I wheeled the heck out of my first 1986 longbed with an automatic. I wheeled the heck out of my 1985 shortbed with a 5-speed. I loved my automatic. Both were daily drivers.
For all terrains when off-road, my automatic was WAY better with WAY more control.
The only drawback to my automatic was climbing very steep hills on trails. The automatic would not shift down from 2nd to 1st until my truck was almost completely stopped…. No bueno!!
I believe the Toyota A340F trans has shown that it is bullet proof. With the 1:1 3rd gear its nice to go into 3rd when you need that extra RPM when pulling a steep highway grade. The O/D at a .705 makes a nice overdrive for highway cruising speeds.
Gnarls.