Had to pick between a manual and auto transmission swap on my old Diamond Reo

Went with the manual because it was cheaper to source a 5-speed from a salvage yard in Ohio than find a good Allison auto. Took me 3 weekends to get it in but honestly the way the old diesel pulls through the gears is so much better than I expected. Anyone else run into trans swap choices that seemed obvious but weren't?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim69312d ago

Oh man, I totally get this! My buddy had a similar situation with an old Ford F-600 dump truck. We found a dirt cheap 4-speed out of a grain truck from Kansas, and I helped him swap it in over a weekend. That old diesel just grumbles through the gears, and the syncros are so worn you have to double clutch every shift, but it feels right for the truck. The simplicity of it just matches how the thing drives, no fussy electronics or anything. He was ready to spend way more on an auto, but the manual just clicked with how the engine likes to work.

alexc9312d ago

That double clutching thing hits home man, my brother's old 5-ton has the same deal with worn synchros and you just learn to work with it. It becomes muscle memory after a while and honestly it makes you feel more connected to what the truck is doing. I think that's the thing people miss when they just throw an auto in everything, you lose that sense of actually driving the machine. There's something real satisfying about nailing a perfect shift on an old clapped out gearbox and hearing the diesel lug down and pull.