Too old for a manual transmission?

I'm 76. Our two autos have a manual transmissiona and my wife and I drive them on a daily basis. Our truck has an automatic transmission. But, operating a clutch depends on the spryness and health of the individual. I helped a 65 year old guy back his fiver into a parking space as his knee got to acting up and he couldn't push his clutch. You will have to decide if that is for you or not.

Ponderosa, your post brought a smile to me and a thought that I finally found a post that I could reply to with the worn out saying that, an automatic transmission in your case would be "good insurance."

The only thing i drive that has a manual transmission is my 52 8N Ford.

Both my lawn tractor and Z are hydros.

Good luck if you decide to kick gears into the sunset.

The older I get, the more I'm committed to stay with manual trannys for reasons having nothing to do with vehicle performance as they have up until recently. Part of my thinking is that since more input from the driver is required, concentration/attention to the task of driving is heightened- hopefully providing extra brain exercise.

And then there's the just plain wanna-keep-limber thing...any exercise/use of the ol' joints is good. Same reason I cling to the use of a low beach-type chair in camp. I'll never forget the day a forty-five year-old friend of mine revealed that he could no longer get up out of a chair that low, just due to lack of doing it. Shocked the heck out of me...I'm not goin' gentle into THAT good night!

My first 4 brand new trucks were stick shifts. I always kind of liked shifting, and felt more in control on ice, using the clutch.

My GF talked me into an auto on the next new one, so she could drive it. I kind of liked it too. I've had half a dozen more new ones since, all with auto.

I did have a left knee injury, while owning one of the stick shifts. I got to tell you, that was a pain to drive, and took a long time to heal.

If this may be your last truck, I would suggest getting the auto, and not worry about future days of shifting.

JMHO, Jerry

I was considering that on a 'true' HD truck.. a semi. Although the clutch was hard to push, it only needed to be done at stop lights. I thought that might be doable, until I started thinking about backing into a campsite. I tried back and forth a couple times, and by then my thigh was on fire.

Try that on your considered purchase.

I think only you can know if your knees and such are up to the job over time. I know mine can get real tired of it if we get stuck in stop and go traffic. The good thing is that with modern hydraulic clutch's they don't have nearly the stiffness of the old linkage style units. If you were to get a Cummins powered truck you don't even have to touch the throttle to take off - just let the clutch out.