As far as I’ve been able to find out, all full-size american pickups come only with auto transmissions.
Why is that? Do pickup drivers (big pickups, anyway) not like shifting? Or is there some kind of mechanical limitation.
Peace,
mangeorge
First of all, this is simply not true. I’ve driven many full Size Pickups with manual transmissions. They definitely are getting less common, though.
Obviously, the real reason they are sold w/ auto trannies is because that is what the market wants.
A few observations:
Auto trannies, with their torque convereters, generally handle towing better for the average citizen who buys a Pickup - clutches would not last very long. Note that the situation is reversed with large towing vehicles, where you don’t usually use the clutch except leaving a stop.
The stick also gets in the way of a third (middle) passenger, though this is less important now that most PUs are being sold with extended cabs.
For better or for worse, I think a lot of guys who use their truck for work simply prefer to have their right hand free for coffee, cell phone, radio/walkie talkie, etc.
As a guy who has owned full sized both manual and automatic full sized pickups I’ll chime in my two cents.
All of the reasons stated above are correct, but there is another. In all the manual trucks I owned it was not like shifting a car. The shifter had a much longer throw range than in a car. In other words, the distance you had to move the shifter from say from 2 to 3 was far longer in the truck. Also, the clucth was usually stiffer. It took more force to press / hold the clutch down in the truck than in a car. Out in the country the manual was fine. But, when I had to go through 2 hours of city traffic, the manual shift was a pain.
I’ve seen manuals in 1/4, 3/4 and 1 ton trucks from the big 3 for some reason the 1/2 tons always seem to have autos in them. I think the biggest reason that you don’t see many manuals in the US is that we are very lazy and having to use both feet and both hands to drive is just to much work.
They have shortend the throw on the selector alot over the years and reduced the amount of force required for the clutch pedal but, it’s still normally stiffer than the clutch on a car.
Semi trucks are almost exclusivly manual trans automatics don’t hold up to well although, they have started to automate the manuals in semis you have a clutch pedal for starting and stoping but the trans has controls that automatically shift gears.
The F-150 I used to drive for work was a manual. It was a lot different from driving a car w/ a manual transmission, but it didn’t bother me much. But then, I learned to drive on a stick. And yeah, I do think Americans are too lazy to want a manual. But as my dad says, “I’d rather drive a car than just point it.”
I’ll start by disclosing: yes, I am a stick snob.
BUT…
I’ve never understood the “auto is easier in traffic” thing. I’ve found there’s not as much actual shifting in traffic as people think. You’re either cruising along on a run of green lights, or you’re inching forwards at walking pace, and it is the latter situation where a manual is easier, IMHO. I find that when I’m inching along in a queue of traffic in an auto I have to heft my right leg back and forth between the accelerator and brake. In a manual, I’m just making very slight movements with my left foot. Sure, a large pick-up or truck has a tougher clutch, but I still think it’s easier.
The only time I prefer an automatic is when I’m inching forwards on a steep grade, and that isn’t such a big deal, and it isn’t that common anyway.
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- I have not driven any other manual-transmission pickups, but I had a junker 1982 Chevy for a while that was a four-speed manual, and the clutch was HEAVY!!! And I mean it took like three times as much effort to hold the clutch down as what a typical car would take. I even had a shop look at it because of this; they inspected it and all was normal; they took off the pedal return spring so all the resistance that was left was the clutch itself, and it was still very hard to push in. On the highway it was no problem, in around-town traffic it was acceptable but in bumber-to-bumber stop and go highway traffic, it was torture.
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- I have not driven any other manual-transmission pickups, but I had a junker 1982 Chevy for a while that was a four-speed manual, and the clutch was HEAVY!!! And I mean it took like three times as much effort to hold the clutch down as what a typical car would take. I even had a shop look at it because of this; they inspected it and all was normal; they took off the pedal return spring so all the resistance that was left was the clutch itself, and it was still very hard to push in. On the highway it was no problem, in around-town traffic it was acceptable but in bumber-to-bumber stop and go highway traffic, it was torture.
