danielx said:

When I drove stick  I was taught to never bother downshifting because break pads are cheaper to replace over time compared to clutches. Then again I was driving an integra, not sure about trucks.

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Viveka said:

Exactly, I though I was clever for about the first year or two I had my first stick shift(car I still have) and I was always downshifting to at least 3rd and even 2nd to slow down. Then when my clutch failed utterly after a couple years of that I didn't feel so clever any more. Now I usually only downshift to bleed off speed when I'm coming off the freeway and only down to fourth usually then it's neutral and brakes from there.

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shLong said:

r00tuuu123 said:

cheesesteakalike said:

Another quick question that has been puzzling me; if I am approaching a stop sign and need to brake to slow down, should I be holding in the clutch before I start pressing on the brake?

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Yes and no there is a happy medium. You can start to brake without touching the clutch but after that you either downshift or push the clutch all the way in and going to neutral.
Remember folks Op is driving a 6000 lb truck not a 2500 lb honda so yes braking from neutral is going to put a lot of wear on the brakes.

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He said a Ford Ranger... So it'll be a lot closer to 2500 lbs... Plus, that's why brake pads and calipers are made different sizes..

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yeah my 01 automatic ranger with a 3.0 was like 3300 or something, i had to get it weighed to get it tagged in CO.


also about downshifting....thats a joke in that truck unless you are going down hill and trying to keep a steady speed, and not use the brakes, or in shitty driving conditions, again when you are trying not t use the brakes, and you want the engine to slow you down....otherwise you are killing your gas mileage if you downshift through every gear every time you come to a stop

say its a 5 spd....if you are on the highway in 5th, taking and exit that comes to a dead stop....push in the clutch, shift to neutral, let off the clutch......brake as you would with a normal car....but remember the motor is no longer moving you forward, you are strictly on momentum...if you sense you're coming up short and need some power, shift into the approriate gear (youll learn very soon what mph ranges work for which gears) and let the clutch out...once you get good you can give it a little gas when you down shift and match the rpms to the speed of the gear and its a seamless transition.


someone said it before....go to a parking lot and learn your friction point. you'll probably stall it a couple times, but sit there on a flat surface so when you let your foot off the brakes you wont roll...let the car idle with the clutch in and in first. SLOWLY let the clutch out...you will hear the engine start to die and the car may start to roll....if you let it out too much youll stall it. try and let it out just enough to hear the engine rpms lower and push it back in, without letting it stall, do this a bunch of times and you'll  learn whats called the friction point...the point where the clutch starts to engage with the gear you have it in.

say your clutch moves 5 inches when you push the pedal....probably 60% of that 5 inches do nothing at all...just lag, so learning the friction point is key to learning starting on an uphill

once you've learned the friction point, add a little bit of gas...rev up to maybe 2-4000rpm(depending on how fast you wanna launch maybe higher, or if you are on a hill it will be higher)...multiple times again so you know how much gas to give it to get it to that range.

now add the two...clutch in, brake in on a flat surface. let off the break, rev up to 2000-4000rpm and let the clutch out....if you've learned the friction point you can let the clutch out to right before the friction point as  quick as you want, but you want to hit the friction point...the car will start to move slowly if you let the clutch out slowly, trying to keep the rpms steady....let the clutch out too quickly you will either lurch forward or stall it or both.

on a hill, it is important to know the friction point so when you let off the brake and build up rpm you are immediately ready at the friction point so you dont roll backwards and into the dick whos in an automatic and pulled up too close behind you

at the beginning, on a hill you will probably rev the shit outta your engine and clutch super long but hey, you have to learn ya know....but the less you use your clutch the better for your clutch.....you dont want to be running with the clutch half in, you'll burn it up...so the better you get the less you even are in the friction point when coming off any stop.

also you want to use the clutch strictly for getting it going and shifting....let it get fully into the next gear before you gas again.....when going 2>3 let off the gas, push in the clutch, change gear, let off the clutch, get in the gas again...you dont want to rev through your gear changes


idk if that made any sense to you or not but thats how i learned and i learned on and im high and probably not that good at explaining....but damn i love driving a fucking stick...wish i had one still

cheesesteakalike said:

Well I think I have got the 1st gear problem solved, I have no issues starting from a complete stop anymore, except maybe on a very steep upward hill.

