all you guys using your clutch to shiftor do you just shift your manuals like a truck. after driving this 93 f350 turbo 5 speed all week i have found that it shifts much nicer, easier and better if i dont clutch any of my shifts. i think my dual mass flywheel is giving my clutch a few jumping issues, so i found it better to drive it like a real truck without using the clutch. as long as i am accerleratiing or decelerating at a minimum of a moderate pace it always slips right in.
I've been told that the smaller truck trannies like the nv4500 and nv5600, you will tear up the syncros if you shift without the clutch. Theres guys on tdr who have posted pics of there trannies and what the syncros look like after a few thousand miles of no clutch...
I have wondered the same thing. My dad and I have shifted his 5600 without the clutch, but normally we both shift using the clutch.
Same here with my ZF in my F-350 and my 5600 in my 3500. I "have" shifted both with and without the clutch, I think I'll stay with the clutch. Much rather put in a new on at 150k than syncros.
"Big rig" gearboxes are non-synchronized. Light truck gearboxes have synchros. Every time one is off just a bit in "floating" a shift, the synchros have to either speed up or slow down the entire rotating mass of the engine, accessories, flywheel, clutch pressure plate and disc and the input side of the transmission to match speed with the output shaft. The synchros are only designed to speed up or slow down the clutch disc and the input side of the transmission, so increased synchro wear will result. Ya pays yore money and ya takes yore choice!!! Rusty
I always clutch when I shift in our standard fire trucks, 2 six speed GMC Topkicks. I have tried without the clutch and it just doesn't feel right. Also, the chief frowns on driving the trucks that way. We're a volunteer department, so we try to make things last longer so we can save money, we don't like to have stuff tore up.
We have a 1994 Chevy 1500 w/t with a 4.3 vortec and 5 speed manual (dont know what one) that is our work truck back in Ca. It has about 170k HARD overloaded miles on it. I would say it is shifted w/o the clutch about 40% af the time and it still runs and shifts great. I hardly ever used the clutch when I drove it unless I was towing a trailer or flogging it on through traffic like a Vette
that truck you should shift without the clutch. always drive the one construction companies mid 90's 3116 cat motors/6 speed top kicks without it and they always shift just fine. just have to gauge your speed correctly.
im not really an expert on the issue but im pretty sure it doesnt really hurt the trans at all to shift w/o the clutch (if you dont try to force it and grind the gears). im also pretty sure that mercedes has a new automatic transmission that constantly maintains lockup (unless stopped) and uses syncronized shifting. but im not sure.
I can shift without the clutch, but I prefer not to. In fact a good portion of the time I tend to double clutch, despite it being synchronized. Is there a need for it? Well probably not, but it's much better than listening to the synchros not sounding too happy (at least on deceleration), plus something tells me the less work the synchros have to do, the longer they should theoretically last. The other thing is with the double clutch method (instead of just driving it like a car, and single clutching it, driving "normal" etc), is it shifts with much less effort, which also leads me to believe ultimately less wear on the expensive parts is occurring.
Do not shift without the clutch! Our trucks do not have big rig trannies - they are a synchro/automotive style tranny. Big rigs typically use dual counter shafts and no synchros and will shift fine with no issues when input and output shaft speeds match. As Rusty pointed out, our trucks DO have synchros that will have their service life compromised as the result of them being exposed to extra load from clutchless shifting.....and with only a single counter shaft, you are just asking for trouble in the long run - especially since our trannies are not close ratio boxes that have a comparitively large ratio spread compared to a big rig that typically has only a 300 rpm spread for every gear. Bottom line: Use the clutch!
Always use the clutch for shifting. Will save the tranny for the time when the clutch pedal goes to the floor to get me to the shop. Dave
depends on what I'm driving and how well I know it in CDL class vehicles I always shift without a clutch but for non cdl vehicles I wouldnt advise to do it nor would I advise double clutching just not effective with todays trannys-but of course modern trannys arent built as well as old ones reason I got a slushbox.
???? I want to take that as you were joking.... Both autos and manuals have severly impoved over the years.
The Fords arent as bad as the Dodge(hard shifiting) or Chevy/GMC(failure)but its the same as Ford minus a couple parts.I have lost a manual transmission before,Ford,about a month after I got a Bronco and I have lost automatics before,coming home from my honeymoon only to see my Broncos tranny fluid all over the drive way.:doah: I honestly dont think they are bad just about equal and with the auto trannys getting as many gears and closing the fuel economy gap I saw little reason not to get an automatic.
I use the clutch to shift in my dodge, chevy, and jeep but only to start from a stop in the Mack. I wish the tranny in the dodge was not synchronized as I would rather not use the clutch.
