Truck opinions needed

[furltech]

I have found a 2000 top kick looks in good shape was thinking of buying it for mauling around on my own .MY question, is the ad says it has a 3126 cat with an auto tranny .I have no exp with a heavy truck with auto. do they hold up? .Are they a crap load of money to replace if it is bad .You fellows with some truck  experience what do you think.Price isnt too bad .

[sandsawmill14]

onlly one i ever drove was in a c70 chevy fertilize spreader truck. it was a 4 speed allison and it was indestructable but this truck would be 12-15 yrs older than the one your looking at so i dont know  if its the same trans or not. i prefer a manual trans but i would be misleading if i didnt say that the allison was just as good off road in plowed ground as it was on the road the bed would only hold about 8 ton so it was  never loaded to heavy but it would start off from a stop as hard (no bogging or slipping) as a manual in plowed ground and shifted hard on the road sorta like a performace shift kit in a 350 or 400 turbo but if you didnt really have it wound up it shifted fairly smooth but not like a pick up. i will say my 2 reasons i prefer a manual 1 i like to put it in a gear and it stay  ;D 2 i had a brake line break ( fertilize will eat up anything) as i was coming up to a stop sign in the very truck i was describing and with an automatic trans it took some fancy dodging and circling in a store parking lot to get it stopped with out running over anything. i was only running about 40mph when i took the first 90 degree turn to keep from knocking the car ahead of me into oncoming traffic. the good lord was definately with me that morning with a manual you can at least gear gear down and kill engine if you have to. with an auto be sure to keep the emergency brake working  another lesson i learned that morning

[furltech]

Very sound advice something i had not even considered .

[sandsawmill14]

if it was a good truck and i had a "need it now" need for it know the auto wouldnt scare me off but if it was just a bargain i would keep looking  but as i said keep the emergency brake up and you should be fine if it is the allison tranny

[Bert]

My m923 5ton has an Allison auto. Seems tough as nails. I haul some huge loads through some rough stuff with it.

[barbender]

Allisons are very durable in my experience. If I remember correctly, it was about 2 3208 Cats to 1 Allison tranny in some of the old Ford tandem end dumps an asphalt company I worked for had.

[furltech]

Thanks guys