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Aug. '03 went to the dealer for a new F-150, was looking for just a few features, one was a manual trans., boy did that irritate the sales guy, " Why would you want that ?" he said, and I said "because", what's the difference, he found one in VA., I put a deposit on it, forgot why I changed my mind later, took forever to get my money back, oh I remember, found out the company I worked for was headed down the tubes, so I did not need the payment for 3 years, he acted like I was asking for something unusual, and probably so, anyone think they'll be discontinuing manual transmissions ? Sounds like it, hope not though. I think it's like anything, good maintenance and correct operating habits gets you the best service life, auto or stick, unless you use it for other than it's designed, abuse it, or it is a bad design from the start. Everything I own is a stick, I decided to keep my '96 150, 5 spd. manual hubs, and a lever for the transfer case, it had some odd bug in the 5 spd. since new to me at 16,000 miles, dealer never made good on the warranty, took it apart twice, couple of new synchros, so I'm actually putting in a rebuilt one finally, after it failed at 132,000 miles, 1st manual one to fail that I've had, but being a mazda trans., ok well no need to bash, but... First truck I had was a chevy K-10, still have it, auto failed in it, I put a 4 spd. in, NP-203 transfer case, spicer drivetrain parts, that is one tough drivetrain, and I can run a p.t.o. off it, can't do that with an auto. for the same application. I used to push over small 2"-4" dia white birch trees with it in 4wd low, line them up with the plow frame, push em right over, but don't back up, one way only, LOL. Our '96 3/4 ton dodge at the farm is an auto, while pulling a large 2 horse trailer from Fla. last year, it would kick down to low on the hills, engine was screamin, drove me nuts, mechanic said it was fine before the trip, just hate hearing that engine running those kind of R.P.M.'s, found a trick or 2 to avoid it from happening, but just annoying to drive, don't seem right, expecting a rod to flyout ! There is no doubt about having the right power and gear ratio's, certainly don't hate autos either, they have come a long way since the detroits and allisons that all the firetrucks and buses used to have. Big trucks, auto's take the fun out of it, but because people who drive trucks they don't own for a living, they tear up things like transmissions, cause premature clutch wear, mess up 2 spd. rears, power dividers etc., most of that is due to lack of care and or knowledge, I drove for many companies and can attest to the caliber of drivers you can get, that is why a lot of them went to autos, can't blame them when it's time to do the books. I cannot imagine running a nicely powered over the road truck, with say a nice CAT 400-500HP or Cummins and an auto, no fun in my book. I ran 30 yd articulated dumps on site, that had 15 spd autos, they ran great, plenty of gears, hard to screw up, and thought our old 64 4000 S-O-S Ford was great, matter of preference. I like the manual trans. the best, even when dealing with city traffic day in day out, like my old chevy and my fords, old and new, won't get into the age old discussion on brands, never had a reason to.
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