Manual Transmission Club

[5JeepsAz]

First drive,

PCS’d from Hawaii to Bragg caught a red eye from NorCal to RDU, then picked up the JT. Manual rubi, 2” with 35s outta the box.
First, didn’t stall on the roll out from the dealer parking lot on 2 hours of sleep, so that’s a win! It’s been 13 years since I drove a manual and 5 since I sold my last motorcycle.
To jump to it, the drive is badass and fun! Yes first and second are short then a long jump to third, got it, took about 10 miles to get that down after reading all the reviews they helped a lot. I think the gearing is on purpose and definitely has off road applications and tow applications. Just think how annoying some trucks are going down steep grades, second gear gets rolling to fast and first is like crawling, JT gearing should work well.
The shifting. So obviously the start switch on the clutch, has to be completely on the floor to start. That’s how I put my seat position based off sitting back and not leaning forward or sliding forward to depress the clutch to start. Felt too far forward in the seat for me on the brake and gas, I drive more loose and further back for less over control on the brake and gas! Anyways, it work ok, then I found the fiction zone in the clutch, first 1/5 no effect on the clutch and last 2/5th’s of the clutch have no effect. So the middle is money no need for long peddle shifts. Once I forgives that out I went right to my seat position so my foot mostly stays on the floor with full ankle articulations for shifts and I just lean into it for starts.
As for the shifter, I was babying it first hour and was grabbing gears smooth, made me laugh at my self. After I quit pussyfooting around and deliberately put it in gear like a man, it got smooth. Now, I throw it in gear with confidence shifting is great I love the direct link short through, tones of feel. You shouldn’t ever hear a gear grind with this shifter, it’s either in or out. downshifts just fine too.
Reverse, I forgot how to Engage reverse so too a minute at back up. I was thinking come on dumbass, push down, tried the same thing like 5 times. I’m thinking oh great you can back up your truck have to park forwards tonight and look at the damn manual. Lol. After that minute passed I pushed down and slipped on the lock ring and then the lights came on. Got it!
Start from a stop with out over revving the engine. It’s hard to get the feeling right which the music up can’t hear the eng. stalled a few times. Messing around up 15 plus grades in 2 wheel high is challenging. It’s great in 4 low. I always shoot for a silky smooth roll off with no jolting, and no over revving. Throttle sensitivity is the same as clutch petal sensitivity so you have to learn that, it’ll stall it clutch comes out to far under 1k rpm. Over all no buyer’s remorse!
Pwr is fine, I look at the tach with this eng like a sport bike I have no problem after break in driving through pwr bands. This eng have higher tq hp in 4-6k range 6.5k max on the rpm, so use it eng noise is good it’s design to be a high rpm v6. 3-5 rpm is fine and normal, I did keep all shifting at 3k just for the drivetrain breaking a few over 3k but with 231miles I still need a few WOT runs. I also keep it low for watching fuel, I was curious, 2-2.4k flat ground was best for fuel in just about all gears. Damn fun car.
Oh yeah steering ha. Great feeling and response, you have to drive it! Rides like a caddie with the mopar 2” 35’s are about 39psi cold I think I’ll go down a few psi hot is 41-42.
Pic next to rented f150 crewcab.

Awesome ride along! Thank you. Great rig!!!

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[chrcal14]

Admittedly, I’ve only been driving mine for a couple days...and primarily on the flat lands of Indiana...but I’m not sure what everyone is freaking out about.

Starting in 1st takes finesse, 2nd is far too short, 5th and 6th are too close. I’m still working on the reverse to 1st and 1st to reverse shift, but I’ve got lockers now, so I kinda doubt I’ll be rocking myself out of deep mud anytime soon. My only regrets are not ordering the proximity locks and Premium soft top.

I hope Jeep follows these threads enough to know that the gears need to be tweaked, but I’m going to be fine with what I’ve got. On flat ground, this Jeep will still accelerate in 6th gear at 40mph. It’s much more smooth and easy to shift than the JK’s I’ve had over the years. I’m really looking forward to developing my craft with this one.

You will. Taking Hill Start off does seem to help with 1st if you haven't monkeyed with that yet.

Your take seems pretty close to mine, now that I have a few weeks under my belt, it's smooth sailing. Just had to retrain my brain.

