7 speed Manual Transmission more reliable long term

[Deleted member 18388]

I am very excited about the transmission. The made in China thing really scares me. A ZF trans would have been my first choice. What are your guys thoughts on the new Getrag 7mt being made in China?

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[Rivers90]

I've only had one transmission fail. A 3 speed auto in my 89 beretta GTU. $1500 to replace. I've owned both auto and standard transmission vehicles for 150k miles plus.

Whats nice with a manual is you can possibly limp your car home. When a had a throw out bearing go in a different beretta, I just started in second gear. Plus you can roll start it if you kill the battery.

I have plenty of fun in my 6 speed GTO rowing gears. Ive beat that car hard (drag radials at the strip). Finally needs a clutch at 135k.

All in all, I love manuals but I really don't want one for offroading. But I really hope to get a chance to drive a manual bronco someday.

Most people will get the transmission they want not thinking about lifespan. And that is what you should do.
One pedal , trail turn assist. With the auto.
Roll starting with the manual.
If you want to drive you bronco for 50 years and 500,000 miles at some point the auto will need to be rebuilt and less often the manual will. But abuse will damage any transmission. And most likely I will not be here in 50 years to find out.

 

[TNBronc4344]

I ordered the MT because I have always loved rowing gears and they are a dying breed. I have nothing against an AT. Yes I have had several fail over my life but generally they are reliable. And I agree with most an AT off road , rock climbing would be easier than a MT. And I’ll be losing out on a few of the cool perks like Trail Turn Assist. But For me I’ll be on road and moderate off road way more than serious rock craw. We all are getting this truck to meet our own needs.
I will say this though, I was on the fence on getting the AT with the larger engine until I got my Ranger last year. It’s already failing. Slamming gears , not wanting to downshift transitioning to uphills. I live in East TN so transitioning to uphills is a must. Lol. It’s paid for by my company so I’m not too bothered by it right now but if I paid for it I’d be pissed and looking to trade it on something else by now. I mean it has 6 thousand miles on it. And maybe it’s a fluke ....I’m sure it is. But it for sure made me lean toward to MT on this one.

 

[Wide Open Roads]

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool manual transmission fan, but reliability has never been a reason I've chosen one. Like others have said, pick the one that you want to drive and get that one.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

I am very excited about the transmission. The made in China thing really scares me. A ZF trans would have been my first choice. What are your guys thoughts on the new Getrag 7mt being made in China?

I am not as concerned about where it is made as much as how the manufacturing is managed. So many parts are made in countries all over the world, that I see it more about QC and oversight than about location, IMO. With the Getrag MT88 being German engineered, built in China, I think that the product should be quality and work well.

Here's to hope>

 

[AZshot]

Yeah, the other thing about 10 gears is each is smaller. And all the computer controlled shift points and GOAT mode sending the auto signals seem to be failures waiting to happen. Kind of like a fly-by-wire airplane controls, they are great when they work. Not so much when they fail.

I had a 4runner with a stick, and it did fine crawling up steep banks in 4Low and 1st gear. I've never figured out why people think you need an auto for crawling. Are you expecting a shift half way up the incline? I pick the gear In want and don't touch the clutch until I'm at the top. Same with going through rivers. I guess if you had to stop, then start again at a 45deg angle it's hard. But that's why Toyota put in a button that let you use the starter motor to drive up the rest of the way.

If this was going to be my towing vehicle (sadly, it cannot be) I'd get an automatic rather than wearing out clutches. But it's a sport/fun vehicle, so the stick will be great for years I trust.

 

[AZshot]

To the people that say "pick either and just drive", that's not helpful. This isn't as subjective as "what color looks best?" threads. In this thread I'm talking about someone (me) that keeps vehicles years and years, often decades. I don't flip to the next new thing before the new car smell goes away. But I'm hearing most agree with me that the manuals are good for people like me who want long-term reliability.

 

[atonge40]

I would assume the 10R would be more reliable than MT88. People may complain about 10R shift issues. I have personally not had any issues. It is a robust transmission that Ford puts in everything RWD.

MT88 is newer and not found in any other Ford product at the moment. I am aware that MT88 is related to MT82.

The only apples to apples we have is on the Mustang. I have been told by my Ford sources that have access to reliability info that 10R is more reliable in the Mustang and MT82. Now, there could be a number or reasons for that. Automatic stangs aren't typically boosted within an inch of their life. My prefer transmission on the Mustang is the Tremec found in the GT350 and Mach 1. That is my preferred transmission period. It is that good.

