5 Speed Towing Capacity

[carrwash]

I have a '92 with a five speed (made a rule many years ago . . . never own a 4x4 with an automatic). Now I want to pull a trailer, and find that the towing capacity is downrated by more than half from the automatic's capacity!! As a mechanical engineer, you'd think I could figure it out, but I'm stumped. I'm about to violate this recommendation, and it seems like a good time to know the consequences. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
C-

 

[JDraper]

Welcome to the site!!! The only difference between a manual and automatic Explorer is the gearbox. The rest of the vehicle is the same. The main consequence you will see is burning up your clutch much quicker than you normally would. I used to tow a 4000lb trailer with my '92 sport (5speed) and that seemed to be the biggest issue. I noticed it most when I was parking the trailer somewhere, and I had to jockey it around. Gotta love the smell of burning clutch!! The other issue would be tranny cooling, since there is no cooler on the manual.

 

[carrwash]

Thanks. I don't worry about replacing the clutch from time to time. I wouldn't even be surprised if I end up blowing up my 103000 mile gearbox. What I don't want is for it to break every time I take it out. I doesn't sound like that's the issue.
How about cooling? Tha manual should generate a fraction of the heat that an automatic does. Do you know anyone who's gone to the extreme of a cooler for their manual explorer?? Do you know of anyone who's plain cooked one (without running it dry)?

Charlie-