Manual Transmission Club

[kostik76]

Well, wanted to start with weight. Appears the Sportsman 500 is just north of 700, maybe 750 with fuel.

Depending on your truck there's probably enough payload for that.

The tailgate would be my worry. That's a lot of bounce back there, even assuming less than half the weight is on the rear wheels.

Given even the manual tow rating, that's easy peasy for a little aluminum flatbed. Strap it down and go. Probably have 1250 to 1500 lbs ATV and trailer, shouldn't bother it a bit.

It should be within weight limit for the tail gate, remember weight distribution. I did not get the chance to haul my ATV since we had another 3 on the property that weekend and I like to walk to my stands, so used ATV only bring back the meat. Will let you know once I drive it my self. Do no see much of an issue

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[Dr Kel]

speeddawg has an adapter, but I only found one pic

Saw this on a 911 and thought something like it would be amazing in the Gladiator.

 

[RTDNECO]

Saw this on a 911 and thought something like it would be amazing in the Gladiator.

Check this guy out on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarksMillworks?ref=l2-about-shopname

 

[Dr Kel]

Check this guy out on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarksMillworks?ref=l2-about-shopname

Pretty, but his stuff is WAY too glossy for my taste.

 

[Puttyandnapalm]

Decided to try the speeddawg set-up. They emailed saying the color/orientation wasn’t in stock, and it’d take 4-6 weeks to make (almost as long to order my gladiator lol).

hoping the blue pearl looks well with my hydro blue

 

[chrcal14]

Just ran from Chicago to Cleveland. Got 21.5 across the entire trip. The mileage really dropped in Ohio. For the record, I had the cruise set at 74 and am still running stock tires/wheels. The fist hour and a half was in heavier traffic with speeds ranging from stopped up to 75 or so.

Longer trips definitely make a difference. Been on a few long rides now that hunting has started, and I'm getting more like 19 now. Has my lifetime average up to 17.4. Can't complain for lifted and 37s, my air dam dragging the ground 4 cylinder cut out Silverado averaged 18 lifetime, I'm more than pleased with the trade.

 

[Dr Kel]

Longer trips definitely make a difference. Been on a few long rides now that hunting has started, and I'm getting more like 19 now. Has my lifetime average up to 17.4. Can't complain for lifted and 37s, my air dam dragging the ground 4 cylinder cut out Silverado averaged 18 lifetime, I'm more than pleased with the trade.

Wow! Shocked by your Silverado a little. My dad’s '99 Sierra 2500 6.0 that I bought new gets around 16 mpg. The '03 Dmax gets 18 mpg which isn’t much better, but it doesn’t even blink with the three-horse gooseneck behind it. Put the gooseneck on the gas burner and oh my!

 

[chrcal14]

Wow! Shocked by your Silverado a little. My dad’s '99 Sierra 2500 6.0 that I bought new gets around 16 mpg. The '03 Dmax gets 18 mpg which isn’t much better, but it doesn’t even blink with the three-horse gooseneck behind it. Put the gooseneck on the gas burner and oh my!

Yeah, those ones have a little more oomph. This was just your average everyday 5.3 1500 with the cylinder cut out, and I babied it around for the most part. Granted, I used it to crawl around the yard at work too, so it wasn't all easy roads.

Still, babying around my Jeep vs. babying around that thing with 37s vs 32s and getting practically the same mileage makes me smile.

Essentially using them the same but getting all the goodness of a Jeep with a very small extra gas fee. At the 10k per year I drive, that's like an extra 16 gallons per year.

I honestly thought going with 37s I'd get about 15. My old H3T went to 14 on 35s, but it was an instamatic transmission and V8.

 

[88mmm]

Took the manual Gladiator on a long trip through the hills of VT and NH this weekend and I stand by my original impression that this transmission is crap due to the gearing. It is just downright embarrassing how poorly the gearing is spaced for driving on anything but flat highways. Trying to overtake on hill was not possible due to the need for multiple shifts to keep the truck in the very narrow power band of the V6 which is way up high in the rev range. Sure would love to have another gear between 3 and 4. On a positive note the truck did well in the snow with the combo of the snow tires, LSD, traction control, and tall gearing I was able to drive without 4wd in the worst of conditions.

 

[hjdca]

Took the manual Gladiator on a long trip through the hills of VT and NH this weekend and I stand by my original impression that this transmission is crap due to the gearing. It is just downright embarrassing how poorly the gearing is spaced for driving on anything but flat highways. Trying to overtake on hill was not possible due to the need for multiple shifts to keep the truck in the very narrow power band of the V6 which is way up high in the rev range. Sure would love to have another gear between 3 and 4. On a positive note the truck did well in the snow with the combo of the snow tires, LSD, traction control, and tall gearing I was able to drive without 4wd in the worst of conditions.