First drive,

PCS’d from Hawaii to Bragg caught a red eye from NorCal to RDU, then picked up the JT. Manual rubi, 2” with 35s outta the box.
First, didn’t stall on the roll out from the dealer parking lot on 2 hours of sleep, so that’s a win! It’s been 13 years since I drove a manual and 5 since I sold my last motorcycle.
To jump to it, the drive is badass and fun! Yes first and second are short then a long jump to third, got it, took about 10 miles to get that down after reading all the reviews they helped a lot. I think the gearing is on purpose and definitely has off road applications and tow applications. Just think how annoying some trucks are going down steep grades, second gear gets rolling to fast and first is like crawling, JT gearing should work well.
The shifting. So obviously the start switch on the clutch, has to be completely on the floor to start. That’s how I put my seat position based off sitting back and not leaning forward or sliding forward to depress the clutch to start. Felt too far forward in the seat for me on the brake and gas, I drive more loose and further back for less over control on the brake and gas! Anyways, it work ok, then I found the fiction zone in the clutch, first 1/5 no effect on the clutch and last 2/5th’s of the clutch have no effect. So the middle is money no need for long peddle shifts. Once I forgives that out I went right to my seat position so my foot mostly stays on the floor with full ankle articulations for shifts and I just lean into it for starts.
As for the shifter, I was babying it first hour and was grabbing gears smooth, made me laugh at my self. After I quit pussyfooting around and deliberately put it in gear like a man, it got smooth. Now, I throw it in gear with confidence shifting is great I love the direct link short through, tones of feel. You shouldn’t ever hear a gear grind with this shifter, it’s either in or out. downshifts just fine too.
Reverse, I forgot how to Engage reverse so too a minute at back up. I was thinking come on dumbass, push down, tried the same thing like 5 times. I’m thinking oh great you can back up your truck have to park forwards tonight and look at the damn manual. Lol. After that minute passed I pushed down and slipped on the lock ring and then the lights came on. Got it!
Start from a stop with out over revving the engine. It’s hard to get the feeling right which the music up can’t hear the eng. stalled a few times. Messing around up 15 plus grades in 2 wheel high is challenging. It’s great in 4 low. I always shoot for a silky smooth roll off with no jolting, and no over revving. Throttle sensitivity is the same as clutch petal sensitivity so you have to learn that, it’ll stall it clutch comes out to far under 1k rpm. Over all no buyer’s remorse!
Pwr is fine, I look at the tach with this eng like a sport bike I have no problem after break in driving through pwr bands. This eng have higher tq hp in 4-6k range 6.5k max on the rpm, so use it eng noise is good it’s design to be a high rpm v6. 3-5 rpm is fine and normal, I did keep all shifting at 3k just for the drivetrain breaking a few over 3k but with 231miles I still need a few WOT runs. I also keep it low for watching fuel, I was curious, 2-2.4k flat ground was best for fuel in just about all gears. Damn fun car.
Oh yeah steering ha. Great feeling and response, you have to drive it! Rides like a caddie with the mopar 2” 35’s are about 39psi cold I think I’ll go down a few psi hot is 41-42.
Pic next to rented f150 crewcab.

Tons of good feedback and sounds like you're having fun. I have my tires quite a bit lower at 32 cold and thinking of dropping to 30, although not sure which ones you're running, they might like a little more pressure. BFG MT KM3 37s are pretty bubbly at 39 where the dealer had them. Got home and the outside inch or so of each tire had never touched the road.

Glad you're enjoying!

 

[Ghostrider29]

You will. Taking Hill Start off does seem to help with 1st if you haven't monkeyed with that yet.

Your take seems pretty close to mine, now that I have a few weeks under my belt, it's smooth sailing. Just had to retrain my brain.


Tons of good feedback and sounds like you're having fun. I have my tires quite a bit lower at 32 cold and thinking of dropping to 30, although not sure which ones you're running, they might like a little more pressure. BFG MT KM3 37s are pretty bubbly at 39 where the dealer had them. Got home and the outside inch or so of each tire had never touched the road.

Glad you're enjoying!

Nittos, with the mopar capable bead locks. I’m going to try 36-37 cold. Still sitting at 15.8 normal driving and 16.3 babying it. But 2.34$ per gallon not as worried, Hawaii was 3.24. I’m planing on getting the roto 2.0-2.5 for camping with the built right.

 

[chrcal14]

Nittos, with the mopar capable bead locks. I’m going to try 36-37 cold. Still sitting at 15.8 normal driving and 16.3 babying it. But 2.34$ per gallon not as worried, Hawaii was 3.24. I’m planing on getting the roto 2.0-2.5 for camping with the built right.

