Just bought 1989 F150 knowing that it doesn't go into 5th gear. The first four gears are great, i would just like to get better mileage because i enjoy my new truck and plan to drive it daily.

when you put it in 5th gear, the kicks it back out. it will not stay in 5th.

i have heard its a synchronizer? anything to it???

thanks

 

i would say sync gears are outta wack but im not a pro by any means

 

Yes, the syncro for the fifth gear is bad. There are sycros and rings that have to align as you shift through the gears. It is not uncommon for the fifth to go bad, but it still requires a rebuild. I was told that if you take the top cover off (shifter, shaft, bushings and such and look inside, you may be able to realign them. I have never been able to do it so I simply went to the "dirt place" and got a temporary tranny until I can have my original rebuilt. But if the other gears work good, then you are not too bad except on long drives where the 5th overdrive would be nice.

 

Even with a bad syncro, shouldn't you just be able to double clutch into 5th?

 

i've heard alot about double clutching...i know what it means with semi trucks, but i dont know about doing it in a car...anyone wanna tell me?

 

Same thing in a car. When you want to shift, push in in the clutch, put the transmission in neutral, let out clutch, match revs to the next gear, push in clutch, put the transmission into gear, let off clutch

 

I remember double-clutchin in the B-61 and B-81 Macks. That and the Twin Stick kept ya real busy. I mentioned double clutching in a conversation awhile back this guy thought I had two clutch pedals in my truck...
(Here's Your Sign...)

 

lmao. wow.... yeah, you can double clutch, or you can do a clutchless shift: when you shift, just let off the gas, and pop the trans outta gear, and match the revs for the next gear, just like in the double clutch. this can be hard to do, and will take some practice if youve never done it before. i still grind fourth in my truck...

 

yah i had to drive a old 1964 corbit (spelling) that thing had 3 sticks and something like 44 gears...man that sucked but thank god i wasnt pulling anything i just had to go like 2 miles and then load it onto a flat bed

 

I concur. Double clutching would work, actually pretty good for the M5R2 tranny. If you have been driving the truck for a while, you should feel when to shift. (Or maybe you have a light that tells you when). Just match the RPMs then move the shifter into gear, pressing the clutch isn't necesssary since you aren't disengaging the tranny from the engine through that method anyways for the 5th gear. There is only the small window of opportunity to "slip it in" otherwise it will miss and you could do further damage. Practice hearing the sound of the RPMs at shifting and you will do fine. It is actually pretty cool.

 

if you miss it, and the rpms drop too much, you can re-rev the engine and get a second shot, or clutch back into fourth, and try it again form there too.