Auto or Manual

Submitted: Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:06

ThreadID: 12503 Views:1493 Replies:5 FollowUps:14

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paul2.8d

Hi, im thinking of changing from twin cab to wagon, ive seen 2 vehicles im interested in, but one is auto (60 series Cruiser) what is some of your opinions please, your experiences would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks in advance, Paul.........................

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Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:10

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:10

For what sort of work? Towing, weekday car, long touring?

Autos have it over manuals everywhere apart from downhill due to no engine braking... :( But can be overcome :)

AnswerID: 56690

Follow Up By: paul2.8d - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:39

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:39

Sorry, its for every day driving, no towing, and the rough stuff every now and then, which does involve steep climbs descending etc...

Cheers Paul

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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:54

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:54

If your doing lots of climbs etc, and offroading, auto will be the way to go.

As your 1/2 way up that hill, no losing momentum to hit the clutch to find another gear to start with...

Most of the top comp blokes now run Autos... Autos can be expensive to rebuild, but then theres no clutch to burn out from giving it a flogging either...

YMMV

FollowupID: 318444

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:01

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:01

Spot on, I was always anti auto, but after owning my Surf I will probally never go back. It beats the manual on every other than going down hills, but as said previously there is a technique which I have only recently learned and used that overcomes that issue, it works suprisingly well too! Tried it out on some dunes last weekend and in some slipery gravel/rutty stuff a couple of weeks ago.
The only other disadvantage is you can't roll start it if a starter motor breaks or somthing similar. If you have a good dual battery setup starting problems will be kept to a minimum anyway.

FollowupID: 318445

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:14

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:14

Stalling on a hill also is a thing of the past!!!

FollowupID: 318449

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:21

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:21

That's a big roger Truckster! :-) The only down side is if your foot is a little too heavy or inexperienced you can dig a much bigger hole using a torque convertor! :-) he hee he
But yeah, I find it heaps good witht he auto, you wanna go up there? Right foot down!

FollowupID: 318450

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 22:02

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 22:02

Right foot down does nothing in my truck, its left foot down ...

FollowupID: 318544

Reply By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:22

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 11:22

Apparantly the new autos are good although for a wannabe truckie like me gimmie a stick shift. I am not familiure with the 60s autos and I would guess seeing as they made them for so long their would be a few different boxes I would only consider an auto if it was from a later model with an overdrive and tourqe converter lockup in overdrive I would stay away from the older style 3 speed slushboxes I would guess that even in a late model auto in a 60s would not be a patch on the latest autos so keep that in mind. Autos can be very dear to rebuild so check out its condition well ( smooth shifts, no delays when going from r to d then back again good transmission fluid colour etc) people will tell you they are no good going down severly steep hills coz it is their only downfall but ask yourself when was the last time you actually had to go down a hill so steep that engine braking was essential? oh! and if you will be towing (heavy loads) you will need to consider a transmission cooler

AnswerID: 56692

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:12

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:12

Good point Davoe, they probally are nothing on the electronic jobby I use, it snaps gears fast and smooth, it's quite amazing. The 60's I imagine would be the ol' hydrolic type. I new someone (an old customer of mine) who blew his 60 series sahara box and it cost him $3500. Mind you it had down over 400,000k's and was towing a heavy offroad trailer through tracks when it died. I spoe you can't complain about that too much.

FollowupID: 318447

Follow Up By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:48

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:48

Jeff M
My only experiences with autos have been with cars and with the old style slushboxes (valiants and holdens) which were real power stealers and fuel users and later "next generation" (89 camry and 86 skyline) the camry didnt seem to appreciate the auto but the skyline was very good I understand the latest autos are better again and everyone raves about them in 4wd however it just doesnt seem right to me ( I also think a decent 4by should have leaf springs although this is changing after taking the moorinie loop road last year:)) I also think that while an auto may make things easier they are not significantly better than a properly driven manual.

FollowupID: 318452

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:54

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 12:54

Just how I "used" to think! ;-)
The Tojo auto in the surf almost illiminates noticable turbo lag for me also as it let's the motor rev freely up to about 1700rpms before loading it with all the load on take off, makes the thing take off like it's got a scorpian down it's trowsers!

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Follow Up By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 13:07

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 13:07

yea heard they were good for turbos - never driven a turbo vehicle the bosses wouldnt believe me that I could work more efficiently if i had more powere to get up the ramp out of the pit. however if I replaced my 2h in my l/c camper with one of those latest 4.2 td intercooled jobbies I might actually get to pull the skin off that rice pudding

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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 13:12

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 13:12

This is not a dig from a tojo guy to nissan owners, just an observation. I drive a 3.0Td Patrol auto for work. It's deffinatally got more power than the old surfer as it can still just beat me in a stand still take off and it's heaps heavier, however the auto in that does'nt work nearly as well as the surfer's. There is still a heap of lag when you plant your foot to when it actually starts to pull. Don't know why... But those 3.0td motors (apart from the problems) are pretty insaine, they really do make you have to work your neck muscles when it pulls.

FollowupID: 318456

Reply By: Davoe - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 13:59

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 13:59

Sorry Paul got a bit sidetracked, if the auto is a later style with overdrive etc in all honesty i would have to say buy the vehicle in the best condition that was the best value for money I would use condition rather than box choice to make your decision especially as you are talking about a vehicle around 15yrs old

AnswerID: 56711

Reply By: GaryW - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 14:42

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 14:42

Well I'll be buttered on both sides - I was expecting to see a whole heap of posts for manual only. *grin*

I agree with the Auto posts. My LC100 is an Auto (If it ever comes) My previous 2 4bys have been autos. Great for everything except down steep inclines. Typically Autos have a higher diff ratio and tend to run on downhill. There is a tricky technique you can use for going downhill in an auto but it takes a lot of practice (I'm told).

Anyhow I reckon its very hard to go past an Auto (unless your a would be truckie)

Gaz

AnswerID: 56716

Follow Up By: Baz (NSW) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 14:54

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 14:54

Come on fella's whats wrong with everyone, bloody auto's, next you'll be wanting a chauffeur to take you 4 wheel driving, you drive a manual and you point an auto.

Baz !!!

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Follow Up By: GaryW - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 15:03

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 15:03

Does ARB sell chauffeurs?

FollowupID: 318469

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 18:40

Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 18:40

Classic GaryW, love it LOL.
Well I've got the auto, the climate control, the automatic battery isolator, now all I need is somthing to steer the damn thing for me and I'll be right!!;-)
Auto's on a down hill dune is easy, get your rev's up to about 1500rpms while your left foot is still on the brake, then control your speed with the brake, the torque converter and brakes will heat up if you do this too much, but really there is not need on most hills, only extreme stuff. The power of the motor going through the toque converter will stop the wheels locking up as you decend. It actually works surprisingly well. as far as stall recovery (not that us auto drivers stall :-)) ) the reverse gear in low range on my surf is pretty ample for most decents backwards and I don't need to use this technique.

FollowupID: 318494