Standard or automatic?
Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,166
Likes: 2
From: wi
i like an auto better still hold in 1st if ya want and still shift in the mud the only drawback ive found is they get hot so run a good cooler.mines got a standerd and wifes is auto funny i like her's better.wish i could find an auto for mine!!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,980
Likes: 2
From: central ohio
i guess alot depends on personal prefrence. i used to hate automatics, then dad got a old '77 3/4 ford 4x4 to replace the 74 3/4 2wd farm truck. the 2wd was a creeper-1st 4 spd w/3.73s the '77 was a C-6 with 4.10s, we found a used snowplow for it and i tell ya, if its geared right a auto will pull! and for snowplowing, a auto is so much better! my daily driver is a stick and i love it, i prefer to tow with a stick, i dont play in the mud much, but i think i would prefer the auto better in that usage. keep them full of fluid and dont get them too hot and they might last just as long as a gearbox. i do prefer the older C-6 to the newer elect controled overdrive units, it seems like its hard to tell when the newer ones are shifting, with the old reliable 3-spd auto, you can easily feel every shift, of course with the '77 having 4.10s it shifted into 2nd at 10 mph and 3rd by 30 mph empty. the first auto truck i ever drove was set up for gas milage. must have had 2.73s in it. could barely get out of its own way, let alone move a wagon or two of wet corn. the biggest advantage of stick i feel is compresion braking, where a auto will just freewheel when you let off the trhottle. and you can always push/pull start a std. with a auto you cant do that. Dave.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 466
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From: Pt St Lucie
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Elder User
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 936
Likes: 0
From: Bay area
Originally Posted by ivanribic
Holy canoli . . . how many times is this same question going to be asked in this forum? 
I perfer stick over a auto any day for anything. I do mostly rock crawling offroad and I have seen many autos bite the dust in the rocks. Hell I have seen autos crack thier crappy housings they have on them as well.
Autos are more forgiving on the hard parts. but a stick is just so much fun to rev it up and dump the clutch in 4lo.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Coutts Canada
If you've got the power, then auto is great, if not stick is best, for me its a toss up, i like the control and feel a manual gives, but when playin in the mud the auto is sooooo much nicer, but that is if you the power so the truck doesn;t die when it shifts.
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 18,423
Likes: 9
From: iowa
Originally Posted by ivanribic
Holy canoli . . . how many times is this same question going to be asked in this forum?
but remember this question is from someone looking into a 4cyl truck so here is a different breed, and in my opinion the only trans fror a 4cyl would be a 5spd the 4cyl need all the help they can get, and an auto is gonna suck em dry.
