"JohnH" wrote in message
news

I'm getting pretty good at picking up speed on the downgrade and letting
it
bleed off on the upgrade. Works pretty well, lets me stay in overdrive,
and
saves gas.

I just miss the manual tranny.


Hey, John ....

I am not trying to nit-pic this subject to death, but realizing you are
fairly new to the TT crowd and towing, there's one thing I forgot to mention
about towing with manual transmissions ... something I learned from
experience a while back.

The issue is not the ability to downshift and select a proper gear while
climbing hills. You can do that with both an automatic or a manual.

The primary negative of a manual transmission for towing is the clutch wear
getting everything moving from a stop. In your average pickup, SUV or car
that is equipped with a manual transmission, the clutch is sized to get the
weight of the vehicle moving, not it plus the weight of the towed item.

When you add the weight of the towed item .... in your case a travel trailer
or even your boat, the clutch has to transfer the engine torque required to
get the added weight going, requiring more slippage and causing premature
wear. Picture yourself at a stoplight on a steep upward incline and trying
to get things in motion. I burned out the clutch in a Ford F-150 while
backing a 23' Travel Trailer uphill into a campsite many years ago. You
could smell it and later, on the way home, it slipped so badly I could
hardly get things moving.

The automatic utilizes a torque converter that multiplies available
"starting out" torque tremendously. Unless you are in the habit of flooring
it every time you start out, there's no adverse affect on the transmission.

That's why automatics are better for towing than manuals and why the
manufacturers recommend automatics for towing. Even the big, tractor
trailers hauling really heavy loads are now often equipped with Allison
automatic truck transmissions.

As they say, "that's my story and I am sticking to it."

Eisboch