Advantages and Disadvantages of Automatic Transmission gear.

I have been using an auto shift for three months and hate it. It saves the left leg in traffic and construction zones, but that is the only real advantage. When backing up it can actually be dangerous. With a manual transmission you can control the speed of the truck by letting out on the clutch. You get a nice smooth movement of the truck. The auto shift has an annoying habit of just sitting there until it gets enough fuel to motivate the computer to engage the clutch, when that happens the entire truck will lurch backwards a good three to ten feet. (I hit a parked car because of this "feature", but that's another story.) Another thing to consider is that if you shut the truck off in gear and you have an air leak, you will not be able to start your truck until you charge the system to at least 100psi

 

cons:

Cannot pull start an automatic if your starter quits or the batteries die.
If stuck on ice or snow all you can do with an automatic is try and rock it back and forth.
Slower start up when accelerating.
When backing or docking the truck does seem to "lurch" considerably.

Pros:

Simple to drive.
Easier on driver in traffic jams.

 

Would be nice for a while, but I still like to shift with a stick.

 

Cons: Adds 300lbs or so to the tractor.
Pros: Makes it easier to talk your boss into an APU by keeping the real tranny.

 

Hello everyone, I like to know if auto trans. have a "locking" problem, i heard comments, some auto trans. tend to lock and you will need to call sor some one to unlock them.
Thanks for the help.

 

I have also "heard" of older auto shifts refusing to shift but have not experienced this myself. If this happens you might try to pull the vehicle over and then restart it. This may reset the computer. The other option would be to try and manually shift gears. There is a "manual" button as well as up and down buttons on the ultra shift transmission so you can shift gears yourself. This function comes in handy in slippery conditions.

 

The truck in my picture is a 10sp auto...when it was bran new there was a lot of problems with the transmission locking up ... I would pull up to a red light it would get locked in 10 gear... so just turning it off and back on would not work I had to turn it off and turn the battery power off then turn it back on it fix the problem for a little while...there was a relay on top of the tranny I would have to hit if it got stuck climbing a hill...so eventually freightliner had to replace the xy sensor, and the wire harness on that truck and its been good for the last 250,000 miles.

 

I drove an auto around a lot once and that told me I will never buy one. It was like the first time i drove a manual about snapped my #### neck. have to get the rpm's up to get it to move.