myota
my toyota
- Location
- south SL,UT
I like using my manual as I have more control for crawling. As for going uphill...I installed a hand throttle using an old bicycle brake lever. Now I can brake, gas and clutch as much as I want.
Auto or Manual
- Thread starter cjfj80
- Start date
broncodan
For Your Viewing Pleasure
- Location
- Draper, UT
I prefer an auto. I drive a manual in my CAR everyday and love it, but for climbing steep hills and negotiating different situations I like an auto. You can spend some money though an do cool things with manuals. My friend got a starter that he can use to start his rig in gear, so if he is in a bad spot he can kill the engine, leave it in gear, and when he is ready to progress again he can just start it in gear and move on. He is geared REALLY low though, plus that starter was about $400 bucks alone 
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yellowbronco
Cuts Through Grease !!!
- Location
- Moab
I always have had a stick, you just learn how to make them do what you want, takes a little more finesse though. Also, stuff breaks easier with a stick, which is good...right? Although I did just buy my wife an auto-tranny Dodge 2500(of course a Cummins) and I must say quite easy to drive, and fun!
Auto, baby! I've had both.
True, manual is more fun (sometimes) but Auto lets you just push on the gas and climb. No more burning out the clutch in a tight spot. Just put it in drive, and push the gas in slowly when you're ready.
My auto transmission wrangler
This is my second jeep, so I've seen both sides.
True, manual is more fun (sometimes) but Auto lets you just push on the gas and climb. No more burning out the clutch in a tight spot. Just put it in drive, and push the gas in slowly when you're ready.
My auto transmission wrangler
This is my second jeep, so I've seen both sides.
I enjoy letting my sister my wife and even my mother in law get behind the wheel every once in a while. Its a blast to spot them through a challenging obstacle and then watch the expression on their face or hear them talk to their friends about their experience. This would never happen if I drove a manual.
Toyotas can be geared pretty low in manuals and I have been tempted to switch over. But if I could get super low gears behind my A340H for a decent price I would definently go that way.
Toyotas can be geared pretty low in manuals and I have been tempted to switch over. But if I could get super low gears behind my A340H for a decent price I would definently go that way.
There really isn't a "right" choice. For each person it is different. You should try driving both or at least riding in a vehicle that has a stick and then one with an Auto and make the best choice you can. If you are like MOST of us you might change the Trans in your vehicle anyways, what it comes with doesn't mean much unless it is a pretty new vehicle.
For me there really is no longer a question, I love to wheel with an Auto. With a stick you need lower gears so you don't burn up your clutch, and yes the shock load with a stick will break more parts (doesn't "give" like an auto does), but with the Auto you have to keep it cool or you might find yourself being towed home too. Heat kills Autos. IMHO, the power of a big engine (V8) call be better used/controlled with an Auto.
Chuck-A-Rama, the choice is yours.
Chris R.
P.S. SOMBEECH that is a sweet lookin ride ya got there!
For me there really is no longer a question, I love to wheel with an Auto. With a stick you need lower gears so you don't burn up your clutch, and yes the shock load with a stick will break more parts (doesn't "give" like an auto does), but with the Auto you have to keep it cool or you might find yourself being towed home too. Heat kills Autos. IMHO, the power of a big engine (V8) call be better used/controlled with an Auto.
Chuck-A-Rama, the choice is yours.
Chris R.
P.S. SOMBEECH that is a sweet lookin ride ya got there!
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V-DAWG
someday
- Location
- Taylorsville
Do you have experience with either?
I have wheeled a manual since I could drive. Last fall I drove a friends vehicle in Moab with an Auto, and I fell in love. I have since decided to put an Auto into my own vehicle, but I have not completed the project fully, so it hasn't been on the trails yet. I anticipate I will love the change though :greg:
I have wheeled a manual since I could drive. Last fall I drove a friends vehicle in Moab with an Auto, and I fell in love. I have since decided to put an Auto into my own vehicle, but I have not completed the project fully, so it hasn't been on the trails yet. I anticipate I will love the change though :greg:
waynehartwig
www.jeeperman.com
- Location
- Mead, WA
Auto's are also hard to stop with really low crawl ratios...Gotta have really good brakes! Auto's can also get to a point (very steep inclines, where you REALLY need them) where they won't suck fluid anymore, then you loose drive/reverse. Deep sump pans pretty much cures that though....Just like a woman, they are more complicated, more likely to leave you stranded and take more money out of your wallet.
I have a stick in my Rubicon, and have never wished it was an auto.... I have an auto in my daily driver and am glad it's not a stick!
Like others have said, all about preference.....
Auto's can also get to a point (very steep inclines, where you REALLY need them) where they won't suck fluid anymore, then you loose drive/reverse. Deep sump pans pretty much cures that though....Just like a woman, they are more complicated, more likely to leave you stranded and take more money out of your wallet. I have a stick in my Rubicon, and have never wished it was an auto.... I have an auto in my daily driver and am glad it's not a stick!
Like others have said, all about preference.....
If you're just starting out and you want the full learning experience of driving a Jeep, then a cheap manual is the way to go. It will teach to pay more attention to what is ahead, what you are presently doing, and what is behind if you kill it and start rolling back. I drove a standard since I was 16, and in four different Jeeps. When I finally put one in my old CJ it was a whole other world of ease. Down hill braking was needed, if the tranny-torgue conv-and gear ratios weren't just right. You can move brakes to your drivelines like on the monster trucks. But after 4 seasons of Competition, the things I could do in an auto, I don't know if I could do the same with a standard. The are some exceptions to this, and those guys are artists behind their wheel with a standard. Sometimes you can run out of throttle in a standard when trying to drive out of trouble. In a standard you can push in the clutch to roll back out of trouble, but if you shave the detents in your auto shifter you can make faster reverse manuevers in your auto than a standard. This is just MEHO.......(my experienced humble opinion) I think I just started a new one...
waynehartwig
www.jeeperman.com
- Location
- Mead, WA
That's true.. I can't think of how many times I would have liked the auto for that reason. For example a mud pit. With a standard you are in second and that's that unless you switch on the fly, but then you lose all forward drive. In an auto, if you floor it, it will up shift and then when you need the lower gears it would be right back down there. And if you need to stay low, then you can always put it in L1 or something like that....Bud said:
waynehartwig
www.jeeperman.com
- Location
- Mead, WA
Those are cool.. I had one in my Stratus...I'llpullyaout said:
waynehartwig
www.jeeperman.com
- Location
- Mead, WA
I think it would be more trouble than it's worth... You'd need all the computer controls and sensors for one....I'llpullyaout said:
My Jeep kinda has that effect with it's ratcheting shifter. I can shift it into any gear I want on the fly..... sometimes that is a bad thing. I have shifted it into reverse on accident right after I got done with my install. The bad thing about it was I was doing 55 mph . All the sudden my rear end started shaking and my tires were squeeling, I don't ever want that to happen again.
. All the sudden my rear end started shaking and my tires were squeeling, I don't ever want that to happen again.PierCed_3 said:My Jeep kinda has that effect with it's ratcheting shifter. I can shift it into any gear I want on the fly..... sometimes that is a bad thing. I have shifted it into reverse on accident right after I got done with my install. The bad thing about it was I was doing 55 mph
that makes me cringe just thinking about it 
I'llpullyaout said:
you can get close, I run a reverse manual valve body, it is in my mind the best of both worlds. I get to shift but I get the Torque Converter and less shock on the drivetrain. I also have compression braking in 1st gear. So if I am in 5.2:1 and 1st I am not riding the brakes on the downhill.
It is funny when other people try and drive it... no clucth so they figure they don't have to shift...