crash gear box changing gear

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Ken

First off don't think you are going to damage the transmission with those little crunches. Because you are not likely to hurt these transmissions unless you really grind them or use a lot of force. If you are having problems shifting lets check a couple of things:

• Does your clutch fully disengage?
• With the transmission warm and clutch disengaged can you shift through the gears without excessive force on the lever?

Everybody is correct it is just a matter of practice the more you shift the better and smoother you will get.

Sounds like we need GoPro Film Challenge, for those of you with a GoPro or other small video camera that you can mount to show the gear shift and the peddles lets see who can come up with a good video. Think we should have couple of goals:

• Best technical video in that it most clearly shows the feet and hands
• Best actual shifting how smoothly can you shift up through the gears and back down. (no editing the sound tracks)

Cheers Phil

[Keith Webb]

What a great idea Phil!

Just to add another point about things which make changing difficult, particularly when changing up is a weak throttle return spring. You really want to have the revs die right down when lifting the clutch pedal in neutral on changing up.

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi Ken

First off don't think you are going to damage the transmission with those little crunches. Because you are not likely to hurt these transmissions unless you really grind them or use a lot of force. If you are having problems shifting lets check a couple of things:

• Does your clutch fully disengage?
• With the transmission warm and clutch disengaged can you shift through the gears without excessive force on the lever?

Everybody is correct it is just a matter of practice the more you shift the better and smoother you will get.

Sounds like we need GoPro Film Challenge, for those of you with a GoPro or other small video camera that you can mount to show the gear shift and the peddles lets see who can come up with a good video. Think we should have couple of goals:

• Best technical video in that it most clearly shows the feet and hands
• Best actual shifting how smoothly can you shift up through the gears and back down. (no editing the sound tracks)

Cheers Phil

[Ken Hughes]

Hi Guys,thanks for the info,practice is the answer by the looks of it.
The ford has a good return spring on the throttle so the revs do drop of quickly.
The clutch etc is all new and adjusted correctly,i think im to heavy on the throttle when doubling the clutch.
A while back a friend went with me to give me some pointers and said that i would be ok with practice ,but sadly he has since passed away,i have driven his Dodge command car on occasion and not had to many problems with it.
I look forward to some videos on the subject,it would be interesting to say the least.

[Lynn Eades]

Kenny, Same gearbox ratios in the Command car as your Ford truck. only the diff ratios are different.
In fact, many of the gearbox internals will inter change.

[Ken Hughes]

yes Lynn, the internals are the same,the late Murray Obens Dodge command car was the one i drove to warbirds at Wanaka,must around 4 years ago with a friend sharing the driving .
Murray said his gear box parts were pretty much Ford.
Yes also gear changes are better once the truck trans has warmed up,i drove it over to work on saturday to fit some new tires to it and noticed it got better as i went.
Thanks for all your imput guys cheers.

[Lynn Eades]

Ken, I never met Murray, but had a couple of phone conversations with him some years back. A gentleman and helpful chap. I wish I'd had the honour of meeting him.

[Ken Hughes]

Yes Lynn,a great loss as a friend and a very active club member,i owe him a lot for the help he gave me over the years.
Most of his collection will be sold at some later date.