For daily driving it is hard to beat a manual but as soon as you hit the trails you will be wishing you had a auto. I have wheeled both and really like the control of the auto on hills and technical sections. There is one thing that I do like about the manual in our trucks and that is how low first gear is in low range lots of torque.

 

i really like my manual tranny... i have only had to replace the slave once a few years ago... its been just fine with 33's and 4.10 gears too

 

I like the manual, makes it feel more like a truck. However, I have no problem with an auto. Ive owned both. An auto can be nice to at times. I have nothing against either one.

 

yeah with the auto and offroading you can worry about other stuff. not the clutch and shifting.

after looking around i am pretty convinced that i can make the auto tranny work really good again. time to order some parts!

 

I have 2 trucks, one of each.

Manual- 94 4.0 5 speed (not sure of ratio) 235/75/15s
I have had alot of manual trucks but this one has to be the easiest to drive. The 4.0 motor has plenty of power and I find it climbing hills (on the road) in higher gears than trucks I've had with bigger motors. The factory clutch pedal pressure is not a problem in traffic or daily driving. I have never had it off road but I'm sure it would do fine. I did pull a locust stump with it that was atleast 24" in diameter and the clutch did want to slip a little but this stump was a big SOB.

Automatic- 99 4.0 5r55e 3:73"s 265/75/15's
As with the 94 this truck has plenty of power and actually spins easier(not trying) than the manual on wet roads. Also plenty of power. Agian I have never had it off road and have only actually put stress on the 4wd once. I had a chain hooked to the reciever and to a tree trying to get the reciever out. Was also hitting it with a sledge at the same time. I have never had an issue with the trans.

I think I actually like the manual better but sometimes I enjoy not having to shift....its a toss up...lol
John

 

I absolutly love a manual tranny. Now when I bought my 01 ranger 4x4 4.0 sohc it had 42,000 miles on it. The tranny was hard to shift and very notchy. I decided to call ford and they told me it doesnt need changing. lol I drained the oil and it was very very black. So much as I thought it was gear oil. Well I looked up the specs and found out it likes mercon v. I picked up some Amsoil universal tranny oil. I tell you I have never felt a smoother tranny yet. It Is extremly smooth. and in the -40 degree temps we get here every n ow and then it is still smooth.

 

stick with an auto zach ... granted i had the supercharger and stock 4.10s with 35s ... but the trans was the weak link ... keep the auto ..., you can always build the auto up into a nice trans ... the man trans you can only really get a hd clutch i hated mine after i had to pull my trans twice a month for either a clutch issue or broken gears or shafts in the man trans ..

 

dont worry i am keeping the auto, just bought a bunch of good stuff for it

 

Zach, I thik you know what my answer's going to be here....

NV 3550 or 4550......

 

I have never owned an auto....and probably never will. Manual for life! (except I just put an auto in the chevy, lol.) Wheelin' is just fine....but then again...I broke my trans wheelin in low tryin to get un-stuck and shifted it hard into 2nd gear. No more second gear. I've put 5k on it since it broke....i've been 1-3 shifting it. Replaced the slave & clutch about 10k ago...now I gotta do it again. gotta love it.