Manual v automatic trans for overlanding/OR

what percentage of you guys have a manual for your overlanding setups

Is there any good books on driving a manual off road

Can I simulate crawl control in a manual

Last question, do any of you keep two sets of tires, one hard set for city driving and one a/t to save money

 

If you're wondering which one is "better" for off roading, it honestly doesn't matter. For every person who claims one is "better" inevitably there are 3 others who claim the other is better, lol.

It's all driver preference.

I've driven both. I prefer auto, not necessarily because I think it's better, but that's what I have, and I've never encountered a reason to switch back (the expense and labor involved in a 5speed swap, for example). As for books and stuff, I'm sure there are lots, but IMO pointless. Just go out and drive. The more you drive, the more you develop your own skill set that can't be learned from a book.

For "simulating" crawl control, google "taco box" by marlin crawler, They have a 3x transfer case that give some insane 500:1 crawl ratio or something. Slow enough that you can pop it in first gear and let it idle and it will crawl around no problem.

That's the closest to "crawl control" you'd ever get though. CC is basically just cruise control, but for low range. It varies throttle automatically to maintain a certain speed. IMO, crawl control is like trying to use cruise control on city streets: rarely is there a time where I want to maintain a specific speed over any length of time. I works for some people, but the type of off-roading I do I've never wanted it.

I once considered a second set of smaller cheap-o all season tires back when I had my '86 4Runner on mud terrains. But never bothered. You'd want to keep the same overall size tire, otherwise your MPGs would be all screwy from having the wrong gearing (you'd either be under gears with the street tires, or over geared with the larger offroad tires). Not ideal. There are definite advantages to running a C rated street tire, and E rated off road tire, just due to the weight, though.

Or you could just do like I did. Buy a new 4Runner as your daily driver, and keep the older Tacoma as your play truck....

 

Thanks for the insight.