I'm still having some issues though, I can't seem to get a smooth transition between the 2nd gear and the 3rd gear. It almost always throws the truck forward or jerks it down in speed. I've been trying to watch the speedometer to see where the appropriate speed is to begin shifting higher in gear but I can't always have my eye on the dash so i usually just wait until i hear my RPMs getting loud (usually around the 3 mark) and then shift.

Any advice on this? Should i be shifting when my RPMs are high, low, or is there another sweet spot i will have to find?

I'm trying my best not ruin my transmission/engine/gears while I learn all this stuff.

Thanks again guys.

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nicechrisman said:

Beanhead said:

Automatics are retards

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Automatics are great if you drive in a lot of stop and go traffic or live in a very hilly area

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This. Manual in Socal traffic is straight up masochism.
My last car was a manual and my left leg got like twice as muscular as my right due to all the stop and go
pushing the clutch in and out 5000 times in a 5 mile trip is no fun..

My new VW has 7-speed dual clutch DSG tranny.. automatic with manual mode (paddle shifters).. it's smooth as fuck.

I love driving manual in general.. it's more fun and engaging.. and it's ~generally~ slightly better for racing.. but manual in LA/OC traffic and all the hilly areas is a freaking nightmare....

cheesesteakalike said:

Well I think I have got the 1st gear problem solved, I have no issues starting from a complete stop anymore, except maybe on a very steep upward hill.

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ColorDragon said:

If downshifting, remember to rev match, e.g.: give the engine some gas before letting out the clutch. If you're letting the clutch up where the RPM of the engine and tranny input shaft are more than a few hundred RPM apart, you're doin' it wrong, and you'll feel that as a lurch or jump in engine speed.  It's relatively hard on your drive train. This is trickier when downshifting, especially if decelerating. Don't worry about it much, though, mastering this is mostly a reflexive thing that comes with experience.

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Shins said:

When you shift , lightly press the gas before you lower the clutch, it'll make it smoother.

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cheesesteakalike said:

All great advice here and many things I just flat out did not know about, thanks a bunch everyone.

I'm just gonna keep at it and try to find what seems to be a sweet spot within the clutch to get me going and will definitely start holding the clutch in before I ever press on the brake again.

I've also heard that "downshifting" is the healthiest way to slow down for the truck. Meaning if I'm going, say, 35 in 4th gear and need to slow down to about 20-25 I can simply press the clutch, change from 4th to 3rd, and slow down to the appropriate speed without ever having to touch the brake pedal? Anyone have experience with this maneuver in particular and what to watch out for when practicing it?

Thanks again everyone.

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cheesesteakalike said:

I just got a truck yesterday (2004 Ford Ranger) and I'm learning how to drive with a stick shift, I seem to be fine once I get going about 20-40 mph or higher but slowing down, braking to a complete stop, and getting into first gear from a stopped position is driving me insane and I know it's gotta be hell on the gears/brakes/engine.

Figured I'd sslap a quick post up and see if anybody could share some useful tips and tricks.

Thanks in advance!

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cheesesteakalike said:

Shins said:

When you shift , lightly press the gas before you lower the clutch, it'll make it smoother.

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When you say "press gas before lowering clutch" do you mean press the gas before I begin to depress the clutch (as if I was pushing the clutch down to prepare for a gear change) or do you mean give it gas as I'm lifting my foot away from the clutch as I switch into a higher gear?

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RanOutOfWeed said:

cheesesteakalike said:

I just got a truck yesterday (2004 Ford Ranger) and I'm learning how to drive with a stick shift, I seem to be fine once I get going about 20-40 mph or higher but slowing down, braking to a complete stop, and getting into first gear from a stopped position is driving me insane and I know it's gotta be hell on the gears/brakes/engine.

Figured I'd sslap a quick post up and see if anybody could share some useful tips and tricks.

Thanks in advance!

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yeah. Sell the truck and get an automatic. Manuals are fucking annoying

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FruitOfLife said:

Alot of great advice so far. The only thing I have to add is, for me at least, is the shifting is smoother if you shift at a higher rpm like 3000-35000 rather than shifting at a lower rpm like 2500 and down.

Also, I havent used 1st gear in my truck in years. I always start in 2nd gear. The only time my truck is in 1st gear is when Im parked

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