 

[Bronco88]

Well seeing as the MT-82 by Getrag in the Mustang GT for the past 12 years or so has been a POS, unreliable, weak and prone to failure, not to mention all the lawsuits. I'm opting not to go for the manual transmission by the same company in the Bronco.

 

[iamchewby]

After ruining both types I will say that it is way easier to change a manual in the garage than an auto.

 

[AcesandEights]

When I bought my last Ford, there were several people at the dealership that commented on the fact I ordered it with a manual, and that it was the best for longevity. The only transmissions that have failed for me have been automatics, although I had to replace a clutch once.

 

[Nickp]

One thing to keep in mind is that wheeling a manual can be pretty hard on the clutch, but does nothing to a torque converter. This is why most “serious” off roaders wheel an auto. I think they will both be pretty equally reliable long term, the auto trans will probably be a bit more likely to fail early but a clutch overhaul is always going to be a decent chunk of change in the manual and will likely be required before 200k no matter what. YMMV.

Well seeing as the MT-82 by Getrag in the Mustang GT for the past 12 years or so has been a POS, unreliable, weak and prone to failure, not to mention all the lawsuits. I'm opting not to go for the manual transmission by the same company in the Bronco.

There is an interesting post from Reddit about the MT-82. Take it with a grain of salt obviously but it does seem to make some sense.

I made this comment on a post that got deleted. Reposting here. Not really ELI5, but hopefully explains the MT82 issues in particular.
It's a combination of things.
1) Unlike older models, the shifter is not directly connected to the transmission. The shifter is mounted to the body and has a linkage that goes forward to the trans. The trans and engine sit on VERY soft engine mounts because NVH is a bad thing for 99% of mustang buyers. When you drive the car hard, the soft mounts allow the engine/trans to rotate and move. This movement causes the shifter linkage to move slightly, and now the shifter "feels" different and the muscle memory gained from normal driving causes partial-engagements and bad shifts.

2) These bad shifts and partial engagements cause repeated damage to the synchros and gears. Being a modern transmission, the focus is on smooth shifting and easy engagement rather than outright strength. Compare the MT82 to an old T56 and you'll noticed a dramatic improvement in how "easy" the mt82 is to put into gear. How do you get smoother engagements and less noise from a transmission? 1) Increase the helical angles of the gears, which generally reduces overall strength and 2) increase the quantity of teeth on the synchros, which requires smaller teeth, again, reducing their overall strength.

3) When the MT82 first came out with the new 5.0 coyote engines, there was a video where a ford engineer essentially said: "yeah, the engine could easily rev to 8k instead of 7k. We didn't do that because it hurts long term reliability". All anyone heard from that was "it can rev to 8k". So, a bunch of tuners immediately started creating tunes that let the engine rev to 8k. This caused issues with vibration (the difference between 7k and 8k RPM is a LOT in terms of vibration) and the pressure plate/flywheel bolts would start to back out. This caused some clutch issues very early on. I believe ford used a higher torque spec or loctite on the bolts to solve this.

4) The largest issue: most people are REALLY FUCKING BAD at driving manual. While many people love driving a manual trans it doesn't mean they're good at it. Especially in a high HP car. Resting the left foot on the clutch pedal, resting a hand on the shifter, constantly up/down shifting because the car sounds cool, doing burnouts, and just the occasional slip-up while driving all build up to major damage to parts of the trans. Watch videos of people racing and just slamming the shifter into gear. Yeah, it's a great shift, but it's extremely hard on the transmission to do that. It's not really a problem when you can afford to replace the trans every 2-3 years or if you don't plan on keep the car a long time. If you can barely afford the car in the first place, and then drive it like Ken Block, yeah, you're going to break shit and then be in a position where you can't afford to replace it.

 

[AcesandEights]

I service my transmissions based on the recommended service intervals, or better. When I had a TJ, I used it almost exclusively off road, or to drive to trails. Most of the services were done every 5,000 - 7,500 miles. My XJ had most of the services done at 1/2 the mileage of the recommendations. My Super Duty gets the transmission serviced every 30,000 miles.

 

[AcesandEights]

One thing to keep in mind is that wheeling a manual can be pretty hard on the clutch, but does nothing to a torque converter. This is why most “serious” off roaders wheel an auto. I think they will both be pretty equally reliable long term, the auto trans will probably be a bit more likely to fail early but a clutch overhaul is always going to be a decent chunk of change in the manual and will likely be required before 200k no matter what. YMMV.

A clutch can usually be replaced by a backyard/shade tree mechanic in considerably less time, or for considerably less money, than an auto trans rebuild.

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