So what would be the easiest on the tranny?

Letting it shift itself or shifting it manually?
Would downshifting hurt it? What if you roll the throttle while downshifting? Shifting into neutral when you stop? Is it good to let it fall into gear when you shift from neutral to drive, or not?

And, for extra credit, how would things be different with a manual valve body?

 

Let it shift for itself. Leave it in drive at lights.

The hardest thing on a trans is kickdown (WOT downshift).

 

I think it all depends on the situation.

I prefer letting the truck shift for me in most instances.

On Some roads I'll keep the auto tranny in second,

Downshifting only at the right speed for the gear.

I'll drop the truck into neutral while at some stop lights.

And I do not think it hurts the tranny to let it fall into gear from neutral to drive as long as the rps are right.

Not much difference because both manual and auto transmissions can break and need to be cared for.

 

If you put in a fully manual VB you will probably hate it, they are more for drag racing(is that what you want to do?) with a trans brake type set up. You would also really need to upgrade or rebuild your whole tranny if it is still stock as you will put much more stress on it between shifts since the line pressure is higher and with massive amounts of low end and a good torque converter you will be burning tires every time you shift

 

I personally always shift manually. I started doing it when, after I put the Transgo shift kit in, the transmission started shifting into 3rd too early for my liking.

 

ok, then what if you are pulling a load & need to pull it down a gear to keep momentum up a hill? Personally, I shift down when my soeed drops so much, to keep the rpms from falling off too much. Another thing, better to shift manually when pulling a load or not? Ya'lls 2 cents matter to me.

 

Usually the Auto tranny downshifts for me to keep the momentum because of throttle and modulator valve.

 

Your problem can be solve by adjusting the TV cable.

 

Iv never shifted mine manualy, its no easier on the tranny. If yous shifts not to your liking its either not working right or unadjusted. Let it shift on its own, it was designed too.

 

You 89-90 guys don't need to worry to much but us a518 guys that pull 10k or more really need to use the OD button to keep temps down both on tranny and egt's my 1-2-3 shifts are fine without manually shifting

 

alborada tis very true, i wasnt refering to o/d, i dont have it so i tend to overlook it. But you are correct.

 

I had a 90 and I have to say I thought it shifted a little better and was more fun to drive.

This is a bit of a high jack but I have been wondering, would these things shift better if you put in the 3200 spring and then raised your shift points a bit so you could get more rpms before it shifts when you are pulling. It would seem to me they would have less slippage @ 3000 then they do @ 2500 since it is closer to the actual stall speed of the stock converters. I hope whoever put these gasser converters on these was fired or left stranded somewhere a few times.

 

The stall speed is approximately 1775 rpm on a OEM converter. Due to non-lockup TC we all have to watch temps regardless of OD, in fact with the early downflow radiators your automatic transmission will likely heat up the radiator thru the heat exchanger.

With the exception of kickdown as wannadiesel said I would be worried about the engine rpms more than the transmission being shifted manually.

 

So would it be better for the tranny to kick-down by itself, or for you to do it manually? Is it beneficial to roll off the throttle while downshifting manually, then flooring it once it goes into gear?


And what about manually downshifting to slow yourself down? I don't think that's good for them at all.

 

That or somebody fudged up the TV valve when installing a shift kit