fix the crap it does with some valve body upgrades.

 

[littlezell]

It's a lot of work, not fun, going through Atlanta at rush hour in a bus. .

I live an hour or so from there..... you arent lieng it is hell with any manual....




I had a 93 f150.... 4.9 5 speed.... I wasnt afraid to hook to anything an drag it down the road..
I also have a 90 bronco 302 auto.... its impressed me with what I have hooked to and draged down the road..

My 96 explorer 5 speed.... doesnt seem to have the power to really pull... it trys to...not really afraid to hook to anything with it either.

it doesnt matter what you have manual or automatice... if you know how to drive you can utilize either transmission to get the job done.

as in driving a manual I wished i could drive like my dad. he is by far the best I have been around that can drive a clutch. I have my 78 bronco that i got from him and well it still has the same clutch in it... I was told that it was never changed by the orginal owner.. I still drive it today... the pressure plate has gotten weak but thats it...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Mine shifts wonderful under light or heavy acceleration. If I am getting into it moderately, it seems like it gets confused. As you know, mine has had the wheels/tires changed - and I'm sure that adds to it. My buddy says he can fix the crap it does with some valve body upgrades.

Mine shifts like a CVT when putting, "normal" at moderate speeds and kinda confused under hard acceleration.

With the tractor on a trailer and the OD locked out it knows exactly what it is doing though.

 

[ronclark]

I wish I know why a lot of Ford's OD auto trans don't seem to know what to do. My 05 E250 takes way to long to think about what I want if I lay into the gas. So I turn off the OD and it works perfect.

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[85_Ranger4x4]

I wish I know why a lot of Ford's OD auto trans don't seem to know what to do. My 05 E250 takes way to long to think about what I want if I lay into the gas. So I turn off the OD and it works perfect.

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On those it does more than just turn off the OD. It changes everything about the shift strategy. On mine it just kills the OD.

 

[Will]

That is how my F-150 is too, it just shifts mushy or rather uninspirational.

On my diesel pickup without a computer, you never need more than a small crack of the throttle. It aggressively accelerates you and the ignorant tranny clunks up into the next gear as it goes along.

The computer controlled Powerjoke loafs. Unless you actually bury the pedal into the mat, it acts like a church usher inching up the aisle passing the offering plate. You can't give it a tow on the throttle and expect it to keep pulling up to speed. It's like a driver's ED student passing another car for the first time--it pulls up along side the other car and then sets there. It's infuriating. It's not the engine, it's the transmission control. It doesn't pop into the next gear and pull, it loafs in the old gear because it thinks it's a gas motor. It doesn't have the diesel curve programmed into it. You have to drive it like a gasser to get it to work right--and that isn't right with a diesel.

I drive 4 diesel vehicles regularly and I know how they should be. Ford failed hard when they programmed this tranny.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I should mention that I changed my rotted out exhaust today and discovered out of my true dual setup one muffler (glasspack) was completely plugged with its own guts... not surprisingly that had a MAJOR effect on driveability. It drives and shifts like a whole new truck when the engine can get up to speed like it wants to, I had been blaming the doggyness on the oversized tires but it didn't really go away like I thought it should when I regeared it.

 

[shane96ranger]

I should mention that I changed my rotted out exhaust today and discovered out of my true dual setup one muffler (glasspack) was completely plugged with its own guts... not surprisingly that had a MAJOR effect on driveability. It drives and shifts like a whole new truck when the engine can get up to speed like it wants to, I had been blaming the doggyness on the oversized tires but it didn't really go away like I thought it should when I regeared it.

Is this your F150 or Ranger?

Sent from a Commodore 64 using a 300 baud modem

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Is this your F150 or Ranger?

'150, the Ranger has a new headers to tailgate exhaust.