Stick vs Auto

[Vic Roma]

Looking for opinions from you guys who’ve done this longer than me. I have an auto, but every time I see a floor shifter, I get gearbox envy.

What do you guys prefer, stick shift or auto?

By all means list your usage (eg daily driver, or just dedicated to heavy work), and reasons for preference (eg fuel consumption, ease of use), etc.

Is stick too bothersome for heavy hauling? Is auto too boring for cruising?

[grumpin]

I like manuals! I own automatics.

I had a 1988 F250 with the 7.3 and ZF5. I owned it before I had my left hip replaced. It was bothersome to painful in traffic.

I would have to try a truck before I bought one with a manual. I’ve had smaller vehicles with manuals and no problems, curious how I’d do now in a full size truck.

I just feel like I’m driving with a manual!

[Gary Lewis]

When the dust settles I'll have one of each, as you can see from the signature.

Dad's truck is being set up as fast, albeit still a capable 4wd truck. The E4OD will make it shift quickly while accelerating with no lost time between shifts. And, reasonable economy due to the OD and lock-up torque converter.

Big Blue is the work horse as well as offroader. The ZF5 will give the low 1st gear to get anything rolling, and coupled with the low ratio in the transfer case it'll crawl nicely.

Having said that, Ford's documentation gives the trucks with autos a higher GVWR for towing, as shown in the towing specs: Documentation/Specifications/Towing.

[Vic Roma]

When the dust settles I'll have one of each, as you can see from the signature.

Dad's truck is being set up as fast, albeit still a capable 4wd truck. The E4OD will make it shift quickly while accelerating with no lost time between shifts. And, reasonable economy due to the OD and lock-up torque converter.

Big Blue is the work horse as well as offroader. The ZF5 will give the low 1st gear to get anything rolling, and coupled with the low ratio in the transfer case it'll crawl nicely.

Having said that, Ford's documentation gives the trucks with autos a higher GVWR for towing, as shown in the towing specs: Documentation/Specifications/Towing.

Gary, your website needs to be saved for posterity! Such a great resource, but you know that already...

I guess you nailed with have one of each.

Can I then add on to my questions list:

Which is the best gearbox for each style (stick v auto)?

What’s the best engine they should be mated to?

By “best”, I’m sure it’s relative and personal preference, but there has to be consensus as to which one(s) lead the pack, such as smoothness of gear changes, robustness, parts, etc.

Soon I may pick up an old Bronco which I will scavenge for parts. Sadly, the motor, gearbox, steering column (and likely everything attached beneath) is all gone. I remember someone wise on here writing something like ‘buy the truck you want, don’t try to build it’ and that’s obviously sound financial advice. But...

If I have the opportunity to create a four-wheeled Frankenstein, I can make more informed decisions.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, your website needs to be saved for posterity! Such a great resource, but you know that already...

I guess you nailed with have one of each.

Can I then add on to my questions list:

Which is the best gearbox for each style (stick v auto)?

What’s the best engine they should be mated to?

By “best”, I’m sure it’s relative and personal preference, but there has to be consensus as to which one(s) lead the pack, such as smoothness of gear changes, robustness, parts, etc.

Soon I may pick up an old Bronco which I will scavenge for parts. Sadly, the motor, gearbox, steering column (and likely everything attached beneath) is all gone. I remember someone wise on here writing something like ‘buy the truck you want, don’t try to build it’ and that’s obviously sound financial advice. But...

If I have the opportunity to create a four-wheeled Frankenstein, I can make more informed decisions.

I certainly plan to save the website for posterity. Both of my kids know how important it is to me, so I'm sure they will preserve it. And one of the many reasons I want to move it to Wordpress is the ease with which it can be backed up.

Anyway, before we can answer your questions we need to know a bit more about what you want to do with the vehicle. You mentioned "heavy hauling". How much of that, and how heavy do you plan to do?

