Tranny....

[YJwonderboy]

when doing rocks or mudding...they are totally different.
First, rocks require finness, and skill...muddin's just plain fun.
Rocks, you're bound to put a stress on the vehicle (I think the axles suffer more than the tranny)
In the mud, it's a softer material. Don't get me wrong, mudding requires some skill, but you get enough speed, and keep the front end from submerging, and you can power through a lot of stuff.
ON rocks...eh...they are kinda hard? And can dent, and scrape, and puncture, and blah blah blah...yeah...it happens to everybody.
In Mud...your biggest worry is either getting stuck, water locking your motor, getting stuck, getting REALLY messy, getting stuck....and oh did I mention getting stuck?
ON rocks...the transmission usually requires more of a lightfoot, and knowing when and when NOT to give it a lot of gas.
In mud...I do whatever the heck I wanna do...haven't broken anything yet in MY YJ....

[poultry411]

hey south305boy, auto has done me well over the years, but the trans in question has been ford or GM. If your a checkbook hot rodder per sey and don't mind being draged home after you toast your auto, go for it. As my opinion, I would steer clear of diamler autos simply because I have verry little faith in them. Autos tend to be costly to keep alive in comparison to standards and just that much more of a pain in the arse when the flippin thing breaks. I'm in the midst of pulling the ax15 manual trans from my yj and the most annoying part of the whole ordeal has been thoes dumb little 12 point bolt heads on top of the bellhousing that everyone swears is a reverse torx! Clutch setups are straight foreward and easy to work with and adapt. Your auto is always afected (and usually plagued) by electrcal issues introduced by failing wires, faulty sensors, low fluids, contaminated fluids..... all that and more. High water crossing, mud and rough terrain usually cause such problems. If you plan to keep the vehicle you plan to pour your paycheck into for a good long time, I would personally suggest the standard... unless its going to be a street queen, then in that fact... screw the shifting!!! I'm usually to tired to be bothered with shifting on the way to work in the mourning. Oh, and auto trans are great for smooth, quick shifting on the quarter mile. My friends have 2 cameros roughly built the same and the auto kicks the t5 any day. Smooth torque and controlled traction.

[poultry411]

Just read a new thread about high water fording and auto's just to feed the fire.... Be prepared to pull your trans to relocate the breather tube/ vent hole. I think there refering to TJ's. Standards are apparently much easier and straight foreward. If your not mechanically inclined, I'd put thought into it. Question to the crowd... Think the extra bulk of an auto detracts from a TJ's abilities??

[rockrat33]

autos for the rocks helps keep the tires moving but in 4 low it likes to creep forward and you have to stand on the breaks.

Stick is way better for the mud as you can rev up and dump the clutch to clean out the tires.

For me in CA not much mud so I got an auto.

My f-150 is my mud truck and is a stick with a healthy v-8.