Std VS Auto for mud bogging

[88trailblazer]

I run a semi built t350 with a b&m 2500? stall with a 208 (thats right a 208) and all we have down here is mud. I love it for the mud. All of the benifits that everybody mentioned plus your hands free to hold your cup of refreshing water....

Rebuild that t400 and the 205 and spend a few extra bucks for the good parts (you won't regret it) then buy a good trans cooler and run your vent lines up to the air filter area at the same time.

 

[kitimatdude]

I used to run a sm465 in the mud I had lots of problems, clutch linkage, clutch, throwout bearing. In real mud you cant shift... touch the clutch you are stopped.
I now run a th400 they are sweet! when you need to upshift it can! if it starts to bog knock it down a gear, its simple.

None of the bogs I have been to let you reverse. you stop yer out.

 

[rob h]

i use my sm465 through the mud below in the pic, its as deep as my 37s and like running through concrete. my hydro clutch never has any problems and it gets used like i stole it, i run it at 5500 in 3rd... i ran it in that mud hundreds of times and works perfectly every time. but i dont know how the auto would do there i never had one....

 

[Ryan B.]

For trails and rock crawling i like the sm465.
After going sand drag racing 2 years ago with my manual, i toasted the clutch in a weekend. mostly from my clutch drops in 3rd gear, four low.
Last year i said screw that, i'm not replacing another 400 dollar clutch after memorial day weekend again...
So i nabbed a th350-np205 and built it up with a transbrake reverse manual valve body, and a 10" 4000 stall converter.
The auto is just awsome for racing. it feels like a slushbox in the sence that i can tell i'm not getting as much power to the ground as the sm465, but ultimately the th350 with the 4k stall is definately faster in mud and sand drag racing.
To try and be competetive racing with the stick i would have to do a big clutch drop and just hold one gear (3rd in 4 low). while i was getting smoked by guys with automatics clicking off 3 gears going up the hill.
Thats when i decided i had to build an auto for racing.


Since a th350-np205 and a sm465-np205 are the same dimensions, i swap back and forth between the two and the driveshafts bolt up to both setups the same.
I even leave the hydro clutch pedal still hooked up when im running the auto... That throws people for a loop.. when they see a clutch pedal and an automatic TCI cable shifter..



My auto setup consists of an SFI flexplate, 4k stall converter, th350-np205..
...and then i have my manual setup: flywheel, centerforce clutch, bellhousing and hydro slave, sm465-np205.

with a cherry picker and a chain through the trasmission tunnel hole, that makes it soooo much easier swapping trannys. i have it down to only a few hours to swap from stick to auto or vice versa.

 

[andyblack]

I think the auto would be better for your application. For general use, I like a manual better, but for mud racing where you can't back up, the auto will be a lot faster. I got stuck in a deep bog a while back and burnt the transmission fluid in my TH700R4 while trying to rock the truck back and forth and spinning high RPM without moving. Now reverse slips a little sometimes. If you go with the auto you already have, just make sure to use an aftermarket cooler and mount it up high in front of the radiator if you can.

 

[goalvanny]

i run a built 355 prolly in the 400-450hp range and i run a 350 with a shift kit right now.... plan on going to a manual vavle body. it does awesome also depends on the mud bog your going to if you have running place or not

 

[Ryan B.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vufd04yIb7A

You're not winning races here with a manual.
Not bad for my junkyard cam'd 6.0L engine up against big green with a 572R 720hp BBC.


I hear you on the slipping the tranny trying to rock it back and forth in the deep mud.
Racing or just daily driving is about the only two good reasons to have an auto. Otherwise i love the manual for towing, crawling, deep mud bogging, road racing, etc..

 

[cjjones]

Thanks guys, dropped the 400 off yesterday, b&M stage two shift kit, 2000 stall converter and all the rest of the goods