Do people like the old truck manual transmissions?

[special-K]

I love them. No different on the highway than an automatic. Same final drive ratio, 1:1. They started calling 1st low, second 1st, and so on when people started getting too modern to figure things out on their own

[Killer Bee]

I'm a big fan of manual trans for work trucks and hot rods but not as much for lengthy commutes in heavy traffic..

my [dad's] 65 C20 and my red 71 longhorn are both 4 speeds with no plans of changing..

I will admit they can be challenging in slow traffic where gear selection is limited..

easy to drive on your own pace but not so much matching other driver's pace in stop n go traffic..

I did convert my 74 C20 4 speed to TH400 over 20 years ago when commuting to LA..

really depends on the use of the truck, which for me are all destined to join me in retirement..

then I don't plan on dealing with any traffic for any reason

[rs74]

I don't mind the SM420-SM465's as they are a good transmission but I think that I would like to try an A833 New Process in one out of a late 70's through mid 80's Chevy truck. I don't currently have a 4-speed truck to be able to convert but I think that they would be fun.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by special-K

They started calling 1st low, second 1st, and so on when people started getting too modern to figure things out on their own

Good point. I believe it was sometime in the square door years the knobs got re configured. Who knows how many u joints were destroyed by oil and tire changers with the earlier design knobs.

[Steeveedee]

I may have come across as negative about stick transmissions. I can drive a stick and have owned vehicles in the past with stick transmissions. Now that I don't commute so far, I'm looking for another truck to drive around in town, and if it happens to be a stick trans, that would be fine. My wife doesn't want a stick vehicle, so maybe that'll keep her out of it!

[special-K]

So the Colorado Front Range traffic is so hemmed up now because they're all stoned, ey?

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

I may have come across as negative about stick transmissions. I can drive a stick and have owned vehicles in the past with stick transmissions. Now that I don't commute so far, I'm looking for another truck to drive around in town, and if it happens to be a stick trans, that would be fine. My wife doesn't want a stick vehicle, so maybe that'll keep her out of it!

I caught your drift. I understand that anything to make driving in SoCal congestion easier is a good thing when that is your life. I bet you'd agree it sucks in an automatic, too.

Traffic Jam - YouTube

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by special-K

So the Colorado Front Range traffic is so hemmed up now because they're all stoned, ey?



I caught your drift. I understand that anything to make driving in SoCal congestion easier is a good thing when that is your life. I bet you'd agree it sucks in an automatic, too.

Traffic Jam - YouTube

That's a side of James Taylor I've never heard. It sucked for 27 years. I was a nice guy and let the wife pick a house far from work. I shoulda coulda woulda had a house close to work. Well, it's over now, and I lived to complain about it!