yes there is a lot of cry-babying. and how can "MORE FUN TO DRIVE" be outdated lol

[QUOTE=Now a days, kids for the most part have no clue how to drive a straight shift.[/QUOTE]

i learned at 16! yahhhhh. now 24 and still prefer it! here's a toast to manual trannys

 

You can probably bet the old MT trucks will outlast you new technology. Clutches wont though. Our old 93 F150 has over 250K on it and has been beaten to death literally by some of the biggest knuckheads you have ever met. Its a company truck that has been loaded to the gills every day of its life. We have had to replace clutches but it still rolls on. The straight six just wont quit either.

Before anybody jumps me I actually do embrace new technology. I think its a great thing but lets see how they hold up down the road first. Autos in the past show to have a limited lifespan. My friend has a Dodge dakota with 350K on it with a MT and has only put one clutch in it. You rarely see a MT failing except in rare cases like Mustangs/Camaros where the driver power shifts them.

There is something to be said for simplicity of design. Give me a reg cab truck with AC, MT, and a V8 and it will last just as long as a 40K truck and do just as much work for a whole lot less money and likely cost less to maintain over its life. Its about bang for the buck for me. Im all for you guys that like the options and if money grew on trees I would like them also but some of us happen to use these trucks like trucks everyday and not just haul a sack full of groceries.

Anyway, I know the MT trucks will likely never come back. When the day comes to buy an auto and I have trouble I will be the first guy in here screaming at the top of my lungs when I get stuck with a 2K repair bill. Cant wait for a few years for some people to rack up some miles on the six speeds that are used hard to see how they do. They may be the greatest thing since sliced bread but i will believe it when I see it. I just wish we had the option to buy what we want. Times change and life goes on.

 

Yeah, I can say that the older MTs will take a beating and still keep a tickin. And it's funny you mention you have to replace clutches -- it's just like any wear item. But the gearbox as a whole really is no maintainance. Something in which the new automatics have, but I'd really question the durability after many dealings with automatic transmissions -- sealed or not sealed for life.

As far as the autos living up to their name, I've yet to see Ford do any extensive testing on the new 6 speed or really any of their transmissions. It seems as if it goes from the engineer to the consumer without any published testing for the consumer's rights. I don't know what Ford has to hide, but it still makes me wonder. It's funny that a lot of things out there are bench tested, including transmissions, but bench testing is totally different than real world testing. They need to test them in order to prove their statements, not to mention actually publish the results for proof.

And trust me, some of these auto transmissions that are out there are junk, but they need to also get past the knuckleheads that are used to having essentially bust-proof manual transmissions, to bust-proof auto transmissions. And whoever tells me an automatic transmission is bust-proof is wrong. I can step foot into Ford and get a F150 with that new fangled 6 speed and bust it within 25 miles -- or less, and I can personally guarantee that. If someone wants to put me on the spot I'll be more than happy to do it. If you try that on a manual, it will take much more than 25 miles, in fact, it would have to take so much abuse that I'd probably have to take it apart and destroy it. And I don't mean the clutch -- but even the clutch... it would still work, but it'd slip. However, I can still drive it. If you bust an automatic, you are basically out of luck.

As far as simplicity. I like things simple. Manuals are very simple.

But I'm to the point now, where if I really wanted to, I can build my own truck with whatever I want right in my own garage. So who needs any big wig auto manufacturer? I surely don't.

 

Neither MT or AT is bullet proff. I have burned up clucthes in cars with ALS in 2-3 hard pull aways and not at my cost i might add. You could even burn out a clutch in less than 30 secs without a ALS, if you wanted to in a manual. so saying a manual is better because it is harder to break is wrong. I had to pull my trailer up a hill so step i couldnt walk down it without slipping the other day and in 2wd i was going no where. Put it in 4wd and it pulled my trailer up the tarmac drive with 8Klb trailer behind me and the trans temp didnt even move. Now if your gnna put your truck through anything like that and worse then neither is going to last long if you do it all the time. I have used manauls to pull boats up beaches for over 15 years and the Autos people have had have always worked just as good and if not better than the manuals.