Expedition vehicle transmissions: Auto or manual?

[jeep-N-montero]

I love the auto in my Jeeps on the trails and I love the manual in my MX5 on the road, I have watched 2 Jeeps burn up their clutches in the same weekend and will never have a manual in a serious trail rig. That being said, I'm about to replace one of my Jeeps with a Trooper with a manual for light-duty trails and camping/fishing.

 

[Desert Dan]

I'd take a manual any day.

Too bad manual transmissions are getting harder to find in most vehicles here in the USA.

 

[doug720]

^^^^ your build link does not work. A 60 body and a modern diesel sounds great.

As far as manual vs auto I prefer manual in all situations besides city traffic. The more complex and parasitic design of autos have always personnally put me off. Since I messed up and bought my '98 ctd with an auto I have not bought an auto since. I'll keep buying manuals as long as they make them.

This site will not allow a direct link to my swap on Mud. Go to mud diesel section and search The Journey Begins

Or click on the link here and do the same.

Doug

 

[nfranco]

2x manuals one FJ60 one Tacoma, both daily driver/camping trucks.
I prefer the locked in feeling I get from the manual, an intangible I know.
I'm also more comfortable with equipment I know how to work on, never opened up an auto.
My wife got some grief for having a manual(and for not having a jeep) at a recent off road clinic but was able to clean all the obstacles.
With the manuals you have to plan your line a little more in advance on some hills.
The hill holding ability of the auto jeep's seem kind of neat.
If I was doing serious rock crawling an auto seems the way to go.
Doug720's 60 sure is a nice rig.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

I agree with goodtimes. My Dodge is the first auto I've owned and I had a manual in my YJ. But...for towing, trails, camping, light-duty trucks, an auto is the only way to go. But if I were to buy a new XJ...probably a manual. :sombrero:

p.s. Aside from design, proactive maintenance (more frequent service intervals) and a reasonable right foot are the two best things you can do for an auto. The 46RE in my '96 Dodge is supposed to a real POS, but 235k miles later...Even if it blows tomorrow, I've gotten my $$$ worth out of it.

 

[Dan Grec]

I was extremely happy to have a manual on my Alaska->Argentina drive, and a manual is a must for my next expo rig.

There were so many high mountain passes it was great to always be in control of which gear the Jeep was in.
That goes for up and down the mountain

I also spent a lot of time driving at high elevation (around 4000m, 13000 feet) and I think having the manual helped make up for the slight lack of power.

Lastly, I believe a manual still gets slightly better mileage than an auto, which is a factor when driving 40,000 miles and using > 2000 gal. of gas.

-Dan

 

[crazyeyez]

Off road, I'd just as soon not have a clutch and shift competing for my attention.

this here. and honestly, i dont have alot of experence with manuals (besides bike) and never actually drove one off road. for what i do, my 4l60e is plenty. and can be beefed up easily enough.

 

[mkitchen]

Can I like them both?

I like the auto in my Tacoma (first automatic that I have ever had in a 4x4). I find that I wish I had a stick when going down long, steep hills though. A stick lets you use engine pressure to keep your speed down. I have not gotten to check out the hillsaver in a Jeep though. An auto can be nice when starting again on a steep up hill where the stick can require slipping the clutch. I have a manual throttle on my older truck with the stick though and that helps. I have also seen crawlers set up with an auxilary hand lever on the brake pedal to address this issue too.
Mikey

 

[78Bronco]

I have always appreciated the Ford automatic for being able start off in second from a dead stop when shifted into 2.

I have drove on a snow covered, steep and very icy logging road once with bald all seasons in '90 Ford Ranger without issue up and down. When we arrived no one could believe we made it. There was only one other truck at the cabins a 1ton diesel chained lifted. Every one said they tried in this and that kind of import but had to use a snow mobile as their attempts were fruitless.

Anyway I would like to have a combination of both. Thankfully both my vehicles allow me to select the gear i need from the slush box's offering and hold it there. I hate the trans hunting for a gear.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: The jeep Rubi has a xfer case that allows the auto -in 4lo- to lock torque converter, so that downhills can be handled just like a manual, using engine for braking-

I like the auto in my Tacoma (first automatic that I have ever had in a 4x4). I find that I wish I had a stick when going down long, steep hills though. A stick lets you use engine pressure to keep your speed down. I have not gotten to check out the hillsaver in a Jeep though. An auto can be nice when starting again on a steep up hill where the stick can require slipping the clutch. I have a manual throttle on my older truck with the stick though and that helps. I have also seen crawlers set up with an auxilary hand lever on the brake pedal to address this issue too.
Mikey

With my gearing I can do the same (almost), in any tranny position ie: 2hi/4hi or ultimately 4lo-

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[Erik N]

When driving automatic transmissions, I use left foot braking. It works well either on the road, or crawling over rocks. It helps keep the chassis "loaded".

I have both. My Texas beachfishing POS Xploder is a manual, my PACNW fishing Suburban is an auto, my DD is an auto, and my sports car is a manual.

 

[eurosonic]

I wish my Mitsubishi had a manual transmission. Downhill descends would be so much more stable being in 1st gear.

All of my other cars are manual and thats the way I like it.

 

[wADVr]

Auto works well for technical rock crawling tight trails etc where rolling back an inch can put you upside down or into a tree. Also is good for multitasking such as drinking coffee, talking on the cell phone, cb etc..

Downsides to the auto I have noticed are poor controls whether they be computer or shifter related that won't let it shift into the right gear at the right time, lock the torque converter etc. my XJ has the1-2 position together and without a mod you cannot manually control between the two gears and for the most part it defaults to 1st. This is annoying for fs roads and trails where 2nd gear would be perfect but it won't allow it and 3rd is too fast. Other example is my 06 CTD, stupid thing will not lock the torque converter in 4th gear until you hit 50mph, which is annoying on my 45-(50 if lucky) mph commute. Other example where I dislike the autos is shifting down on hills, I find my CTD unnecessarily shifts down, where it would have no issue continuing up over the grade at its engines peak in the torque curve.

Those examples given, I have been able to learn how to manipulate my driving to trick the tranny into where I want it to be performing but it isn't flawless and a manual would eliminate these complaints altogether but at the cost of drinking my coffee after leaving the coffee stand before I get up to speed...

As far as durability I really think its case by case. Seems I hear a lot of complaints about clutches going out, throw out bearings failing, flywheels warping, linkages failing, mc/slave cyls leaking failing etc. it just doesn't seem as fool proof as most say. Not that autos don't have issues and when they do its a complete replacement but just doesn't seem as frequent to me. Some autos suck, some manual boxes suck, still think its case by case.

Manuals have an upper hand in engine braking, speed control and efficiency. I would love to have one in my CTD. In older vehicles before autos came up with overdrive and locking torque converters I wouldn't even consider an auto over a manual in almost any situation. A lot to be said for not needing a computer to make the transmission work too.

 

[Clutch]

But...for towing, trails, camping, light-duty trucks, an auto is the only way to go.

Funny, I think the exact opposite, manual is the only way to go in those situations.


My English friend (or would it be "bloke"? ) says where he is from the only people who use autos are the elderly and handicapped. Wonder what that says about most of the the American populous.

 

[reece146]

My English friend (or would it be "bloke"? ) says where he is from the only people who use autos are the elderly and handicapped. Wonder what that says about most of the the American populous.

Yep, I remember people saying that but what your friend isn't telling you is it was also an excuse for not being able to afford a car with an automatic transmission.

Either works, it's preference. Keep your junk maintained and none of the "weaknesses" are really a point to worry about provided the hardware is good for the intended purpose.