1st Gear Break in on G-56.. do you do it?

[roperteacher]

Just curious, I have always been taught that with a new Manual trans you should always shift into first at a stop sign then back to 2nd before you leave just so that first gear gets " Even wear"... I actually use the gear when towing but when empty is it ok to skip it???? At what mileage would it be OK to just go to 2nd, etc... thanks!

 

[Bodie]

I always just start off in 2nd..... never heard of breaking in 1st??

 

[DPKetchum]

That was them OLD three speed on the column cars in the dark ages. . Wrong era. It actually was to line up a non synchro 1st gear to get it in 1st gear so it wouldn't grind.

 

[DerekW]

..... yea I don't have straight drive but that sounds like the ridiculous nonsense I would hear from a dodge dealer who can't fix some thing right. just blame it on something else and deny the fact that most dealer SUCK!!!! if you want something done right you gotta learn to fix it yourself.

 

[skipro3]

For the first few days, I thought that 2nd gear was a little tall for starts from a dead stop. Then I realized I was in 4th gear. WHAT A TRUCK!!

 

[rattlbox]

i never heard of breaking in first gear either. i always start off in second and giver hell :-laf

 

[TowPro]

I thought 1st gear was for creaping along in traffic jams. Then you can use your Jake Brake to bother the guy behind you who keeps tailgating you. I wonder how many people are ready to tell me "you don't have any brake lights"

 

[AMink]

For the first few days, I thought that 2nd gear was a little tall for starts from a dead stop. Then I realized I was in 4th gear. WHAT A TRUCK!!

That's awesome! I got a good chuckle out of that. :-laf

 

[CDonaldson]

I started out in 1st gear until I got used to the clutch/truck overall. I would guess I did that for the first 1K, then unless I was towing I used 2nd. I do not believe that a synchro'd transmission needs what the old 3 and 4 speed non-synchro'd regarding alignment and break-in did. Even if you broke those oldies in as recommended more than half the time you had to double-clutch them to get them into 1st gear at a standstill.



skipro3 - now that's pretty funny, but I can see it happening. So you started out in 3rd, eh?



TowPro - I've had several people tell me my brake lights did not work. Guess they have never driven a stick, or have no clue. My vote is more toward them being clueless - in more ways than one I might add. It is nice of them to tell me about the brake lights however.



CD

 

[JFlagg]

I thought 1st gear was for creaping along in traffic jams. Then you can use your Jake Brake to bother the guy behind you who keeps tailgating you. I wonder how many people are ready to tell me "you don't have any brake lights"

Thats funny :-laf But I got you beat, I actually had a STL county police officer rearend me because he didn't see my brakelights when I used my Jakebrake! Thats was a hell of an argument until I took him in my truck and actually showed him. He was going to try and write up the accident report himself. Had to call another officer to keep from getting F@*%ed. All in all, everything got taken care of, but not till alot of people got involved.

 

[CDonaldson]

Most who drive a standard transmission get a lot more mileage out of their brakes over those who drive an auto transmission. People will say to me OH YOU DRIVE A STICK!! WHAT A PAIN IN TRAFFIC, ALL THAT SHIFTING, BLAH-BLAH-BLAH. But you can almost tell who has a stick BECAUSE they use their gears and NO brake lights in slow moving traffic. The 3rd brake light came about BECAUSE of so many rear-end accidents in traffic and the need for more notification to the guy behind. I guess they need to be woken up from reading the paper, putting on makeup, text messaging, etc.



What ever happened to keeping a safe distance back? Learning to judge your speed and that of the people around you? Going with the flow of the traffic and actually paying attention when you are dirving? I drive many vehicles ahead paying attention for what's to come so my response time is appropriate. Guess I'm old-fashioned.



CD

 

[TCuenca]

you can drop the auto to low and do the same thing unless you dont know how to use an automatic

 

[Forrest Nearing]

you can drop the auto to low and do the same thing unless you dont know how to use an automatic

yes, but the torque converter is going to soak up a lot of what little engine braking is available

 

[JFlagg]

I totally agree with you CD, I have to drive in alot of traffic to and from work. I very rarely had to use my brakes with my six speed, and thats without the jakebrake. Alot of my traffic miles are first gear at idle, or sometimes second.

 

[Turbo_Bob]

Most who drive a standard transmission get a lot more mileage out of their brakes over those who drive an auto transmission. People will say to me OH YOU DRIVE A STICK!! WHAT A PAIN IN TRAFFIC, ALL THAT SHIFTING, BLAH-BLAH-BLAH. But you can almost tell who has a stick BECAUSE they use their gears and NO brake lights in slow moving traffic. The 3rd brake light came about BECAUSE of so many rear-end accidents in traffic and the need for more notification to the guy behind. I guess they need to be woken up from reading the paper, putting on makeup, text messaging, etc.

What ever happened to keeping a safe distance back? Learning to judge your speed and that of the people around you? Going with the flow of the traffic and actually paying attention when you are dirving? I drive many vehicles ahead paying attention for what's to come so my response time is appropriate. Guess I'm old-fashioned. CD

Boy, you and I have the same driving style to a tee.

My truck has 78K miles now, same brakes, same tires. Driving in CA theres alot of traffic jams, many times I creap along in 1st at 4 MPH. I am very aware of my driving style but most on the road speed up to the rear of a car in front of them just to step on the brakes, stop, go, stop, go, very irratating.

 

[CDonaldson]

Hey TURBO BOB.



I think that most who drive a stick have the same driving skills, or over time they develope them out of necessity. I learned to drive on a stick and was taught by my uncle. He drove semi trucks for 40+ years. I grew up in CA just as they were building most of the early freeway systems so I had the worst of both city street driving and some of the first traffic jams to learn to drive in. There were a lot of stick shifters then, but as the automatics became popular I noticed that the stop, go, stop go stuff became more and more the norm for driving style. I agree with you that it is very irritating, I grumble down the road in traffic because of it. Everyone trying to go somewhere faster than the traffic will allow.



I tortured all 4 of my kids and made them learn to drive a stick first. After several years of all of them buying automatics I now notice they have sticks. And yes, they are all now complaining about the stop/go stuff too. Recently my son brought up how much money he was saving on brakes and how much cheaper a new clutch was compared to repairing an automatic. I just smiled at him, at 34 he is now getting wise.



CD