Baby, Can You Drive My Car? Not If It’s a Stick Shift

[F4R/T]

To me the Allison world trans was by far superior versus the new electronic stuff, I see plenty of issues with them but they are far superior to the semi-automatic transmissions. I like mechanical stuff that seems to work better...I cut my teeth on a 13speed road ranger with a big cam 400 and 4:10 gear and I loved it. My buddy got me hooked on the old DMX/ R models and the old B series.. Camel back suspension will shake the fillings out of your melon but handles the load like no other. Just my opinion. New stuff Pete and KW are the truck to beat and nobody compares not WS or anything Imo.

 

[SlingLow]

I don't understand when someone tells me, 'I don't know how to drive a stick'. How? You get in and do it until you get it right. Normal person, about 15-20 minutes. Coordinationally challenged, (I think I just made that term up) maybe 3 or 4 sessions. I tell them, 'Well, you didn't know how to walk or wipe your *** at one time, how could you possibly have figured that out?' It's usually a short conversation.

 

[oldbee]

I don't understand when someone tells me, 'I don't know how to drive a stick'. How? You get in and do it until you get it right. Normal person, about 15-20 minutes. Coordinationally challenged, (I think I just made that term up) maybe 3 or 4 sessions. I tell them, 'Well, you didn't know how to walk or wipe your *** at one time, how could you possibly have figured that out?' It's usually a short conversation.

Yup,start out on a fairly steep hill, stall it out. Try again, you got it.

 

[khryslerkid]

Nobody posted this yet?

 

[oldbee]

Nobody posted this yet?

Better in the back seat!!!!!

 

[Budnicks]

all my faster cars had either Bruno drive (converter on the front of)
or a reg. Jeffco/Lenco, with a can & a Crower slipper clutch
or a multiple disc clutch, PITA to maintain not for the faint of heart
my real fast cars use to be exclusively stick Jeffco's or Lenco's
Lenco's mostly, with Jeffco shifters
the typical 4-5 speed car trans just didn't/couldn't hold up (not even a 18 spline Hemi)
a shitload more time between runs too, servicing them

pros & conns to everything

Torque converter technology today is far superior to what 'most here are used to'

many in Pro-mod & even many TA/D use a TQ now too,
have an auto style trans, manually shifted or air shifted

I even had a clutch-flite in my 23 T altered for a while
when I had the 426 MW Blown Inj on Methanol

ALL MY KIDS LEARNED ON A STICK
grant you it was a Dodge Power Wagon anything from a 66-98
or 71-mids 80s Jeeps cj5-cj8s
or one of my SR5 Toyota 4x4s really easy to learn a stick on one of them
2 of my girls still drive them
Lisa has exclusively manuals, she was a leadfoot too

almost every woman I dated has had a stick & many were trucks/4x4s too
hum I wonder if there's a pattern of women I like ?

This would really drive them all crazy
you only really need the clutch to leave & shutdown or stop
people are afraid of them

 

[chargervert]

The best anti theft device ever for a modern Challenger!

 

[khryslerkid]

almost every woman I dated has had a stick

You know I couldn't leave that one alone!

 

[moparedtn]

You know I couldn't leave that one alone!

 

[65Bel]

 

[1 Wild R/T]

View attachment 1690072

How many times did you have to stop and fix the linkage after it got jammed when trying to pull a quick 1st-2nd gear shift? Those tree shifters got pretty sloppy after years of being beat on by people who didn't have to pay for maintenance..... I got the shifter jammed on my buddies Chevelle, the old F100 forestry service truck I drove while working for CDF & a few different Dodge D100 trucks while in the Navy...

 

[kiwigtx]

My wife can drive manuals (stick shift) - that is how we all learned to drive here in New Zealand until the late '90's.....when automatics became more popular.

Well before we were married my wife drove my '70 Road Runner - bench seat and 4-speed pistol grip.....and she drove it well. She also spent a lot of time driving our V8 Range Rover - all over the UK and Europe on our vacations. Her first car was an 850cc Mini.....bit small for me, but it a 4-speed car.