I have the Gladiator Rubicon Manual with the 4:11s in the rear, and the wheel upgrade and the stock Falken Mud tires.. I live in a hilly, mountainous area, and I do not perceive any problem. On small hills on the fwy, I can stay in 6th - 70 mph is about 2050 rpm. Normal good size hills I shift down to 5th - approx. 2350 rpm. For really big hills through the "grapevine" on the 5 fwy in Gorman, I use 4th gear - approx. 3000 rpm. I never have to rev. it past 3600 rpm in any of these scenarios. I am passing many cars while I drive, power seems really good.

If you are running bigger tires than 33" and also 3:73 gears, then, that is probably why you are experiencing this issue with the Manual. I find that 3000 - 3500 rpm pulls really good on the fwy.

 

[88mmm]

Stock overland size tires. I could barely maintain 55 mph up hill even in 4th. I had to down shift to 3rd to pass in most instances. Then uou are in this strange spot where the engine is whaling but if you down shift 4th is to tall to maintain speed. We're talking steep rolling hills with short passing zones. Even my wife was laughing as I couldn't gain enough speed to pass some pretty crappy cars. It's clear that this thing was geared for the EPA circuit. Its laughable for a truck to have these wide gear spacings.

 

[chrcal14]

I have the Gladiator Rubicon Manual with the 4:11s in the rear, and the wheel upgrade and the stock Falken Mud tires.. I live in a hilly, mountainous area, and I do not perceive any problem. On small hills on the fwy, I can stay in 6th - 70 mph is about 2050 rpm. Normal good size hills I shift down to 5th - approx. 2350 rpm. For really big hills through the "grapevine" on the 5 fwy in Gorman, I use 4th gear - approx. 3000 rpm. I never have to rev. it past 3600 rpm in any of these scenarios. I am passing many cars while I drive, power seems really good.

If you are running bigger tires than 33" and also 3:73 gears, then, that is probably why you are experiencing this issue with the Manual. I find that 3000 - 3500 rpm pulls really good on the fwy.

I never had it not with 37s, and Rubicon as well. Your description is pretty much my experience too. The 4.10s must be the difference. I do a bit of shifting in various circumstances... but I like shifting.

I figured the 4.10s would just offset the bigger tires and it might feel under geared, but I have no intention of changing now.

 

[Dr Kel]

I never had it not with 37s, and Rubicon as well. Your description is pretty much my experience too. The 4.10s must be the difference. I do a bit of shifting in various circumstances... but I like shifting.

I figured the 4.10s would just offset the bigger tires and it might feel under geared, but I have no intention of changing now.

Mine’s an Overland. Ran it on the Penna Turnpike at 75-80 taking my son to school in August. I barely ever reached 3000 rpm that I recall; I’m an rpm hawk. You definitely have to do a lot of jumping between 5th and 6th on on those hills, but rarely did I have to resort to 4th; usually when I did it was because of construction zones ending or traffic issues.

Ran it with a loaded Uhaul trailer across the Buckeye and Hoosier Turnpikes at 70 in 5th gear because 6th gear is no good for towing. Fourth was jut to get around semis out of construction zones.

I am wondering how it will do though with the new tires; 325/65R18. Did a short run on the highway the other day, but only small hills here in Chicagoland; really small hills.

 

[chrcal14]

Mine’s an Overland. Ran it on the Penna Turnpike at 75-80 taking my son to school in August. I barely ever reached 3000 rpm that I recall; I’m an rpm hawk. You definitely have to do a lot of jumping between 5th and 6th on on those hills, but rarely did I have to resort to 4th; usually when I did it was because of construction zones ending or traffic issues.

Ran it with a loaded Uhaul trailer across the Buckeye and Hoosier Turnpikes at 70 in 5th gear because 6th gear is no good for towing. Fourth was jut to get around semis out of construction zones.

I am wondering how it will do though with the new tires; 325/65R18. Did a short run on the highway the other day, but only small hills here in Chicagoland; really small hills.

That was my turnpike experience. I only dropped to 4th once in a while, and that was it's journey home from buying it so I didn't have it worked out very well. I did on purpose every now and again to vary the rpms a bit. Gave it hell on exit ramps and when I stopped for Roy Rogers chicken!

I don't think the tires will bother it too much. So many horror stories about bigger tires and such, but to me it drives like a truck. Which is exactly what I wanted. After the Cadillac ride of the Silverado I had, I'm enjoying a little authentic rumbling and bouncing. That said, it's only a little, it's still a pretty mild ride compared to Jeeps of the past.

And to me at least, it seems downright zippy if you run it up to 4 or 5k. I mean, I I can take 2nd just about to highway speed!

 

[88mmm]

It's fine on highways when going 70 to 80 mph, although 6th is pretty redundant. It's really in the 30 to 65 mph range where there is no good gear. Your either not able to maintain speed going up hill or having to shift a whole bunch because there is a gear missing in there to make way for the extra OD gear for MPG sake. I took a Rubicon Home while the dealer looked at mine and it's pretty much the same. I think the 4.11 gears with the 33" tires are similar to the 3.73 with smaller tires.

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