Hey guys, just wanted to see who's driving what.

Also, what are the advantages and disadvantages or driving either type, and what would you recommend.

Thanks!

 

I have one of both...

99 xlt 4.6 5 speed 4x4 offroad

04 lariat 5.4 auto 4x4

 

auto and i like the auto i do alot of offroading and it is better for me on the sand i dont lose any momentum during shifting unlike a stick, same with mud and rocks

 

Each are designed for specific uses.
Whats your demands from your truck?
What's your normal driving style?
What's your normal driving conditions?
Whats your extreme driving style?
Whats your extreme driving conditions?

A stick is much more fun during some of the extreme times AND can put on a much more imperssive show for any spectators that happen to witness them. But they can get to be a PIB as a daily driver especialy throu city traffic. I will always have atleast one vehicle that is a stick and atleast one that is an automatic. If I had to choose between one or teh other I woudl ask myself the questions from above.

 

I havent got to play in teh sand but I have to disagree with the mud and rocks... In a stick I can put it in a high gear keep my rpms down, keep torque to the wheels but not enough horsepower to make them spin. I can also slip the clutch if I have to to keep my tires from spinning and make them grab traction to get me out.

 

Mine is an automatic, it has to be because if it were manual it would blow out transmission like no ones business…

 

I have an auto, but wish i had a manuel, of course this would probably cause me to drive my truck harder.

 

i have had alot of both(stick auto) 4X4s and for my driving style ofroading i prefere a auto if i need lower gear to keep tires from spinning i will put it in 2nd and 4hi it all depends on your offroading style but i will take an auto over stick every time, makes it easier to make it up in one pass also instead of taking it up a couple of times finding the sweet spot in the gears, that is just me tho to each his own

 

Automatic...hate it....Next half ton truck will not be a Ford, unless a Ford put's a v/8 with a 5sp St. in thier trucks, I don't want to be up selled into SD. Only Dodge offers a v/8 and a 5sp in a half ton..

 

Manuel is the gardener. My truck has an automatic.

 

Just remember that with automatic transmission vs. manual transmission, the automatic can tow more weight and withstand more torque then can a manual.

Perfect example is the Lightning vs. Dodge SRT-10. The Lightning can tow 5,000lbs and run an average of 13.5 in the ¼ mile. The SRT-10 can NOT tow anything, due to the weak link of the manual, and they run an average of 13.5 in the ¼ mile but won’t last to many ¼ runs where a stock Lightning will last for thousands of miles with no problems…

 

I've always had sticks until this truck. (Except my Trans-Am and my wife’s vehicles) I've had the truck a year and I still occasionally have to learn how to drive it to make it do what I want. It's just 2wd so I’m not beating the path with it, I have the 87 Cherokee 4wd 5spd for that. But I do pull trailers with it everything from live stock trailers to boats. There has been more than one situation that it did make it but I had to work for it and I think to myself, "man this would be easier if I had a stick". That's everything from pulling hills to stopping. It's defiantly totally different in an automatic.

Funny and entertaining example/story,
3 weeks ago I was leaving my dads house where I had went to do some welding on my boat trailer. I had the 3.5K lb + fiberglass boat behind me and when you pull out of his drive then you go down a steep long hill either way you go. The way to my house you then go right up another long even steeper hill. This hill has a 90* corner just as it starts to level off and very loose gravel. "Country road it's all gravel" but county puts loose gravel on it to cover up the potholes. (thanks guys) LOL Well I was almost to the corner but was defiantly going to fast to make it around it. So I let off the gas to slow down. Slowed to about 25-30 mph and when I went to barely touch the gas it spun so I started feathering the pedal to no avail. Eventually about 15-20 yards later right at the corner I am stopped and cannot take off again. I am stuck about 3/4'ths the way up this blasted hill! At this point if I'd had a stick I could have put it in second or third gear and pulled on up. (Coarse if it was 4wd then maybe the extra traction would have done it too.)
Either way the story would be over and I wouldn’t have anything to tell. But a steeper gear to take off in even in 2wd would have done it best. But since I haven’t figured out how to get my auto to take off in a higher gear then I had to back up 200 + yards down this hill. Mind you the boat was pulling me back wards and the boat trailer does not have brakes. I couldn't keep it below 5-10 mph going backwards, because it would just slide and start to pull me in the ditch if I got very far into the brake. So I just had to feather the brake pedal to try and have some control over the situation. Then I powered as fast as I dared backward up the first hill I had just came down from dads drive way. Soon as it broke traction on it... Then I stopped dropped it in 1st then hit it as hard as I could with as little wheel spin as I could make it. (Cringing because it was throwing gravel all over my boat!) Again would have barely spun if any at all, if it was in second or third to start out in so in return I would have had more speed when I hit the hill this time. That didn't matter that much though because I made it this time. When it quit spinning going down the hill I fed it more gas till it started spinning again then backed off and held it there. I did get enough speed up and made it up the hill, again at the corner I backed out of it, not off but out some. It was spinning tires again throwing gravel on my boat and losing speed.

 

When I hit the corner it pushed me into the ditch then I bounced back out and kept climbing and spinning some more. Now I was to the point of now return. I was past the corner! I am fair at backing a trailer but there was NO WAY that I could keep it slow enough to back it back down and around the corner. Plus I would have only had one shot because I had already proven that I couldn’t take off from there. So I just kept an even gas peddle and let it spin. Truck was rolling about 10-15 mph and loosing speed, the tires were turning about 20 mph. I really didn't want to walk back to dads and have him pull me up the hill with his chevy! I'd never have lived it down! I'd rather repaint my boat from gravel chips first! Finally it peaked the hill and I was able to let off the gas. I guarantee you from now on if I have to pull a trailer of any kind over there I will use the Jeep with 5 spd and 4wd. Either or, both would have been better than 2wd auto. Again I’d like to point out that a 4wd auto or a 2wd with 5 a speed would have done it the first time. I will never have an automatic, 2wd pick up again! (Unless it’s to cheap to pass up!)

Seriously I’m not trying to be funny here but at 1300 rpm it was spinning, less than 1200 then it was rolling backwards. Torque launch at 1500 - 2K RPM would spin before I let all the way off the brake. If some one could tell me how I could have taken off. I would greatly appreciate the knowledge for next time! I am really getting spoiled to the automatic for normal daily driving, but it just falls short in its abilities occasionally. “With me behind the wheel anyway.”

 

My 1990 ford f-150 has a super tough automatic. Read my post on the transmisssions section for details.

 

truck is an automatic, nice for cruising around town or haulin stuff, my stang is a 5 speed and that's my fun car