I prefer a stick no matter what type vehicle. And, I agree, the M5R2 is a good tranny. I've had them in my '89 six '96 302. I towed with both and never had a problem. I'm now swapping one into my '95 F150 5.8. I rebuilt the tranny which had 128,000 miles on it. The only gear with any wear (basically shot) was reverse. This was due to the poor driving habits of the previous owner. The input shaft also had a little more play than it should have. Other than that, I could've reused the rings and all of the roller bearings. They're good trannys in my opinion and it was kind of different to hear a few people give them some credit. The first thing you usually hear is, "Why don't you use a ZF?" Go find one and at what price?

 

I have a 79, 96, 2000, and an 04 all f150s and all Manual. I had a 95 with an auto in it and that was the only thing I didn't like about it. I don't know what I will do now that ford has stoped making the f150 in a manual tranny.

 

I learned to drive on a ranger 4x4 with a 5spd and enjoyed it. That said, I had yet to discover the joys of driving my 5spd mustang. I can truthfully and honestly say that were I to buy another truck it would be an automatic for the simple fact that my truck is not my "toy" - the car is. It may be a totally different scenario for someone else. For me, however, going back to rowing gears in a pickup will never be as fun; not to mention it is nice to not have to worry about clutching all the time while in heavy city traffic. I'll stick with the creature comfort of the slushbox in my truck.

 

Definently stick in a stang or any kind of car and a auto in a truck unless it is a lightning style truck (man i wish they did make a manual in the lightning why dont they)

 

My choice would be a stick. Off-roading in my experience, is much easier with thte stick. Auto has too much of a delay, and power surges when trying to traverse difficult ground.

I live in hawaii, and on the island i live on, there is very minimal stop and go traffic, so standard is not a big thing. When i was living in Honolulu...I was driving a 90 integra, and let me tell you...my clutch got worn super fast!

I do love having an automatic for the "family" car, makes life easier and I don't need the extra torque you get from the stick...

my 2 cents

aloha!

 

stick shift 4ever

 

I drove sticks for 32 years then got an automatic F150, won't have a stick again in my truck.

Got an 83 T Bird - was the wife's car. 213,000 miles on the AOD (automatic over drive) . I change 3 quarts of tranny fluid everyother oil change. Replaced the front seal only because I had the engine out for rebuild, replaced the reat seal twice. I live in Phoenix and the automatic lives on.

Drove the wife's 5 speed 2001 Cobra stang to work once. Not a pleasnt experience on Phoenix's gridlocked freeways. The Cobra will probably never be driven to work again!

 

About all I've ever driven is a stick. Learned to drive in an auto and not long after was driving my mom and dad's cars, old VW Beetle and a five-speed Cavalier. Bought my '98 Ranger, five-speed stick. Started driving trucks for a living, 9 and 10 speeds mostly. Latest truck is a '02 F-150 AUTO. After four years of shifting that Ranger around town I'm sick of it. As far as a performance vehicle goes, like a big dually for hauling goosenecks and fifth-wheels, or a little sports car, a stick is a must, but just for daily driving I'd much rather have an auto.

 

I haven't had an automatic transmission in 30 years. I love the control, power, economy, involvement of a manual tranny. All that being said, I just traded my '01 5 speed F150 for an '05 F150 with automatic. Here is why. The manual was a pain in the a$$ when towing. Reverse is SO ridiculously fast that there was always a lot of clutch slipping when backing a trailer. Also, when towing through rolling hills, I was constantly shifting from 5th to 4th up the hills. Then back to 5th down the hill. Back to 4th up the next hill. You get the picture. And then, of course, using cruise control was out of the question. Gotta say the auto will be nice when towing. I'll miss my manual the rest of the time though.

 

Please please please, post back after your tow. lol. First thing your gonna do is just lock out OD b/c it will just keep hunting back and forth between 3rd and OD. Believe me, I know.

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