Auto or manual trans?

[rangerbum]

I love manual tranny's. My clutch in my 97 2.3 has not been treated nicely, and It's never been replaced after 133,000 miles. It performs just fine, smooth shifts, no difficulty going into any gear, and doesnt slip.

But the pilot bearing is slowly fading, which is expected after 133k

 

[OilPatch197]

Stop and Go city driving you definately want a auto, also would want a auto for rock crawling.

everything else is manual.

 

[stringburner]

Get the 4.0 and 5-speed manual w/ the 4x4. The slave cylinder will fail kind of regularly (12K~100K+, depending on your luck), or the clutch would be practically maintenance free (like most other manual trannies that DON'T have internal slave cylinders that are prone to failure). And yep, XLT's were/are available w/ 4.10's. Mine's an XLT w/ 4.10 gears.

 

[Hahnsb2]

4.0 and a 5 speed. And any time you go up in tire size your milage is sure to drop. It's varies for everyone, you'll have to find out. I dropped 3MPG going from 235s to 31s with my 2.9.

 

[OilPatch197]

I got a question about these new manual transmissions, how long do they last with regular ATF instead of the old 80w90 oil?

 

[rizoss16]

Uhhh, sorry if this was covered, but what year are you considering? Brand new? A lot of your questions could be easily ruled out with that piece of info. Again, sorry if this is specified already...

Sorry, I am looking mainly at two trucks that I have narrowed my choices down to, there's an 03 Ranger EDGE 4.0 5spd manual with 100k miles for $7000 from private seller, OR an 01 Ranger XLT 54000 miles 4.0 auto for $7800 from used car dealership. Both are red.

 

[rizoss16]

How about the cost of a slave cylinder when that goes? Is that a job I can do myself or is it a big job that requires dropping the tranny like a throughout bearing? How much do they cost?

 

[TinyBear]

I have a 2008 Ranger Sport Auto 2wd 3.0L. It has the 4:10 rear gears and is plenty for everything i need. I WANTED to get the auto for a few reasons, one is after smashing my left shoulder up at work i find is sometimes painful to try steering with my left arm. The other reason is after owning two manual cars in a row and driving big trucks for work all day (I am a Diesel Truck mechanic) i just wanted something i could get in put into gear and go.

That being said milage does suffer a bit with the auto as a coworker has a 2008 Ford Ranger FX4 4x4 with the manual and obviously the 4.0l v6. His truck only gets 1-2mpg worse than mine and we commute pretty much the same route. So even though i have a lighter truck with the smaller lower powered engine his trucks almost as good on fuel as mine simply cause i have an auto. BUT his truck is broken in with 23,000kms and mine is not entirely with only 4000kms so i do expect my milage to increase a bit more.

I also had a 1996 Ford Ranger 4x4 with a 3.0L V6 and a auto as well. And as far as reliability it was one of the most reliable trucks i owned. When i sold the truck it had 260,000kms on it and the engine and trans was original. That truck seen its share of off road and even hauled over 5000lbs once. When i sold it the auto was tired but still worked all be it a bit slower shifting and with a bit of slipping between gears.

Then again i have also had a 1986 VW golf Diesel that had 350,000kms apon selling and it had the original engine trans and CLUTCH still. but on HOT days the clutch would start to slip quite a bit.

 

[94RangerMike]

~Go Manny Tranny~

 

[feellnfroggy]

How about the cost of a slave cylinder when that goes? Is that a job I can do myself or is it a big job that requires dropping the tranny like a throughout bearing? How much do they cost?

Me personally I dont like the edge. It has the flare of an Avalanche. Also slave cylinder is a cake job, But pulling the tranny and putting it back are time consuming.

 

[rizoss16]

Do you have to drop the tranny to replace the slave?

 

[Evan]

Stop and Go city driving you definately want a auto, also would want a auto for rock crawling.

everything else is manual.

For rock crawling I prefer a manual with good gearing, like a 100+ final crawl or so.

The A4LD cannot compete with an M5OD. A tricked out auto can hang with a stock M5OD, but will not be as reliable.

 

[04 EDGE]

A lot of people do contribute to multiple sites but I think just about everyone has a site they call home....

i gave my hard earned money to the "other" site, but seems they dont care about that and would rather let the "anti mod" members run there site and ban people for PM's!

lesson learned.

 

[CJREX]

Do you have to drop the tranny to replace the slave?

Yes. The slave encircles the input shaft of the transmission.

And removing the hydraulic line can be a major PITA

 

[Mark_88]

My M5OD has almost 400,000 km on the clock...the only part that is actually original from my first Ranger...new slave and clutch and top up (change) the fluids regularly and it should take you a long way...