Manual or Automatic Transmission?

I drive a 10 speed auto every day for my local job and I have to agree with you. You hit the nail on the head everything you said is absolutely correct. I've had the auto trans go to N instead of the next gear many times and forces you to stop to put it back into gear. If I was an O/O i would not buy an auto i would be looking at 13 and 18 speeds.

 

I personally think in the Rockies you should have a manual not an auto just my view.

I drive an 18 gears, manual transmission and always will. I personally want the advantage of shifting what gear I want or need to be in.

What you should get is your decision. What are you most comfortable with? Where are you going to spend most your hours of driving? Lots of variables can figure into how many gears you are probably going to need. Unless you're like me and 18 is the not only the preference but what I have.

 

You drive what you want. Most old timers like shifting gears. Me I don't care as long as I am making a good living.

 

drove an 01 frtl auto till 1.3m without any major issues before i took it in for an inframe

 

manual.......i HATE automatics

 

USX is the poster child for automatics. They started because it was easier to recuruite husband/wife teams. Then they saw economy go way up and maintance issue go down.

I would not buy a two-peddle but the three peddle eliminates the issues I have with them.

In terms of fuel economy, speed is a big factor but the other major factor is progressive shifting. And that is when the automatics shine. That is why people complain they are starting out so slow. That is what you get when progressive shifting is done right.

When I was thinking about buying an automatic. Mechanics told me that they see different "abuse" problems with them. Mostly from people wanting to drive them shifting with buttons more than it is designed for. The other is the heavy foot issue. For some reason people that would not keep their foot to the floor in an manual do it with the autos and burn up clutches and other gear problems.

Not sure if I would ever own one but when driven properly they will provide better economy and longer tranny life. But you do have to understand it is designed to do more than allow a person that can't shift drive a big truck.

 

Forget autos- they all work when new but in a few years the roadsalt corrodes the grounds and gets in the seams where the trans , bellhousing and engine block meet. So the trans won't shift correctly until you add a ground strap to the trans.

The trans has it's own ecm and it needs to communicate with the engine's ecm. That ecm WILL need to be replaced. Next week, next month, next year- who knows. And the solenoid that changes the gears needs to be replaced, too. A simple job for a do-it yourselfer- but a $1,400.00 repair in a shop.

Most autos are designed for local delivery and regional work. (Most, not all). I've pulled heavy loads up steep grades and found the trans doesn't downshift fast enough - it bucks, jumps, slams into a gear just in time to downshift again and ends up stopped in the roadway to sit for a few seconds to start all over.

There are different programs for the transmissions, too. Mine won't shift on auto until 1,500 rpm's. That wastes my fuel so I lock it in manual and shift at 1,150 rpm's. The good auto's are programmed to be fuel efficient and some can do progressive shifting. They are all SLOW. Unless you lock it in manual and run the rpm's to the governor. You can skip gears doing this and the engine will usually kick in the exhaust brake and engine brake to make the shift quicker for you.

It's hard to control a fully automated clutch when backing with a heavy load. (These are the tractors with no clutch pedal). It's almost impossible to back uphill into a dock with a heavy load without slamming into the building, the whole truck starts hopping up and down and shuddering violently. The clutch gets hot and you get a fault code on the dash- eventually it won't work anymore and you have to stop the truck for the clutch to cool.

You WILL get your trans hung in two gears at a stop. It will NOT move. You can't raise the rpm's with the foot control at all until it's in neutral. If you turn off the engine to reset the ecm, it won't always restart- the starter will get locked out for the fault code because it's hung in gear. Chances are you WILL be in the worst possible place when it happens. Chances are if it won't restart, you'll be in the hottest, most uncomfortable, dangerous and hostile environments possible. Like the middle of the George Washington bridge in rush hour. On the hottest day of the summer in early August. (Don't EVEN ASK).

If you find your batteries dead, you can't start your tractor with a tow. No electricity, no response from the trans- you can't place it in gear.

This truck slams into gears, sometimes without using the automated clutch at all. If I'm bobtailing, it'll knock everything out of the shelf above my head and put it in my lap. After four years, the trans is knocking every time it shifts- there's a lot of slop and looseness in the gears from being slapped around. Other drivers have told me the trans case in their truck eventually shattered or split open from similar problems.

Sometimes this trans works ok for a week or two with few problems. It's nice to tow a load of rolled paper through the Ozarks or a load of beer through the Rockies and leave the trans on auto. You can concentrate on the road ahead- and not having to shift constantly is less stressful.

Oh- and if you let your truck just roll away from a stop without using the engine to make it move, it WILL NOT go into gear until you come to a complete stop again, place it in neutral, and place it in drive again.

Frankly, I wish SINCERELY that this tractor had a manual 13 speed in it. The aggravations, the expense and stress from breakdowns, costs of towing and repairs, the embarrassment from motorists and my peers laughing at me when the truck slams, shudders and hops while it fumbles through the gears. All that for a couple of trouble free weeks at a time and a couple of trips through the mountains without shifting..

Get a real transmission. If you are dead set on an automatic, make sure you get a quality model tractor. Something spec'ed for O/O's. Stay away from the used fleet trucks, you might be buying mine.

And please- stop laughing at me, I'm doing my best to get out of your way....

 

i/we have driven 10 trucks with autoshift's with as much as 600,000 on then, our last one we put all 400,000 on it and out of all of then we have only had 2 breakdown's out of the auto's one was high/low range servo (the same servo that ALL trucks have) and one clutch.

thats 1.6 million miles we have driven autoshift's and ONLY 2 breakdown's

 

I have an auto now and its ok. Many of the problems prevuisly staed are right on, no progressive shift, gears seem like they are slamming in, coasting from a stop. I have never had it stick in traffic and/or stall. backing uphill is a pain but once you get used to it, its not that bad. 535,000 miles and no issues with the transmission. I really like it in traffic. mountain driving is no issue, put it in manual mode and go down the hill in the proper gear. I'd probably buy a 13 speed manual in my next truck but who knows. not getting any younger and the auto does seem to reduce fatigue.

 

I drive a 2012 auto no clutch pedal. 1st few days I hated it, now I couldn't see myself going back to stick. What a pleasant difference! All of the problems noted in this thread are true except for the stalling, I have not stalled out yet. When it's all said and done, a computer can never match up to the experience I have with shifting but, it's a trade off that's so worth it! I ABSOLUTLEY love auto now.