Auto vs Stick which is better.

I am getting ready to buy my first diesel truc ck.I want to know of any problems that come up with either stick or auto trans that come behind the 1995-1997 diesel trucks.I want omething that will be able to handle pulling my steet/strip fox body mustang back and forth to different drag races on my 20 ft. all steel car trailer and possibly a 28 foot enclosed traler later down the road.I want to be able to pull in OD for gas mileage reasons.Which one is more reliable in the long run and will be overall the cheapest for repairs if they would arise.Any help would be appreciated.

Again...driving style is a biggie...
The Automatic is an E4OD...I personally dont care for them, but I've never owned one...ridden and driven a lot of them though. They hold up about like any other automatic. WAY better than the dodge 47re though. Put a tranny temp gauge on it and be nice to it and it should handle that load easily.

The manual transmission is a Borg Warner ZF5. Original equipment flywheels for these trucks are giving fits now. They are a dual mass unit and are somewhere around 1300 to replace new. you can buy used but that is a gamble. Many just replace them with a single mass conversion flywheel that includes clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, and all the bolts needed with good instructions for 800 tops. LuK is a good name when buying that single mass kit. The tranny itself is good. spendy to rebuild like most. and if someone ran a dual mass competely out before replacing, they may have trashed some synchronizers, usually 3rd and reverse go first. I personally would go with the stick...im not sure what an auto will run you to replace...somewhere around 3,000 bucks? and for 800 you could have a manual that will last you 200,000 if you take off in 1st like your supposed to and would be cheap to replace just the clutch disk if need be. Get the stick.

i prefer a stick when hauling. i also just got through getting mine worked on in my 95'. although i didn't get it totally rebuilt it cost me just over $500 to put in new shift forks, seals, and a few other things. and it cost me $725 to get a new flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and throwout bearing. i converted to the single mass flywheel. my 2 cents is. get the stick

Work truck = Stick
Play truck = Auto

IMO

Work truck = Stick
Play truck = Auto

Click to expand...

I agree

With a stick you don't lose power through the torque convertor, but can lose time when racing because of having to shift. I say go with stick seeing as how you want it to pull a trailer but thats just me.

go for the stick i had a stroke with a E4OD and there not worth a damn still is better then the dodge 47re but thats not saying much

I've had to rebuild a E4od it wasn't cheep but it was built. I prefer the man trans in my f-350 and I tow haul and go 4x4ing with it and have never regreted going with the stick.

re

Well I ended up going with a auto just because the OBS I am buying has one.I did find out I can get the Auto rebuilt with convt. for $800.I know some of you are going to say no way but a guy I know worked in the tranny rebuild business for about 18yrs.He does it for a living at of his house and that is the price he quoted me.Sounded way better than the total stick rebuild plus single mass conversion kit. Thanks for all the replies.

I put 170000 trouble free miles on a EO4D E-350 and it was still working fine when I sold it. Granted, it was a gas engine (5.8L) but I was not nice to that van either, and it spent much of it's life towing or with heavy loads.

I have a 2000 powerstroke auto trans and took it to get beefed up so I wouldn't lose it while driving, since I have a lot of extras. It had 165,000 miles on it and still worked good, but when I took it in he told me and showed me that 1st and 2nd gear where completely burnt up and 3rd was well on way but it still move fairly well