manual trans driving tips?

[shaggyk5]

ok, as most know i am in the market for a new blazer. one of the trucks i am looking at has a manual transmission, (sm465) and i am interested. I know how to drive stick, but i was wondering if anyone could give me pointers on how to drive offroad using a stick shift. I have never done it, only with autos and the unlimited low gear. I know that there are a whole sh*tload of you guys with 4 speeds, and its possible that i might end up with this truck, so go ahead. let me know what im getting into.

--matt
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[BlueBlazer]

Youll love the 4 speed. I recently went on a K5 run and only two other guys had manuals. We all had no trouble going down steep grades because of the compression braking ability of the manual. Some of the guys with autos that I talked to said they had a hell of a time slowing down on steep grades. I just put my truck in 4low and granny low and I didnt have to touch the brake on the same grades. Since this was my first real offroad experience, I quickly learned that 4 low and granny low were great just about everywhere. In mud I would sometimes use first gear in 4low to keep the tires spinnin faster. Anyway, they are great on the trail and I think youll love it.

 

[Chris Demartini]

<font color=blue>Around town, I never use 1st unless I am starting off on a steep hill. I only use 4th on the highway. Off road, I usually leave it in 4 hi until I need the low range. I've walked over a lot of stuff in 4 hi 1st because I forgot the push the short shifter

. In the mud I use 4 hi 2nd if I can get good traction and 4 lo 3rd plus dumping the clutch if I need wheelspeed. You will love the compresion braking and low 1st gear. I searched and passed up numbers of rust free K5s and got the one I did so I can have a 4 speed. Even though my body is trash, I'm glad I passed up the clean ones with the autos. Plus you wont have to worry about breaking it all the time like a 700R4.</font color=blue>

 

[Goose]

One of my favorite things with a manual is you can push start it. You get used to the clutch pretty quick. One trick that may take some time is to heel/toe the brake and gas. It's not needed much, but is handy to be able to do at times. The times would just be on severe trails. I think there is soooo much more control with the manual.

 

[nyyef]

i love my manual trannie. the only thing i dont like is that because i am short, it is a long reach to go from 2nd to third. i know that due the heavy dutiness of the trannie, the shifting is rougher, but i do wish a little improvment could be made to make the throws smoother and shorter.
i have thought of bending the stick a little closer to me.
the best thing about it is you dont have to worry about heat. and the SM465 will handle just about any motor in front of it. i have heard that it is about 2.25 stronger than the NV4500, but that was just a rumour.

Knife.
knife.coloradok5.com

 

[Butch]

Love my manual and now with a doubler I can completely stop my tires from turning for a full second and not even choke the motor down. My only advise is stay off the clutch. When coming up to a steep obsticle hold the brake and give a little gas to be under power you can get it really slow that way and not kill the motor. If you get to messing with the clutch you will have problems and break things. Cant wait till Sunday, Moab bound!!!!

I thought I was wrong once,
but I was mistaken

 

[muddin4fun]

Umm....when you're in the city...don't powershift a lot cause...um....it wears it out faster...speaking from experiance

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[Burt4x4]

Yes, keep your foot off the cluch peadel unless yer gonna stop or switch gears. CenterForce makes a sweet cluchkit that will make fer switchin gears a breaze!
Another cool product that I use is the Mico Lever-Lock.

See it to the left there below the speedo area?? This thing is so SWEET cuz it cures the nead to try and do the cluch,brake,gas all at once! Like on a hill climb when you need to stop for whatever and get going again just use the lever-lock to hold your rig in place and as you let out the cluch just move the lever the same speed and yer rollin again!!
SWEET product!! I love my SM465 and will never drive a slush box rig.

72K5

Led Zeppelin

Rock ON!

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[shaggyk5]

dude, burt, your interior is pretty cool looking. kinda like something out of mad max.....

how does this lever lock thing work, exactly?