For heavy hauling you need torque in the engine. To me, that leaves the 302 out. And while the 300 Six can probably tow anything, it won't necessarily do it easily. So I wouldn't go with anything smaller than a 351W. (A 351M can be made to be as strong as a 351W, but if you are building one you really ought to make it a 400.) So that leaves the 400, 460, and IDI. But even the IDI w/o a turbo isn't going to tow very rapidly.

But, you also mentioned cruising. Are you thinking long distance or just short trips to enjoy the truck? If there's going to be much long-distance cruising, the 460 isn't the best.

Back to manual transmissions. Big Blue has had a T19 from birth. And Rusty, the '81 F150 w/a built 351M, had an NP435. And while they are stout transmissions, the lack of an overdrive makes them very poor for cruising. But the ZF5 is a truck transmission, and even one with good syncro's doesn't like to be shifted rapidly. So you need to think about what your needs and wants are. If you aren't going to "tow heavy" then maybe one of the lighter-duty OD transmissions?

As for the auto, I'm not a C6 fan. Yes, they are stout. But they are thirsty. With three speeds, no overdrive, and no lockup torque converter they are not cruising-friendly. So that probably means E4OD, but that takes a computer to control it.

[LARIAT 85]

I prefer the automatic.

I personally do not like to see that long, manual gear stick sticking out of the floor. These trucks don't have much room as-is, and that stick takes up even more room. If a third person sits in the middle, they are going to be quite embarrassed, especially if it is a female.

 

[salans7]

I prefer the automatic.

I personally do not like to see that long, manual gear stick sticking out of the floor. These trucks don't have much room as-is, and that stick takes up even more room. If a third person sits in the middle, they are going to be quite embarrassed, especially if it is a female.

I prefer manual. My daily driver started life as an automatic, but when the transmission blew up at 78,000 miles, I was frustrated. I wanted something I could trust, and I didn't feel that I could trust an automatic. It ended up being cheaper to swap my truck to a manual than it was to rebuild the automatic, so out came all of the automatic stuff and in went the manual stuff.

I didn't know how to drive stick before I swapped my truck. I watched a few videos and then took the truck out at around 2am and taught myself. It was rough, but it didn't take long before I was hooked. Now I can't see myself owning another automatic. At least not one with more than 70,000 miles.

Manuals definitely have their downfalls, and modern automatics are far superior for towing, which is why as of 2016, no full size trucks come with manuals. It's understandable considering Americans are becoming increasingly lazy and nobody wants to row through gears anymore.

[LARIAT 85]

I prefer manual. My daily driver started life as an automatic, but when the transmission blew up at 78,000 miles, I was frustrated. I wanted something I could trust, and I didn't feel that I could trust an automatic. It ended up being cheaper to swap my truck to a manual than it was to rebuild the automatic, so out came all of the automatic stuff and in went the manual stuff.

I didn't know how to drive stick before I swapped my truck. I watched a few videos and then took the truck out at around 2am and taught myself. It was rough, but it didn't take long before I was hooked. Now I can't see myself owning another automatic. At least not one with more than 70,000 miles.

Manuals definitely have their downfalls, and modern automatics are far superior for towing, which is why as of 2016, no full size trucks come with manuals. It's understandable considering Americans are becoming increasingly lazy and nobody wants to row through gears anymore.

I prefer an automatic in almost *any* pickup truck.

For a sports car, I much prefer a manual.

[reamer]

I prefer an automatic in almost *any* pickup truck.

For a sports car, I much prefer a manual.

Gary, Was it a lot of "trial and error" getting the EOD to play nice?

What did you have to do to get it to function? buy a "computer?" program it?

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, Was it a lot of "trial and error" getting the EOD to play nice?

What did you have to do to get it to function? buy a "computer?" program it?

I'm not there yet, but Bill tells me it will work as he's using the same system on Darth - an EEC-V ECU. It'll control both the EFI as well as the E4OD. Yes, Ford never EFI'd a 400, but there's no problem in doing so as all of the components are available.

I'm using Trick Flow's 351C upper and lower plenum with injector bungs, and then adapters to fit the lower plenum to the wider M-block. I'll be using a 351W ECU, so the theory is that the open-loop maps will be close enough.