Looking for opinions on automatic vs stick

Agreed^, but a lot of owners think vehicle maint stops at making sure there's gas in the tank, AND the OP is talking about buying a15 year old vehicle.

twodownzero wrote:


Back on topic, if you like autos, there's nothing wrong with them. They do last a long time and if you have the money to buy a truck camper, you can probably afford to replace a $4-5000 transmission every ten years or so.

They have come so far in fact, that you do not have to replace them every 10 years or so. :) You can abuse one into submission, but I can do that even quicker with a manual.

You should not pick one over the other on the basis of reliability. I think repair frequency will show they are equally reliable. It then comes down to operational issues (the differences have disappeared over the last 10 years) or personal preference, which will always be there.

run100 wrote:
Does Bigfoot now offer slides? When did they introduce them?

They had them in 2006. I don't know if the new ownership has been building them or not.

Grit dog wrote:
Well I'm sure the discussion on whether a leaky ole 7.3 or a new scorpion engine have more snort really helps the OPs decision on what to back a GASSER with, but what do I know......
To the OP, all things being equal, generally a manual trans will cost you less in the long run. Of course since your looking at 10-15 year old presumably high mile trucks, could be anyone's guess depending on how the truck was cared for and how new the trans or components are.
Going auto trans though, I'd blow past any of the 4r100s and look for a 5speed torq shift.

Yeah..sorry about the derail OP...I think you got some good advice...and I second Grit Dog on the Torque shift as the trans of choice with the Ford.

1handyhubby wrote:
I have an 11' 3" Lance but am looking to getting a Bigfoot with a slideout. I'd apperciate anyone with a 4x4 to weigh in too. Thanks.

Does Bigfoot now offer slides? When did they introduce them?

Our F350 has an automatic and I love it! Very comfortable and relaxing to drive.

In contrast, our sports car has a stick and it's very fun to drive -- maybe a little too fun, as evidenced by my recent $300 ticket. However, just today I was left stranded due to a transmission failure and had to have it towed to the shop.

Stefonius wrote:
Nobody has ever had to rescue me from a transmission failure.

Same here. I've had a transmission that wouldn't stay in gear, and I currently have one in my GTO that really doesn't like shifting fast from 1st to 2nd, but they have never left me stranded.

The truck I drive to work, which is just a Ford Ranger I bought on a whim when I got back from the Army, has about 250,000 miles on it and I have never replaced the clutch or done anything to service the transmission. It still has the same fluid in it that it had the day I bought it (13 years ago). And that is a crappy little Mazda transmission that is far from any staple of durability.

One day I may try to figure out how to transplant a 7 speed overdrive manual from some sort of medium duty truck in my Ram, because I don't really care if it added 200 pounds of weight to my truck or whatever; it'd be really cool to have a bombproof transmission in a pickup truck. Having another gear and closer gears would be pretty cool, too.

Back on topic, if you like autos, there's nothing wrong with them. They do last a long time and if you have the money to buy a truck camper, you can probably afford to replace a $4-5000 transmission every ten years or so.

I think that diesel and automatic are a particularly poor combination for each other, but considering the technology improvements in the past 10 years, they've come a long way.

If you prefer an auto, I wouldn't bash you for having/driving one. It's not for me, but I'm strange. Even if I had a gazillion dollars, I'd still want a manual.

jimh425 wrote:

Stefonius wrote:
I've had to rescue many friends who have had their automagic fail, usually at the most inopportune times.

What year and what brands/models of trucks?

I've mostly rescued friends with cars.

• A 2002 Acura 3.2TL that is on its fourth transmission with less than 120k miles on it. That's a manufacturing defect that Honda keeps ignoring.
• A 2004 Mercury Sable with an AX4N that flatly refused to engage reverse about 65 percent of the time.
• A 1978 LTD that ruptured a transmission cooler line and puked its fluid out on the highway before cooking the innards of its C6.

Trucks that I remember:

• A '73 Chevy that cracked the tail housing on its TH350 auto.
• A 2007 Dodge 2500 CTD that broke the input shaft on the pump. That motor was chipped and the stock transmission couldn't take the power.
• A mid-90s Ford F350 that grenaded its torque converter. To be fair, that was a work truck and the owner beat it like the red-headed stepchild of a rented mule.

I tried sending this message all afternoon, and kept getting a "Connection Reset" message. Apparently a percent symbol is an illegal character in a post.

Whazoo wrote:
Too bad it would be a hassle to do but don't we remember the B&M click shifter?

...hah hah! Ya. In a SS350 Camaro retrofit...THAT was fun :B

Grit dog wrote:

Tom_Anderson wrote:
When I was shopping for a used F-250, at least half of the ads for diesels with manual transmissions said "rebuilt transmission", but hardly any of the autos said the same. So, I'm not sure what that says about manual transmissions or the people who drive them.

IMO that's an anomoly. Typically the other way around, especially with diesels.
Again, when looking at older vehicles like the OP is, simplicity (manual trans) typically wins out.

I'm just reporting my own observations. I was shopping in the same model year range as the OP, and I looked through a LOT of ads.