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I suppose this may be a little off topic, but when I was looking for a replacement truck for my s-10 (4 cyl/ 5 speed manual) I looked all over the place for a truck with 4 full doors that offered a manual tranny. I believe Dodge was my only choice.
I ended up buying an Xterra with a 5 speed and I love it. My only gripe so far is that the clearance in the back is JUST under 4 feet wide, so a sheet of drywall doesn’t lay flat. Of course, I have the lovely roof racks that I could stack stuff on, but that would be too obvious.
I’ve got a fairly new 1-ton Chevy with a manual tranny. I can assure the OP they’re available, but fairly rare. I had to order mine (dealer couldn’t find a manual anywhere close), AND he insisted on a $1500(US) deposit. He claimed it would be nearly impossible to sell if I backed out of the deal. (and this is in Texas, no less)
Also, automatics now come in 5 speeds. They used to be primarily 3 speeds.
I plow my drive with an old truck that has an automatic. I think a manual in a plow truck would be a bad thing. The constant start and stop and forward and reverse would be hell on a clutch.
I’m up in the air about it myself.
My Pathfinder is a 5 speed manual. My Wifes Cherokee is a 5 speed automatic.
I want to introduce you to the Yellow Submarine, a 1985 Land Rover 110 that i (used to) own. “Inching” forward in traffic, as you describe it, was not a trivial matter - you had to have a very strong left leg! I’ve seen big men break down and cry 
after half-hour of stop-start traffic. I replaced Yellow Submarine with a Discovery and it’s much better. The problem is the stop-start nature of rush hour traffic - you are going from fully engaged to fully disengaged in the space of 1 or two car lengths all the time. Here I have found the low-range handy: I pop the the Disco into low-range 1st and just let it creep along on idle.
What are the “small foot movements” you mention? Do you only slip the clutch slightly to get going and then disengae again? IMHO your clutch is taking a hammering.
My normal car has an auto tranny and it is definitely not “hefting” my foot between accelerator and brake - rather more just a case of lifting my foot off the brake slightly, creeping forward and applying the brake again - very liitle acceleration involved in stop-start conditions.
I do kinda umm… drive a tiny 1.6 litre Corolla, which might account for some of it. I engage and disengage the clutch fully each time - I’m lucky that it’s just a tight little unit and there’s not a lot of travel in it, unlike my girlfriend’s old Nissan which would leave me with my left knee up near my chin somewhere when I popped the clutch.
Rather than getting into a debate about laziness, I’d sooner offer that a crappy driver can kill any vehicle in a short period of time. I’ve driven everything from a VW Beetle to a twin stick Brockway, and have seen other folk tear up a similar vehicle in short order owing to poor training on how to use the transmission.
Regarding your comment that “automatics don’t hold up to well” (sic) I do believe that you’re talking out of your arse. Allison has and does produce a line of excellent extreme-duty automatic transmissions for on and off road trucks. Having driven many of them, I speak firsthand for their quality. Although I like a 13 speed Roadranger, driver training for an automatic is easier-the tough part is making people remember to downshift the auto for maximum Jake and/or output retarder efficiency.
I based the OP on info I got from car lots, those “auto exchange” classifieds, and asking people I know who drive pickups. All the pickups on lots and the ones owned by friends and co-workers had automatics, as did all the ads which specified tranny type. I do know a guy who retired a couple years ago and he had one of those Dodge freight trains with the V10, I think it was, and somebody said it was a manual. I am referring to full sized pickups, not S10’s or Rangers and such.
I checked the Ford website last night, and they don’t offer manuals on the F-150. Seemed odd to me that the manual was standard on the F-250, though, with the auto as a pretty expensive option.
As somebody said, they most likely try to meet market demands. That’s not always the case, though.
I’m just going by what I have seen in. Considering how rare real autos are in semis the shop I work at replaces alot of them. It could be from driver abuse or poor maintence but it seems to me that more than should are failing early.
The Chevy/GMC full size pick-up with optional Duramax diesel ( made by Isuzu) comes only with a 5-sp Auto (made by Allison).