I have driven an automatic 3.0 , auto 22re and a 5 speed 22re and i honestly felt more torque and power going to the wheels in the 5 speed 22re than either of the other ones. Im in the middle of doing a 5 speed swap and i feel its for a good reason.

I hate the toyota automatic on my truck. it feels like the truck is going nowhere and the shift pattern is terrible. back and forth from gear to gear, up rpm in one gear then down and up. personally i like driving a 5 speed better and the 22re is slow enough. I feel like my tranny is slipping as well but that doesnt change my opinion on it.

Obviously it will be easy to wheel with the auto. I dont rock crawl so i dont have any opinion on that. but if your experienced with a 5 speed or are a fast learner i would assume you would have no problem. Like what was said it comes down to a personal thing. Look around, do you see that many manual to auto swaps compared to the latter?

If you had the V6 I would say stick with the auto and do what was said about trying to make it better. but not in this case.

the auto = two thumbs down in my opinion.

 

Gear the automatic down and you will love it. Or swap in a 5sp and never worry about transmision problems again.

The auto was never that great in our trucks... Not till 96+

I would swap for a 5sp (If you can drive a stick well...haha!) or replace the autotragic and throw some 5.29's in your diffs.. That thing would get up and go nicely

 

This might help a little in deciding
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f31/auto-manual-147596/

 

going up and down the mountains it's Manual all the way.
on the beach sand auto works better.
But I'll take manual any day.

 

manual gives you alot more control period






97 toyota t100 3.4l 5spd 31/10.5/15 flowmaster exhaust

 

go with auto. laziness FTW!!!!

 

Love my 22re auto...got a 3.0 i am swapping to 5 speed. Auto was bad when I got it so I dont know about 3.0 auto....I just want one of both.

My 22re auto has never let me down in the woods....i love it...i wont stop climbing

 

This is a debate that will go on till then end of time. Personally I prefer manual, I have owned a few of each. My truck is manual and I prefer driving it for that, the Runner is an auto and I'm getting use to it. Someday it will have a manual as well.

Auto: yes an auto is easier to get going, sitting in traffic auto is easier, anyone can drive it if something happens and you can't drive.
Manual: More control, I think so. Easier to head down hills when wheeling yes. More fun to drive yes. I usually use the SST in the LS more fun and surprisingly I get better mileage. Heavy traffic they stink, and starting on a real steep hill on a run is no fun.

So all in all it's all preference.

It's like fighting over which is better Twinkiey or HoHo

 

Twinkie

 

X2..swap the slush box out. Post swap on ours, 1000 miles in my thoughts exactly and I'll never use a 89-95 auto ever again. Add the benefits and with now being at an average of 16.5-18.5mpg city it's already paying itself off. 3.0 v-6 on 32's. Benefit is you can easily route the wiring into the cab and find a perfect spot to install a kill switch system at the same time.

 

Another opinion...
This is my opinion on the confortable-ness off the two trannys... I'm not no mechanic so here is just my thoughts about the two, and this is turning into a more opinionated thread then is about mechanics now anyways...

Automatic= nice easy ride. Its good for errands cause you can drive lookin at where you need to go instead of worrying if you rpms are to high or to low. You can drink a coffee much easier, i found that out the hard way haha and ya you dont have to worry about stalling obviously. My fist car was a automatic and their not easy to work on and it was a 65 so it shouldnt have even been complicated yet... That car woke me up to a lot of problems a car could have and ultimatley led me to get a stick and that stick had to be in a reliable car, the toyota

Stick= More control. Theres just something about having the lever there that controls your engine power so to speak. It took me a good 2 weeks to get the shifting down, so now that takes out the worry of torqing you drive shaft. I admit off roading is a bit tricky but it seems like in your first post you drive more on road anyways. And with the stick you have the aded benifit of jump starting if you happen to drain your battery or whatever.

Its just all what you prefer. All of us can sit here and argue whats better. Its just what kind of driving you do that makes it better. If you want to sit back and not have to worry about shifting then go for the autofagic. If you want to grow hair on your chest get a manual Atleast that way, youll be able to drive any car

 

My 4runner is auto and, had I been given a choice, would have bought a manual. But, the truck was given to me and it would have been foolish to turn away my first Toyota simpley because it was an auto. The pros and cons of each transmission will go on forever. In the end I still think that manual transmissions are better, for the reasons that others have expounded on in great detail. In saying that, I don't think an auto trans is a deal breaker for most types of off roading. When I think about it, the majority of Chevys, Fords, and Dodges that I've seen have auto transmissions and they seem to wheel pretty hard. Maybe the TH350 (400) is a superior transmission to the Toyota A340, and maybe the sm465 is better than the W56(different debate), but the point is that auto transmissions from different manufactors can still do most things off-road that a manual can do. Manuals do have more control, better gearing, and are easier to work on. From what I've read those are indisputable facts. But I always wonder whether that puts it head and shoulders above a truck with an automatic transmission in the majority of off road situations that people will find themselves in. Just my thoughts while I await the skills and experience to swap my auto trans out for a manual.

 

anyone have a link on a tech write up on how to accomplish the auto to manual? searched and nothing.

 

I came up with this

 

i had an auto im my truck and would have loved to have an manual. like said above it is personal choice i guess if u do a lot of stop and go traffic i would say auto but if you live out where i do and traffic is not a problem i would say manual all the way then but like said if you do muddin and some crawlin i would say an auto

 

um it depends on your abilities to do the swap, its beyond turning the bolts and nuts but one has to think about whats going on and how to over come the hurdles that will be ahead. Also the parts that will be available for the swap, its not a bolt up and your done. \

 

love my auto in my '94