Had to sell my rig a couple months ago to attend uti and am now looking to buy once again. I was just curios in the advantages to disadvantages to running a manual rig. I know that if I chose manual I would have low end torc for hill climbs and what not not. But........ I also thought that it seems it would get tedious to focus on shifting and clutch work while trying to reposistion my rig if I happen to get stuck or if my spotter tells me to change posistions. Thanks to all who help out.

 

i have always liked manual because you can pick what gear you want the jeep to STAY in...with an automatic sometimes it will down shift on you causing your wheels to spin and lose traction going up hills. plus one of the big things with a manual is you can use the trans to slow down by down shifting a lot easier then an auto. plus manual transmissions usually last longer without having any issues.....thats just my opinion may be right or wrong

 

Pros for the manual: You have more control of gear selection, less likely to leave you stranded on the trail, may get you better fuel mileage, less to go wrong.
Cons: Harder to drive in sticky situations. Hard to talk on the phone, eat a cheeseburger, and shift at the same time. Can be harder on the rest of the drivetrain (shock load). Might find a girl impailed on the gear shift after you slip her some spanish fly.

I'm lazy, so I like my automatic.

 

My Auto on my 1994 Cherokee Country is stock and I'm at 241.3k miles, no problems.

 

I prefer my 5speed over my other auto and its lasting forever, 88 cherokee with 259k on it all original

 

I've wheeled both and i personally like a manual for a number of reasons, gear selection up and down hills, able to rock the rig efficiently, banging thru gears when you want, fuel mileage, and of course the shear simplicity of it. Straight drives are great for dd/weekend warriors

For rocks and very technical stuff the auto is much nicer to drive because you dont have to worry about that 3rd pedal

 

theres a mod to make your aw4 a manual automatic so you have the gear selection. a lot of people are scared of auto transmissions and tearing them down.
i like my auto because im lazy and its easier to drive and yes i can eat a cheese burger and drive with one white knuckle hand on the wheel

the torque converter also gives you a lot more play as far as wheeling you dont have to have as low of a gear ratio in an auto vs a manual.

 

a clutch costs alot less than a rebuild

 

auto is hard to beat on a rough trail. i wheel with my buddy and his yj and he has to keep it in low range for anything tedious so that he wont stall out

 

It can be a little tough for those tedios situations on rocks and such if you are not a clutch rider like me.
But X2 on the low range I use it and sometimes I find myself climbing hills in 4th gear at 5 mph lol

But I can say it doe's take some skill on tough crawling situations were you don't want to roll back a half inch.

 

x2

 

JeepingDan speaks the truth

 

with a manual can you pop it in a gear and it will take its self down a hill with out brakes?

i have an auto and was wondering

 

yes, just put in 4low for steep downhill descents, maybe stick in in 1st to but it should be fine in D. the low range works great on my auto for going down hills, acts like a big brake

 

so 4 low in my auto and it should help with not having to press brakes all the way down to descend