Hello all, I have been looking for the perfect Xj project to start, but I am wondering which tranny would be best manual or automatic ? Like I said in my introduction, I will be using the Jeep for light to moderate 4 wheeling, camping and fishing in the rockies plus hopefully doing some exploring in those hard to reach areas. This will be my first Jeep build and want to start it off right. I can see the advantage of an automatic in the rough sections but how about the manual. How many of your rigs are standards? Thanks

 

It's all comes down to what the person wants. Some prefer an auto others prefer the 5 speed.

 

For any sort of crawling, i vote for an auto. Otherwise your on the clutch the whole time.

 

I wheel a five speed. I am never on the clutch. 4l in first or second and you'll creep over anything.

 

My vote would be for the 5-speed, if you don't mind, because of moderate wheeling. Like Drew said it is easier to crawl with an auto.

 

I have a 5 speed, would much rather have an auto.

 

5spd all day long

 

I like the gas mileage and control of the 5 speed. Of course there are times I would rather keep my hand on my wife and cruise around.

 

I guess i should mention that they make shifters for autos that let you select what gear you want to be in. I will be getting one in the future.

 

I vote standard for 3 reasons:

1st) simplicity of a manual trans cannot be beat, several things can go wrong but will still get you somewhere to get help. like dead battery? bump-start it with help of friends or a hill; clutch went out? drive slow and rev match it to get out to help; blow out 2nd gear? will still have 4th to limp out. Plus manual trans are really easy to rebuild. Also really easy to get alittle better gearing for slightly bigger tires like 31's or 32's. Stock 5sp is 3.07 gears and autos are 3.55 and auto's are everywhere and cheap, much cheaper than a regear. I'm hardly ever on the clutch rock crawling, just 1st in 4lo and basically idle along or shift up for faster parts

2nd) Fuel mileage is better with the AX15 then the aw4 auto. Factory ratings for MPG were better for the manual and real world experience backs that up. 95 sport lifted on 33's gets better mileage than my stock 96 sport on 225/75/15's.

3rd) If someone tries to car jack you or steal your car, they are probably too stupid to know how to drive a stick and wont get away with it. Same thing for friends who are terrible drivers but always want to drive everyone else's car, hate them and wont let them learn on my clutch.


The thing I truly love about my manual is getting 17-20mpg with 33's, its the only way I could DD my jeep and not have to pay for a 2nd car

 

Yep. Plus 5 speed is less work on your brakes. Also If all else fails you can use motor oil in the tranny. The auto you can't. The clutch adds more of a challenge on the harder trails. If you gear deep enough a 5 speed can act like a doubler t case.

 

It all comes down to which you prefer driving. Both my Jeep, and my dedicated trail rig have 5 speeds, I don't like autos. But that's just me.

 

Thanks for the replies, yea I figured some of those points were a plus but I didn't really think 5speeds were that easy to crawl with. I prefer a 5 speed myself compared to the auto, but wasn't too sure! Thanks all!

 

I love my Manual but like drew said for crawling id vote for a auto.

 

rocks = auto
anything else = manual