--matt
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[Burt4x4]

Hey thanks!
The lock if very easy to use it can be locked two ways.
1st way is while your holding the brake peadel down you simply move the lever from the down position to Up. I allways push harder on the peadel after the lever is moved up, just to make sure the line pressure is high.
2nd way is to first move the lever to the Up position and then apply the brakes.
I have the lock only locking the front tires. The key is that it simply holds the line pressure to the calipers. The lock comes with a low pressure switch that can be hooked up to a buzzer or light or both. So if you do leave the lever locked for a long period the buzzer would warn you if the pressuer was to leak out or fade. I haven't hooked up this switch yet.
Mico http://www.burt4x4.coloradok5.com

 

[HarryH3]

One thing you should know about the SM465 is that first gear (granny low) and reverse are not synchronized. If you try to shift from neutral straight into either gear, then you'll get a grrrind

before it drops into gear. To prevent this, press in the clutch, shift to 2nd (or any of the synchronized gears) and then shift into reverse or first. You'll get a nice quiet shift.

I've heard lots of people driving rigs with this tranny that grind into reverse when they back out of a parking space. Ouch!

<font color=black>HarryH3 - '75 K5</font color=black>
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[Burt4x4]

Yep Harry is correct!! I use that same tecneque (sp?) when getting into thoes gears. First gear or granny gear I need to almost be at a complete stop before it drops in...still love it!! I can get aout and walk next to my rig as it is ideling in granny gear, too cool!!

72K5

Led Zeppelin

Rock ON!

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[tRustyK5]

I think the best thing is just being able to idle right up and over something in the granny low/low range..just keep yer foot offa da clutch! I quickly found the gears that do what I need, i like my low range and for almost all my wheeling thats what I use. For mud I use low range/ 3 rd gear and lotsa skinny pedal, if the revs are climbing too fast I can shift very quickly to fourth! That gives me some good wheel speed. for most trails I use a mix of second and third in low range, depending on how rough or technical the trail gets, when it starts to get nasty I use first. I will also never go back to an auto, my SM 465 is bomb-proof and its one part of my drivetrain I never have to worry about!

Rene

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[muddin4fun]

you should climb on top of it like the monster trucks do

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[87K54WD]

Harry is right. You will need to go to 2nd or 3rd gear first before trying reverse. I love my manual tranny too! I guess the only thing that sucks sometimes is the city driving. It doesn't bother me at all but I hate having tailgaters and people who try to pass around me off the line. It's hard sometimes, but try not to let the traffic put you in a hurry to get off the line quick. Trust me, the truck can beat tons of vehicles off the line ... just don't do it everytime or the clutch will wear out quicker. Take it easy and enjoy the rare type of truck you have. The power of the tranny is pretty awesome.

 

[mudhog]

i am with rene on this i will never go back to and auto 4 wheeling manual's are the best in my opinion

77blazer see it at<A target="_blank" HREF=http://community.webshots.com/user/ssmith6333>http://community.webshots.com/user/ssmith6333</A>

 

[shaggyk5]

i hear you guys on the non-synch low/reverse. I learned stick on an old ford dump truck like that. this truck is looking sweeter each day, its in good condition (not as rusty) and runs real nice too, i cant afford it for another couple of weeks, but the guy knows im interested, and hasnt had too many people look at it yet. it is also priced less than all the others im looking at......heres hopin'..........

--matt
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[chvyhs]

I'm one more in favor of manual over auto. No worries about heat or batteries going dead and not being able to start it. If you should actually lose a gear you still have 3 more to get you home. The only problem I've had is cruising with autos across the desert, they always want to drive at a speed in between my gears.

 

[90K5]

That is awesome how you can still drive home without a gear...my friends' brother's friend had a jeep, and he was on a really busy street (Preston for ya'll around Dallas) and he lost all the forward gears. He coasted into a parking lot, put it in reverse and drove home down the same street!!!!

90K5

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[FWP]

Where's all the auto tranny fans? I have both, a 465 and a 350, and there's pluses and minuses to both. If you build an auto right, it will withstand quite a bit. Try to keep the motor running on a steep hill (non EFI), but then try push starting an auto. See what I mean...