Oh yeah....that thang had 3 sticks. Gear lever, Hi-Lo ratio stick and manual over-drive lever.

One of the first four-door versions ever built. First week of production 1981.

 

[Speedbird]

How many times did you have to stop and fix the linkage after it got jammed when trying to pull a quick 1st-2nd gear shift? Those tree shifters got pretty sloppy after years of being beat on by people who didn't have to pay for maintenance..... I got the shifter jammed on my buddies Chevelle, the old F100 forestry service truck I drove while working for CDF & a few different Dodge D100 trucks while in the Navy...

I was half way to work one night and the rod wore through the fork detent.
1976 C10 column 3 speed.
Had to do a turn back to the house in 3rd gear to get another vehicle.
Seems like that truck also broke a cluster gear. I recall changing it.
Sold that truck to some guy after I shot it with paint store paint.
Funky red.

 

[Triplegreen500]

The theory now with tons of gears isn't economy, or performance, but smoothness. They want the shifts to be invisible to the driver. No big leaps from one ratio to the next, no clunks, no jumps up or down.

More isolation from the driving experience.

Very few people "want" cars nowadays. Most folks just "have" them out of necessity, and they want the experience to be as bland as possible. Like a washing machine.

 

[Hey-O]

The theory now with tons of gears isn't economy, or performance, but smoothness. They want the shifts to be invisible to the driver. No big leaps from one ratio to the next, no clunks, no jumps up or down.

More isolation from the driving experience.

Very few people "want" cars nowadays. Most folks just "have" them out of necessity, and they want the experience to be as bland as possible. Like a washing machine.

The reason for more gears, the smaller the engine, the more help it needs to feel like it's not a dog. The same reason they came up with a ten speed bike in the first place. Easy out of the hole, the middle and top end where the gas mileage is needed, you being the gas mileage.

Most people don't care, your right, A to B transportation. No one wants transportation that gets more into your pocket than it does down the road. It's about the gas mileage with a smaller power plant. My transmission stays busy and you can feel and tell when it shifts up or down when that engine needs help to stay in that sweet spot.

 

[SlingLow]

There have been times when someone is driving with me and comments that they can't drive a clutch. I tell them, 'no problem' and proceed to shift up without the clutch using rev matching. By their reaction you'd think I'm a magician! I learned to do it on my 69 Chevelle and I'd even shift down clutchless on some of my crappier rigs. I still do it occasionally on my 99 F250 7.3l diesel with the 6 speed just for old times sake.

 

[Triplegreen500]

I'll preload-upshift my motorcycles...but not the cars/trucks.

 

[Budnicks]

You know I couldn't leave that one alone!

after I reread that post, I said WTF, I'll just leave it

I figured someone would

 

[Budnicks]

How many times did you have to stop and fix the linkage after it got jammed when trying to pull a quick 1st-2nd gear shift? Those tree shifters got pretty sloppy after years of being beat on by people who didn't have to pay for maintenance..... I got the shifter jammed on my buddies Chevelle, the old F100 forestry service truck I drove while working for CDF & a few different Dodge D100 trucks while in the Navy...

My 1st Demon with a 225cid 'Leaning tower of power' 3 on the tree
(why would anyone order a Demon of all cars, with a /6 & 3 on the tree ?)
Anyway you had to unstick it often, I put all new linkage/shifter 'bushings'
before I traded it to my stepdad for my mom's old 68 Sport Satellite 383 4bbl 4 speed
& gave him $300 too boot, in summer of 1979

 

[68BabyBlue]

There have been times when someone is driving with me and comments that they can't drive a clutch. I tell them, 'no problem' and proceed to shift up without the clutch using rev matching. By their reaction you'd think I'm a magician! I learned to do it on my 69 Chevelle and I'd even shift down clutchless on some of my crappier rigs. I still do it occasionally on my 99 F250 7.3l diesel with the 6 speed just for old times sake.

Old school truck drivers did this as standard practice. Got 700,000 miles out of clutches, and 900,000 miles on transmissions between rebuilds with that technique.