Ok so I am new to manual trannys, this is my first one. Is there a such thing as using a temperature gauge with a manual ?

 

You shouldn't have to worry about temperature in a manual. That's why the trucks that tow 80,000 pounds are manuals and not automatics.

 

Actually most of the new ones I have seen are automatic... Not saying its better though. Could just be that the new drivers are retarded :)

 

ben, a manual transmission is more of a gear case, there is not that much heat building friction, so a temp gauge usually isnt necessary. a manual transmission is comparable to a differential or transfer case. an automatic, on the other hand, creates a lot of heat in the torque converter, the fluid is thrown between blades in the converter to allow the engine to turn the transmission, which creates massive amounts of heat.

 

And why a MT runs for > $100k on fluid change while an AT needs changing..

 

actually rand i think dave is talking about a 18 wheeler and i have not seen one wtih an automatic tranny and i am around them all the time with my uncle being a truck driver...

 

I am, and they do have automatics out there, but the vast majority of them are manuals.

 

Last spring my mother moved into her new house. She's got gawd knows how many years of crap collected and needed a couple trips w/ a ~30' box truck to get it done. She hired a pretty lousy moving company and they didn't send enough help. I eneded up doing a lot of the lifting myself as I just wanted to get it done w/. At one point we were taking a break and I started checking out the truck. I asked if it was a diesel and the guy said no, it was a chevy V8, I forget the displacement, but it sounded a bit small for such a vehicle. I kind of did a double take and went 'really!' The foreman said it'd be a dog if it wasn't for the fancy Allison automatic it had in it..

 

I ask for this reason I plan to climb Mt Washington this summer. Fo those who don't know that is the tallest point on the east coast. It is simular to pikes peak. I know they say use lower gears to help slow down on the way down and I know some people with auto trannys watch their gauges and pull over and stop awhile when the gauge starts going up.

 

It's the brakes that do the heating up on the way down, the transmission (automatics) on the way up. I was just up there in the TT a last July. There is nothing to worry about driving a Ranger up there, especially with a manual. Unless you are towing, an automatic is fine too.

I was talking about big rigs Colin, they are almost always manuals. My point is that if my friends freightliner can haul 80,000 pounds with its manual transmission, a Ranger can go up a mountain with one.

 

Ben, lemme know when you're going up Washington. Maybe we can make a 'meet' out of it. I bet we could get Matt in on this too.. Call it the official Ranger-Forums.com hill-climb!

Although don't plan on pulling over much. There really isn't space for it on the auto road. They ask that you not even try the climb if your car is not in perfect running order.. It is a BAD place for a breakdown!

I've been up Washington once in a Ranger, but it wasn't mine. Was a rented ~'00 or '01 supercab 4x4. I presume w/ the 4.0L, probably SOHC, although it could have been older and been an OHV. And it was an AUTO! The truck was a rental that my buddy from Germany rented when he was over hear. They give pretty good rates to Europeans for renting trucks when they come over here, but that's another subject. The truck he had made it up ol' Wash' just fine! Even w/ two fat-asses in the cab!

Dave, I wasn't contesting your position in the broad strokes, just pointing out a little something from my own experiences. Overall I agree w/ you. I should add that I suspect a large factor of why the moving company had trucks w/ autos in them was because of the level of intelligence some of their employees had. These guys were not the brightest bulbs in the pack, if you follow..

 

I have a friend whose uncle owns a moving company. A couple of my friends worked for that guy when we were growing up. One went out to be a truck driver and the other to work for cummins repairing trcks. Anyway, the guy that did the driving has lots of stories to tell about the equipment they had to use. Generally moving companys have really poor equipment. He had one truck that he had to drive to florida and he couldn't turn it off cause it wouldn't charge the battery. A mechanically injected diesel will run with no electricity at all. The headlights don't work too good though. They had another mercedes they let him use to move me to college and it had over a million miles on it.

And I think you are right about the intelligence part too.

 

Yeah, you're right. The GM box truck they had was pretty obviously a very recently retired Ryder truck. You could almost still see where the 'Ryder' name was covered over on the side of the truck, and it still had the yellow paint job. It was in relatively good shape though. The other truck was a smaller and older Chevy ~10' box. I'd almost call it a van. That thing was a peice. The guy who operated it kept going on about how it had thumbscrews for the valve covers. I just tried to ignore him..

Come to think of it that could be yet another reason why that truck was an auto: because it was previously a rental. I've noticed rental agencies aren't to keen on renting manuals.. Guess that pretty well discredits my evidence on this argument!

 

Sadly, there are many people out there that are lost when it comes to manual transmissions.

 

Presumably why the US military called for an automatic transmission when they specified the HMMWV. The story I heard was that most new recruits they saw couldn't drive stick and it took too long to train them!

 

It's getting hard to find manuals in vehicles. It's the only transmission I will buy. With the exception of a beater vehicle here and there.

 

Yup, part of why I don't buy used.. When buying my truck I gave them a hard time for not carrying more Rangers w/ sticks. The manager explained that nearly no one wanted them. I called him an idiot for selling a 'sport truck' w/ a slushbox (I was in be-an-*** = get-a-deal mode!). Definitely seems to be the mentality these days..

 

When I ordered mine the sales guy said "The boss won't let order anything for the lot that has three pedals". Even most of the Mustangs are autos. In fact maybe only the Cobras were manuals since that is the only way you can get one.

 

At that point I'd have left the dealership. Can't imagine buying a car unseen w/ something as significant as the tranny. I mean sure, paint color or a few interior options can be missing/different than what I finally order, but a difference that substantial! Wow!

 

Hey that would be cool we should have an offical Ranger forums Meet/ Hill Climb. I know it will be summer time this year. Its going to be me and my wifes first summer vacation together. I know she doesn't pick up her vaction time April 5th so I am sure we will be going after that though I don't know when yet. I am thinking something like June or July.