Offroad-Express

Hi there,

I am looking to purchase a toyota 3l surf 1994 and was wondering if I should go for a auto or manual???

Will be using on snow/ice sand and mud not super erious offroading tho

thanks 4 ya help

Hi,

I drove a manual landrover for 7 or so years before buying my surf. A good mad keen fisherman m8 of mine bought a 3Lt TD surf auto before I did and raved about how easy and comfortable an auto is offroad. He had an fj40 manual for ever before that. Not saying auto is better but after driving a manual for so long I wont go back to a manual for my shiny/safari vehicle. There is no wrong gears in the sand, easier on the transmission, never run out of power on a hill climb(stalling), no chance of slippage in rivers if you have to stop(water in the clutch on manuals), failed hill climbs are easier(only two pedals to deal with instead of 3......humans only have two feet so makes sense). For me, auto is definitely the way to go if you arnt going hard yakka. People will say you don't have as much engine braking or control but you can drive over your brakes which is just as effective and I personally prefer this technique to using a manual anyhow.

If your going to be doing lots of sand driving think about this, if you choose a gear which is to slow and feel you could go up a gear, by the time you put your foot all the way in on the clutch, the drag of the sand will nearly have stopped the vehicle and/or made the gear you are about to select unusable

Just my 2c........go the autos!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your input - very useful.

I note u r in christchurch - im looking at a 4wd in a garage called delta 4wd

http://www.delta4wd.co.nz

Do you know anything about them??

cheers

Rob

sorry cant help you there. Have had no dealings with them. Guess they are just like any other car dealer out there.

Mike

mike wrote:Hi,

by the time you put your foot all the way in on the clutch, the drag of the sand will nearly have stopped the vehicle and/or made the gear you are about to select unusable


Mike

are you suppposed to use the clutch ?

ive went there looking for my truck.. and i didnt find what i was looking for althou they was one the cheaper one's in town. i got my surf from Pk in the end and they was very good. i heard that delta doesnt offer as good after sale service as others thats all i can realy say about them

as for auto vs manual i would say manual, i had an auto before my surf and using a manual off road has a lot more control i think, but again it comes down to personal perference..

ad (go Manual)

@ padero

Pk where is this place?

cheers

rob

paul kelly at a guess...

yellow pages will cure your question...

manual vs auto...

can only say manual as thats all ive owned... i agree with mike on the cruisy side.. stallin is a prick....

never ending fight though.. like the air vs auto lockers...

I currently have a manual but that is more due to the fact mine only came with a manual. Auto's are a lot smoother and offroad there is not a huge difference as long as tou have the power to run it, and today woth the 4 and 5 sped manuals there is almost no difference.

A manual gear change is calculated to cost 1 second on a quarter mile, one second of momentum can cause me to bog down so manual gear selection is important.

I have been passed by auto's in a river because where I bog they get a gear change and I struggle through. Also round town the manual is annoying to say the least. If you are getting one from a car yard make sure you check the policy for any restrictions for off road use, same for your insurance.

Oh and do tell what you get

Apart from owning a manual landrover for comparsion(sorry doesn't count Mike due to it being a landrover ), has anyone driven/owned both manual and auto of a similar capable truck. I am interested in how this thread goes as I am looking at moving to a safari and finding a manual with what you want is hard. There are plenty of autos out there with exactyl what I want.
Al

I've driven an auto Safari a few times, pretty much the same as my own (lifted, running 33's).
I hated having to use brakes on dowhills, but it made up for it on uphills, and rivers (as Mike said).

I did find that "overgearing" with bigger tyres did seem more of an issue when using low box, and it overheated when doing long sand drives, even with a modded cooler.

Have found with mine that getting a tow start is handy being 24v, and also like the fact there is the PTO option in the Safari with the 5spd, although I really must modify that grader blade to give a better approach angle.

DaveM wrote: it overheated when doing long sand drives, even with a modded cooler.

This is what puts me of the auto option the most. Most of the oil temp build up in an auto transmission is generated in the torque convertor as it is slipping And in off-road work there is a lot of low speed work which involves stopping & starting which uses the slippage in the torque converter alot. Add mud and crap to that ( auto coolers are normally in the radiator and add on coolers in front of the rad) and you get an overheating vehicle - seen it too many times to mention

Yeah, my mates old Auto Pajero used to over heat going up the beach plus Autos don`t give as much control when towing.

