Yea, I guess I better get on my best behavior & stay on it. Thanks for the heads up I forget sometimes.

Craig

 

Wouldn't a c6 cause it to be sluggish? I've always heard that a c6 wasn't a good match to a 300 inline but I wonder about a c4? Wonder how the drive lines would match up and what not. I'm a horrible teacher when it comes things like this, not enough patience!

 

She can learn to drive a stick,you might try telling her that it'll make her less vulnerable in case of an emergency as she'll be able to drive anything.
My second ex,her entire family,her ex husband,and everyone who knew her swore she could never learn to drive a stick.
All it took was a couple of Meyer's Rum & Cokes,a big deserted empty parking lot one night and in 5 minutes she was driving a 4 speed.The next day we went out to the country with her driving and I showed her the parking brake trick when she had to stop at a light on a hill and she was good to go.
Believe me,if she could learn to drive a stick your wife can,have her sit next to you(cuddling is good)and practice working the shifter shifting gears while you're driving so she knows how to do it and where each gear is,then get her relaxed,in our case the rum&cokes took care of that,and let her practice starting and stopping and when she gets the hang of that get her to start shifting.Whatever you do,DO NOT yell or scream at her.Positive reinforcement works wonders.
I've taught a lot of women over the years to drive sticks,ride motorcycles and to shoot,they tend to learn quicker than guys when they want to learn because they listen to you.

 

I think I'm going to try that, replacing a clutch will be Alot cheaper than swapping to an auto! Rum and coke sounds good and so does jack and coke...gotta go to the liquor store now lol

 

I haven't been able to teach my wife to drive a stick (not that she can't learn, just that she won't try). But I've taught both of my sons. A few tricks I figured out that helped it go smoother.

I couldn't tell them to let the clutch out slowly, or smoothly, or anything like that. I had to first show them (had them watch my left knee) as I let the clutch out part way until it started to engage, then HOLD IT THERE for a while before letting out the rest of the way. Otherwise they'd clowly and smoothly release the pedal and ther'd be a horrible jerk as they stalled the engine.

Early in the process I had them try to get the truck rolling without touching the gas. I used my Bronco which has a hand throttle and I set the idle up so it wasn't too likely to stall. It was a lot easier for them to get the hang of how to let out the clutch when they weren't also worried about the gas. And not being able to race the engine meant they pretty much had to do the clutch right, so they learned it right.

After my younger son got pretty good at starting in first I had him start in 2nd. After he could do that we went to a hill and he picked the hill up really quickly (even starting in it in 2nd accidentally once).

Along with the hand throttle my Bronco also has a line lock on the brakes. Both make hill starts easier, but I did make them learn to start on hills without them. But they were helpful "training wheels" at first.

 

I learned on a hill. Didn't take me long to get the hang of it.

My wife came with it as a stock option, didn't have to teach her anything about it. I shouldn't need to be trading her in for a long time.

 

I have faith you can teach her to drive stick. I have helped teach 4 women how to drive stick. My rule has always been, if we are together then you will know how to drive a standard transmission. If I ever need a trip to the ER and can't drive they darn well better.

 

No.. in this vintage truck the C4 wasn't an option while the C6 was and you really don't hear any complaints about sluggishness that can be directly related to the trans, if a truck feels sluggish it's because it has Lincoln towncar gearing or it's in need of a tuneup or repair.

I wouldn't want to have to teach somebody to drive a stick in a truck with 2.73 or 3.08 gears.. kiss goodby to your clutch.

 

Taught my first wife to drive one, because she wanted to learn. My buddy and I were standing around bs'in and he said "take my car and try it" so I jumped in with her and within a few minutes she got the hang of it.

Second (now ex) wife already knows how she says.

Current GF absolutely refused to try it. Offered to teach her in my Ranger but she stubbornly refused. I tried explaining to her that God forbid we are out somewhere in the woods and I get hurt/snakebit/whatever, that she can't get me to a hospital or even to the road to meet an ambulance... this didn't seem to bother her one bit... oh well. Said her ex tried teaching her and she don't want to be bothered with remembering what gear she's in, where to shift to next, etc. I left it at that. For other reasons, I don't think she's the woman I want with me long term anyway... I should just leave already lol.

Now, if this were the case with someone who I planned on spending the rest of my life with, I'd have to work on her like I did with my first wife. Don't get mad or frustrated. Park somewhere with the park brake set and get her comfortable in the seat first. This is a big part of it I think. Nobody wants to learn something while seated in an uncomfortable position. Now explain basic operation, try shifting a couple times with the engine off (may not be able to engage every gear), and then hit the road. Practice start and stop in first gear, then when she is comfortable let her shift gears and get some speed up. Don't bother with downshifting and engine braking until she is doing real good with the basics. After that... she might even WANT to drive it regularly, when she sees how much more control a manual gives over a slop-o-matic.

 

I'm teaching my fiancé to drive mine. She is one of the most uncoordinated people on earth, I hope she can figure it out. I'm not going to swap in an auto.

 

My girl has been driving a manual her whole life.. her parents always drove manuals so there was no choice, she even says people should be forced to learn on a manual and if they don't get it they don't get a licence. If everybody was swingin a stick it would certainly cut down on the number of people texting while driving that's for sure.

 

hell once you get on the highway and in the same gear they still text and stuff

 

Yea my o'l truck has 3.08's in the rear axle do I'm probably going to have to put a clutch in by the time she learns

 

First time I ever drove a stick was in the middle of a good snow in the country with rolling hills. My buddy didn't have a drivers license yet,he bought a 51 Chevy with a hot 327,no mufflers and a straight axle set up Gasser style,bias ply tires and a Hurst 3 on the floor with a reversed shift pattern.
I had to drive it home for him.It was a dangerous set up on dry pavement and insanity in the snow,luckily it was late at night and no one else was on the roads.
His parents made him get rid of it soon after.
For you younger guys who don't know what a Gasser style car is you'll have to Google some pics,back in the 60's they were the hot set up and they built them a mile high up front and jacked up in the back too.
They could and did get real squirrelly and a lot of dudes got killed driving them,most of them were jury-rigged home brew set ups.

 

Growing up on a farm, me and my brother learned to drive on stick shifts. When my dad bought an El camino with AT, my brother parked it and left it in gear (D), as we were taught so it wouldnt roll away... it did. No damage to the car, but the bushes at the end of the driveway were screwed up for a few years.