I'm interested in some opinions on if you like a manual or an auto tranny for your 4 wheeling (trail riding, mud, hill climbing, rock crawling, or what ever you do).  Please say why you like one and why you dislike the other.  This could be a great discussion.

Thanks

ya i do a lot of muddin and trial with some pritty steep hills i have a c6 tranny in my 84 f250 that is an auto and it works very well its the only auto tranny i havent blown i would much rather have a stick do to having way more control over the truck in all situations so i waould go with a stick if you can drive one well  

Sticks are more fun to drive and as said before you have more contral. However with an auto, you dont have to worry about the clutch, also its a lot easier off road.  

I have an auto tranny for my truck and I am very happy with it off road. I find I don't loose momentum when climbing steep hills or in mud holes as I don't have to shift. However I do sometimes wish I had a stick when coming down steep hills as you have more control. I quess it all depends what you use the truck for mostly and what you are willing to sacrifice in your driving style.  

You pretty much summed up my experience with manual & auto trannys.  It seems like I have to use breaks when I decend a hill in an auto where a good granny low in a manual will just creep down the hill.  

If i were to use a auto i would use a full manual auto with a  lower 1st. gear and maybe 2nd. but would prefer a stick so you got several different gear ratio's you can use. if 1st is to low and you get to much wheel spin you can take off in 2nd or 3rd or higher to make the engine use torq and work lug it down instead of spinning excessivly you can do a full manual auto the same if you don't like a clutch.  

Yeah, I'm hoping someday soon someone will make a low range gear set for my np205 and it  will compensate a little for the auto tranny with the lower gearing.  

Great info, thanks.  I think I favor the auto for most situations but I can see where a tranny fluid cooler would be necessary for a lot of 4 wheelin to keep it from getting too hot.  

I myself prefer a manual trans because I believe that you have more control of your vehicle. I've owned a couple of manual trans. and abused the living crap out of them and never had them fail. Try that with a auto!!Replacing a clutch is much, much cheaper than replacing an auto trans. Also if you get water in a auto trans. it is pretty much history!!! If you do prefer an auto, I would suggest that you run an aux. trans. cooler to keep the heat level down. ( Most common reason why auto trans. fail )

Both transmissions have there place when traveling on trails. I'm not really biased between the two. Either one would work for me, but I just prefer the manual for better drivability.

Let's say when going through a muddy section of trail when you need plenty of momentum, I believe a auto tranny would be better than a manual because you don't have to worry about shifting and disconnecting the drive tran. from clutching. The same goes for going up steep inclines. But this is where I draw the line. This is only my opinion on this topic.

Most of the time when driving through a muddy section of trail, I will just pick a gear "when I can" and leave it there so that I don't have to push the clutch in and lose momentum. Going up a hill, I put it in 4wd low and use second gear and this usually works best for me.

I once went up this very steep and long hill in my manual equipped Ranger. I got about 80% up the hill and lost forward momentum. I got a little nervous when I had to press the clutch in and throw it in reverse to back down this steep hill with a small washout to the left of me. I kept my cool and made it down safely. To this day I never tryed to conquer that hill again, mainly because of the small washout that got bigger.

The same thing happened to me on a very steep hill.  I was in a 76 Chevy Blazer with a stick.  The vehicle stalled and I ended up nearly sideways on the hill.  Thank goodness for a pine tree that kept me from getting sideways because I sure would have rolled it.  The carb was the fault of the stalling but I soon realized that I did not like having to coordinate 3 pedals and a stick shift when your butt is on the line.

That same vehicle just hours later impressed the heck out of me when I was going down a steep hill/logging road.  There was a major drop off on the side and it was raining.  The granny low allowed me to creep down that hill like it was nobodys business.  I have never had an auto tranny give me that type of down hill control.

Thanks for the feedback.

Believe Me, I know exactly what you talking about.

Big hills sometimes scare the S### out of me.

The hill that I was trying to go up was a mixture of sand and dirt. If I would have gone balls to the wall like a scared booga boo, I would have probalbly made it.

I wouldn't be so nervous about going up a steep incline if I had a better equipped 4X4, like at least a real rear locker and some meatier tires. I don't think a Ranger with a 7.5" axle would hold up to a locker.

Sticks are much more fun to drive, shifting them gears. If your really good you dont even have to clutch. Plus you get more power because it is direct drive to the wheels, automatics lose power because it uses fluid to transfer power.