I"m surprised that down-shifting would damage the clutch, other than normal wear and tear. I've heard that it's the preferred way to slow-down. I find it gives me more control, plus saves on brake jobs in the long run. (I've owned my Ranger 4x4 2.9l for four years, and put 40,000 plus km on it and have not yet needed a brake job. I had to replace the clutch right after I bought it but it was on its way out already.)

As for power shifting, I always use the clutch, but I check my tachometer before changing gears and give it a shot of gas so the rpms are at least 2,000. This is supposed to save wear and tear on the clutch and transmission.

 

I do see the shots of the cockpit and them shifting, but I saw somewhere on a TV show about nacar trannys that they used a tranny with straight gears so they can shift w/o a clutch on short twisty tracks. I must have something messed up.

A clutch should last over 100k if driven right. You don't want to use the engine to slow you down, for a few reasons.

1. Use more gas (even if your pedal is at idle, the engine is still being fed lots of fuel).

2. Brake pads are cheap

3. Clutches and their install is 500+

4. More engine wear because you're engine isn't at idle when it could be. The faster you spin the engine, the more wear and tear.

I always put it in neutral when i know I'm slowing down to a stop, or if i know i need to downshift ahead. That way, the engine is at idle the whole time you're trying to stop, no clutch wear, no engine wear, no extra fuel being burned, and besides, the engine will only slow you down a noticeable amount in 1st and 2nd gear, 3rd+ it hardly does anything so why bother?

Unless you perfectly match the engine speed and tranny speed when you up/downshift, you wear the clutch when you let it out. More often than not, you cannot perfectly downshift the tranny w/o having the clutch be the one to match the engine/tranny speed. If you can d/shift and perfectly match the engine and tranny speed then ur not doing much harm to the clutch. A good way to really know if you have the speeds matched, is downshift like normal and let the clutch out really fast, if the truck bucks at all then you didn't perfectly match the engine and tranny and you wore out your clutch a tad. Anytime that clutch is not all the way out...or all the way in, you're putting wear and tear on it(when in gear). Also, you're wearing out the throw-out bearing and other parts when you keep pushing the clutch in and out, and if you push the clutch in and leave it in while you're moving.

When I take off, I barely touch the gas, the RPMS do not go above 1000. Just enough to take off smoothly and not bog/stall the engine. That way it gives you the least amount of wear and tear. When I accelerate and upshift, I let the clutch out really fast, bascially dumping it, but when i do, i have the engine and tranny speed matched so it doesn't buck, again, barely no wear and tear. I try to stay in the gear i am when i can, unless i know ahead of time that i have to slow down and downshift or stop. If i'm going 40 in 4th, and need to stop, i put it in neutral and use the brakes. If i'm going 40 and need to go 20, i put it in neutral and then when i get to 20mph, i put it in 3rd, use the gas to make the rpms about 1300, and dump the clutch. At those speeds the engine is matched w/ the tranny and theres no wear and tear when i let the clutch out. It takes practice, and experience of driving the particular vehicle to know what rpms the engine is matched with the tranny at what MPH your going. See how I knew 1300 at 20mph is where the sweet spot is? Just takes practice.


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Thats it for now, saving for a stang. Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

Ah, Yes, I remember you. Weren't you the one who first asked the question about power-shifting w/o a clutch?

Anybody else have an opinion on this? I've always wondered about clutching, power clutching and double clutching. I learned power clutching (with a clutch) from a friend who hired me to chauffeur him around in his middle-management job after he lost his license due to an impaired charge. (He had a nice Z24 Chev Cavalier 3.5l) My friend has never replaced the clutch on his car, although he had to replace a lot of other things, but perhaps he was wrong.;-)

 

...this is my post on powershifting, look up.


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Thats it for now, saving for a stang. Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

Just use the clutch. Your transmission will thank you for it later. If you plan on keeping this truck for a while, you'll be glad you used the clutch.

You seem to be too worried about clutch wear, and not worried enough about what you're eventually going to do to your transmission by "powershifting". When you shift 1-2, 2-3, etc normally, clutch wear is very very small.

Since your truck has a fast idle condition when you shift, here's my advice. Use the clutch, shift into the next gear, and BEFORE getting back on the gas, let the clutch out a little slower than you usually would. This will prevent the jerky shift. You won't cause much wear on the clutch. Your engine isn't making much torque when the throttle is nearly closed. I drove my old Ranger like this (which also had the fast idle problem), and finally replaced the clutch after 130,000 miles of city driving.

It's fun to learn clutchless shifting, but do it on a vehicle you don't really care about. I know you like that truck. You won't like it as much when the synchros start to show the effects of abuse.

Replace clutch = $250.
Rebuild Transmission = $1500

Just my opinion.
Scott

'87 F250HD.

 

>Just use the clutch. Your transmission will thank you for
>it later. If you plan on keeping this truck for a while,
>you'll be glad you used the clutch.
>
>You seem to be too worried about clutch wear, and not
>worried enough about what you're eventually going to do to
>your transmission by "powershifting". When you shift 1-2,
>2-3, etc normally, clutch wear is very very small.
>
>Since your truck has a fast idle condition when you shift,
>here's my advice. Use the clutch, shift into the next gear,
>and BEFORE getting back on the gas, let the clutch out a
>little slower than you usually would. This will prevent the
>jerky shift. You won't cause much wear on the clutch. Your
>engine isn't making much torque when the throttle is nearly
>closed. I drove my old Ranger like this (which also had the
>fast idle problem), and finally replaced the clutch after
>130,000 miles of city driving.
>
>It's fun to learn clutchless shifting, but do it on a
>vehicle you don't really care about. I know you like that
>truck. You won't like it as much when the synchros start to
>show the effects of abuse.
>
>Replace clutch = $250.
>Rebuild Transmission = $1500
>
>Just my opinion.
>Scott
>
>'87 F250HD.

I don't have a fast idle problem, I just have a problem that makes the RPMs slowly decline between shifts and in my case i have to use the clutch to lower the engine RPMs when i need to shift quickly. I don't powershift anymore, but i thought that if it didn't do anything to the tranny why not, but if it does then you're right its obviously not worth it. Also, I don't have my foot on the gas when i let the clutch out to shift and it's not jerky when I shift, its just a long story but i got my answer and that is that powershifting isn't a great idea because it is harmful to the tranny. If it wasn't harmful then i'd do it.

Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Thats it for now, saving for a stang. Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

Brakes are designed to slow/stop with. Transmissions are not. Don't use the transmission to slow down i.e. downshift. This does not apply to nascar racing transmissions for they are designed for the abuse(and cost lots more).

 

Grade ahead truckers use low gear. In the mountains if you use just your brakes they tend to fade when they get hot. When wheeling on steep trails I use 4LO quite a bit to hold my speed down.

Wes