I have a question about max. trailer towing weight for manuals vs. automatics? I looked in my owner's manual and found that an Auto. (3.55 axle) can pull a max trailer weight of 6600 lbs, and a manual with same axle ratio can only pull a max. trailer weight of 3100 lbs. Why does a manual transmission pull less than 1/2 of what an automatic can pull? I thought the manual would be at least equivalent or greater in towing capability than an automatic? (Tow weights were for a 4x4 F150 Supercab)

 

Ford Manual tranny= Weak. It's just not heavy duty enough to handle towing.

 

these debates come up all the time and theres alway one like me that has to come in with the other side of the story

for one manuals are much more efficient and there for produce alot less heat so when towing you dont have to worry about burning up the trans i personally know of quite a few people that have burned up autos buy towing regularly some with under 100k miles and they wernt over loading anything some with just landscaping trailers

ford mauals are not as weak as most think i have towed a 7k lb skid steer with my 95 f150 351w/ mazda 5spd and it was fine and i know people have towed heavier farm equiptment also with no problems

one of the reasons that ford puts that in the manual is because they dont want to have to warrenty clutches when people who dont know how to properly drive a stick burn them up when towing and only the 1/2 ton manuals are considered "weak" the zf f250/350 are very strong i think the other reason is that ford makes more profit on the autos so they take every chance they get to scare you into buying one

the other thing that helps is if you have 4x4 you can put it in low to start in 1st up a hill this will "save" your clutch considerably and once your back on flat ground stop and put it back in high

 

personally i have found that a manual pulls better than an automatic. this has othing to do with clutch wear or anything like tha, but in my opinion it is easier to tow with a manual.

 

The Mazda tranny is not very strong. It wasn't designed for big torquey V8's, that's what the ZF's are for.

 

Now-a-days... the automatic has come around quite a bit and just is far more capable of handling higher loads. The auto's today are great and def. suited for towing. Manuals are lighter than and auto (so you should be able to tow more) and like said earlier, and far less prone to over heating. IMHO get a auto if your towing and using it as a daily driver. It is a ton easier and less hassle. And if you get stuck in some type of traffic, you will begin to love the auto vs. the thousands of shifts for the manual. However the manual is just so much cooler... it really comes down to personal prefrence. And like said before, they rated towing of a manual lower so they don't have to warranty the clutch, and also so morons who drive a clutch... softly... wont burn it up towing 5000lbs. Just my 2 cents. this is a very debatable subject, me and my buddies have gotten into it over towing or off-roading many, many a time.

 

Thanks for all the info. Also, I brought this up because my clutch is going out, and I wanted to know if you can put a heavy duty clutch in the Standard Mazda 5 speed. Is that possible, or is there only one size that can be used?

 

There are several aftermarket heavy duty clutch kits available. Pull your flywheel and get it ground if you put one in, otherwise you will have a clutch that chatters like crazy unless you are heavily loaded.

 

The distance between the main shaft and the counter shaft is directly related to the amount of torque a manual can handle (Gear size). Unless you increase the number of countershafts, such as in some semi's. This is why Light truck manuals are another 50% larger than auto brethern. The gears in an automatic are of planetary configuration and are substantionaly better at transmitting torque, but are harder to shift manualy. Which is why autos have multple clutch packs and bands for engaging different ratios. And typically makes them the weakest link. Now that you are upgrading your clutch to a "heavy duty" unit be sure to check out your manual as well. The throwout bearing can be a major sore spot in not in satisfactory condition. The sleeve the throwout bearing rides on is often neglected and is worn. Even the bearing/bushing in the end of the crank should be checked. If you do not know how to rebuild your tranny (manual) have it checked by a competent shop/pro or buddy. Replacing synchros, bearings, detents is a whole lot cheaper than buying another trans. Have Fun

David

 

Yup, ford just didn't rate the M5OD-R2 with big numbers. Beat the snot out of two currently and a few others in the past with never a failure from big trailers, big loads, 4x4in', and shifting with not "by the book" methods.

Adrianspeeder