I`m a manual man myself but must admit have thought V8 FJ40 with a auto would be nice - pleanty of power and one less thing to think about.

I have to say I way prefer my manual.

Before I bought my Prado I used to borrow and cane a 2001 Auto Prado. At that stage the potential father-in-law's and it was only a year old too. Thanks Cam!
The piece of our Ski Club upper track that we only use in the summer, known as "The Horror Stretch", is bloody steep, narrow and has a 1800 ft drop off the side. Coming down this in 2 feet of snow with chains on all 4 requires considerable skill and questionable sanity! From May till mid June I drive it like this a lot, sometimes with a trailer for that added adrenalin rush.

The 2001 LWB Prado has all the bells and whistles and as such gets by going uphill fine without diff-locks, until the alarms start sounding which I think is when the brakes overheat (traction control). Or is that the auto getting upset?
But coming down is considerable different. Yes I use left-foot braking but the control in really slippery conditions is so different.

My KZJ-71 Prado Manual (SWB) needs both diff-locks operating and the very same Ice-breaker heavy duty chains as above fitted on all 4 as well. I am often needing to be throwing rocks and spinning all 4 to get up on "The Plane" so to speak in jet boat terms.
Coming down in this truck is still hairy and on occasions I have to dig a track for the bank side wheel so I dont get too near to rolling. I have had experience as a passenger in a 9 barrel, and 7 end-for-end over bluffs, roll on another near by ski area road and as such dont like steep sideways angles. However because its a manual I know exactly whats going on with the traction department and when to lift off and when to accelerate. And of course when I do roll off the throttle the truck does engine brake. This I find is far more progressive than even the fancy brakes on the 2001 Prado.

I have to come down the mountain when it is like this in low 1st gear and real slow. Middle of summer I am in low 3rd in places cos I know it well, am usually bloody busy and in a hurry.

If you want control on steep slippery hills I say go manual.

John

Autos rule all you have to do is keep them cool and CLEAN OIL put a trans cooler on put it any where you want under the bonnet just get a fan out of any old PC wire it up done.One thing that allways shocks me is if you talk to someone that is haveing problems with there auto is when was the last time it was serviced the standard answer is I dont know theres the problem no service they die and dont get it flushed as I've heard that can cause more problems hope that helps.By the way I run two auto 4wds ones a Lexus V8 in a Fj40 & the other is a Nissan Safari auto.

i was wondering whether i should flush the auto on my wagen when i change the filter hopefully this weekend depending on when my parts arrive

how do i go about flushing it is there a special type of auto trans flush or do i just use engine flush type stuff

Cruz wrote: I run two auto 4wds ones a Lexus V8 in a Fj40 & the other is a Nissan Safari auto.

The Lexus 40 doesn't count cos the radiator is in the back

Hehe Gidday mate

Still I've seen trans coolers in the rear of the bonet with a pc fan hooked up to them it works well Ps hows it going Rangielux not much on at the moment

how do i go about flushing it is there a special type of auto trans flush or do i just use engine flush type stuff

Do not use engine flush as it will kill your auto.

Drain the fluid from the pan and put in new fluid, disconect one of the hoses going to the cooler so when you start it up it squirts into a bucket.

Start the engine and run it untill clean fluid comes out or it starts blowing air keep redoing this untill its allways clean fluid.

Aaron wrote:

how do i go about flushing it is there a special type of auto trans flush or do i just use engine flush type stuff

Do not use engine flush as it will kill your auto.

Drain the fluid from the pan and put in new fluid, disconect one of the hoses going to the cooler so when you start it up it squirts into a bucket.

Start the engine and run it untill clean fluid comes out or it starts blowing air keep redoing this untill its allways clean fluid.

kewl i knew someone here would be able to tell me

My old mans got a 94 surf auto. Prior to that he's had all manuals: 2 pajeros, a bighorn, 2 older hiluxs, and a bounty and says he would never go back to a manual. We dont do anything too serious but in my experience uv got to be pretty careful on the steep down hills with an auto cos they just dont have that engine braking like a manual. But 4L seems to hold it alrite with a little bit of brake tapping.

My mate and I both had 1.6L escudos, one an auto and the other a manual. As far as 4wding goes there was really nothing better about either of them to mention, it was a different story at the lghts though!

Certainly a different kettle of fish with both having non turbo deisels now.

Im stuck on the fence with this one, although if they made a turbo diesel triton that was auto i'd probly get one over a manual.