Nice. My average has come down from 17 to 16.5. That's probably me or it's reacting to to the bit of weight I added with bumper, winch and step sliders.

I should have scaled it before I started, last night I was 5780 with a quarter tank of gas and my couple hundred pounds in it.

Good thing I'm not worried about a lot of payload!

 

[hawkijon]

I think you will like the green, cant wait to see it.

“Picture from a gator thread” that’s one of the first gators down the line from Monday. I just moved to “G” status (trim stage)
Also, this guy is at it again, and will satisfy your towing wonders. I’m glad he figured out that the manual is rated for almost 50% less than the auto.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

“Picture from a gator thread” that’s one of the first gators down the line from Monday. I just moved to “G” status (trim stage)
Also, this guy is at it again, and will satisfy your towing wonders. I’m glad he figured out that the manual is rated for almost 50% less than the auto.

Heck yeah man, gator looks great!
I just watched that video i think it showcased that the manual towing isnt horrible and that first is probably too tall.

 

[hawkijon]

Heck yeah man, gator looks great!
I just watched that video i think it showcased that the manual towing isnt horrible and that first is probably too tall.

i couldnt agree more.. its definitely capable, even if its overloaded. The auto boys have nothing to worry about, and manuals can breathe easy.
on another note...my gator build is in "JB" status...only took 2 days to build...only a few more final inspections and it will be released for shipping queue....pretty cool

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

i couldnt agree more.. its definitely capable, even if its overloaded. The auto boys have nothing to worry about, and manuals can breathe easy.
on another note...my gator build is in "JB" status...only took 2 days to build...only a few more final inspections and it will be released for shipping queue....pretty cool

I would be driving to toledo and seeing if there was anything I could help do to finish it up.

 

[hawkijon]

I would be driving to toledo and seeing if there was anything I could help do to finish it up.

SHOTGUN!!!

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

SHOTGUN!!!

HA!

 

[chrcal14]

i couldnt agree more.. its definitely capable, even if its overloaded. The auto boys have nothing to worry about, and manuals can breathe easy.
on another note...my gator build is in "JB" status...only took 2 days to build...only a few more final inspections and it will be released for shipping queue....pretty cool

Nice, barring any shipping hold ups you could have it in a week!

 

[Puttyandnapalm]

Considering a 295/70/18 when my manual overland arrives. With 2 more inches of tire compared to stock, would I lose a bit of acceleration?

 

[Elwenil]

Going to larger diameter tires with either transmission will effectively raise your final gearing and cause you to lose some RPM and acceleration.

 

[solfrost]

So my Overland was just delivered on Wednesday evening, I've only put about ~30 miles on it so far, but I thought I'd chime in with my quick first impressions of the transmission. For context, I'm coming from an 2013 Miata that I daily-drove for the past six years. Basically I mostly just agree with what a lot of other folks have already said... 1st is short but it was super short on my Miata too so that's not a problem for me. 2nd is suuuper tall, it took me a couple trips to get used to it, just need to remember to hold on to 2nd a lot longer than I would in the tiny car heh. I spend most of my time in 3rd or 4th, and 4th was good up to ~50 and still staying fairly low on the tach. I haven't done much highway yet, 5th seems fine for an overdrive but I doubt I'll ever use 6th unless I'm going 80+.

I agree with the idea that having 2nd be a little shorter, and having less huge of a spread between 2-3-4 would have been a lot nicer than a 2nd overdrive gear I'll probably never use... but all that said, it's still a good drive, and I don't regret going manual for this one at all. The clutch is great, the shifts are easy and smooth, drives good. It's no Miata but who would expect that? I'm actually surprised at how good it is, I was expecting a lot worse based on what some folks have been saying.

If I had to have one actual complaint, it'd probably be how the reverse lockout ring works -- I keep grabbing it when I don't intend to, I'll need to break that habit. I'd have preferred some other kind of lockout for reverse than that, but no issues with it yet.

 

[chrcal14]

Considering a 295/70/18 when my manual overland arrives. With 2 more inches of tire compared to stock, would I lose a bit of acceleration?

There's enough gear there that I can't see it being an issue. That's a pretty small increase in size. About a quarter inch less than a 35.

You just might have to run the gears a little longer if you want to feel acceleration.

Any opinion I've had of the gears is based on the notion of babying it along as minimally as possible. Even with 37s, if you stand on it, it goes more than adequately for a straight axled big tire pickup.

Great thing for us is we get to pick our gears and how long we're in them.

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