Lets talk manual transmission and stalling.

[Brian35]

You're doing it terribly wrong... but hey it's your clutch, burn it if you want.

Onebigyoshi that was me. I stand by my teachings. I'm a mechanic, I know how these things work, I've raced dozens of cars and built dozens more. I see people drive their manuals wrong all the time. What you're describing is causing tons of unnecessary wear and tear and it should definitely not feel right. Unless you've just trained yourself to feel like this terrible habit is normal. Makes me shudder as much as you soon to be warped flywheel will soon.


This manual transmission is awesome, really one of the best on the market. I've got 4000 km on mine and havent ground a single gear shift, which blows my mind. The clutch took a little while to get used to in the first few days, but now I adore it. I put a magnaflow exhaust on mine ($406 black friday!) And it definitely helps with hearing the engine over my music.

Could you shed some light on the proper way for a noob like myself? Im doing fine driving but dont want to develop bad habits and not realize it.

Sponsored

 

[firemedic2714]

I've stalled mine a grand total of twice since owning... the first coming off of my wife's JKU during my first day of ownership, and the second on a slow creep into a parking garage. Both were just mild learning curve issues that you'd have with any manual transmission.

I've owned about 30 cars/vehicles in my life, most of them manual. People saying the manual din the JT is junk simply don't know what they're talking about. In fact, I'd say it's better than most manuals I've had (save for gems like the one in the Miata, for example, but WAY better than manuals I've had in my older Porsches).

And for those who DON'T think it's very good, they should either try an older Jeep with a manual, or simply shut up and be glad we can get one at all.

I love your last sentence. Well said.

 

[HTXGladiator]

Just something I've learned in Houston traffic. On the Rubicon:
1st gear idles at 3mph
2nd gear idles at 6mph
and 3rd gear idles at 12mph

 

[firemedic2714]

Don't sweat it.

Also had some embarrassing stalls this summer. Went to launch my kayak in a local pond and go to pull out when the bottom of my flip flops hooked the floor mat caused me enough hesitation to stall did this again when coming out. The whole time there is a group of campers right there.

Don't sweat it. You're human and most of those people probably can't drive a stick anyway. I know when I hear someone stall a manual, I'm thinkin'.....

 

[firemedic2714]

Thanks for the info. In my book that is another plus for the 6-speed. I was not looking forward to the stop/start or having to remember to push the button every start up. I rarely put a manual in neutral at a light, so that takes care of that! Then again, it would be kinda cool if it restarted immediately after an inadvertent stall as soon as the clutch was pushed back in. Oh well.

The manual DOES have the auto start/stop (ASS). It is annoying esp. if you've forgotten to shut the ASS off. I routinely sit at a stop light with it in neutral and my foot off the clutch pedal. The light will turn green and me engaging the clutch, shifting into first, and releasing the clutch will be faster than the computer restarting the engine putting me into a stall. This was only a problem early on until I figured out what was causing it. Very. Frustrating. You'll quickly learn to shut the ASS off as soon as you've started the engine.

 

[Hipbilly]

...You'll quickly learn to shut the ASS off as soon as you've started the engine.

Yup. I start the engine with my hand in the form of "the rocker", index to start, pinky to kill the ASS as soon as the engine fires....

 

[firemedic2714]

Just something I've learned in Houston traffic. On the Rubicon:
1st gear idles at 3mph
2nd gear idles at 6mph
and 3rd gear idles at 12mph

St. Louis is pretty hilly and I relish the stretches of road that are downhill and traffic is moving at the right speed where I can just use the brakes and give my left leg and the clutch a break.

 

[jimbom]

St. Louis is pretty hilly and I relish the stretches of road that are downhill and traffic is moving at the right speed where I can just use the brakes and give my left leg and the clutch a break.

In gear and engine braking, right? It's even better when traffic is at a speed where you don't even have to touch the brakes. I do this in my 8-speed Ram whenever I can, as well.

 

[firemedic2714]

In gear and engine braking, right? It's even better when traffic is at a speed where you don't even have to touch the brakes. I do this in my 8-speed Ram whenever I can, as well.

I'm talking about in neutral and downhill gravity is pulling me forward. It's rare, but really nice. All of my cars have manuals and I will keep them in gear as long as possible using the clutch as little as I have to leaving quite a bit of space in front of me sometimes. I will close the gap if I'm within the next cycle of whatever stop light's in front of me so I'm not delaying anyone behind me.

 

[jimbom]

I'm talking about in neutral and downhill gravity is pulling me forward. It's rare, but really nice. All of my cars have manuals and I will keep them in gear as long as possible using the clutch as little as I have to leaving quite a bit of space in front of me sometimes. I will close the gap if I'm within the next cycle of whatever stop light's in front of me so I'm not delaying anyone behind me.

Yes, it IS great to be able to coast when you can. There's a winding stretch of road coming back from the mountains 4 hours away where I've been able to coast continuously for just over 5 miles, all the while within 10 MPH of the speed limit without touching the brakes. (If there's traffic, they always screw that up for me.)

And that's another plus for the 6-speed. The owner's manual warns that it can damage the 8-speed transmission to coast in N.

 

[davidl1234]

I got the 6speed manual Rubicon a couple weeks ago...the first manual I have had in 7 years (ironically the last one being a 2door wrangler). My take is that it is the easiest clutch to push in of any truck I have had or driven which is limited to tacomas, wrangler and a tundra. It does not push your knee to your chest with some ungodly force like some trucks gone by, that being said, the catch point is not as obvious as it was in the past. I figured the catch point out quickly on the first test drive and have never stalled it because of the clutch feel. I have stalled it because of that auto start/stop feature once because it is so damn quiet and when I had thought I turned it off, I had actually turned on the heated steering wheel instead (all thanks to the current sun glare and crappy sunglasses). And the other time I stalled it was because I totally forgot for a split second that I now had a manual and didn't push the clutch in.

As for shifting, the feel is pretty precise especially for a truck. Coming from a RAM, my dog doesn't have as much room in the front seat so she rests her head on my arm while I'm waiting to shift. I can shift 1 through 4 with a flick of the wrist and she doesn't take her head off my arm. So I don't bother her too bad. It's not an ideal feeling, but when you are trying to make your dog happy, you do what you need to do...

As for the gearing, 1st is really short and I wish it was longer....probably would be perfect if this was a 5speed. That being said, I am not a huge off roader so I don't know if a short 1st gear is whats needed for tough trails. Not sure what the ratio is like on the other models that don't have the 4.10 I think for the most part living where I do I end up in 4th as my general cruising gear and barely see 5th and hardly ever see 6th.

I read and watched all the reviews about the manual being crappy....I don't really know what they were smoking. Every car and truck is different and you just get used to how yours drives. My wife isn't that great with a manual and she picked this up really quick and has not stalled it once.

LONG LIVE THE MANUAL TRANSMISSION!

 

[firemedic2714]

Yes, it IS great to be able to coast when you can. There's a winding stretch of road coming back from the mountains 4 hours away where I've been able to coast continuously for just over 5 miles, all the while within 10 MPH of the speed limit without touching the brakes. (If there's traffic, they always screw that up for me.)

And that's another plus for the 6-speed. The owner's manual warns that it can damage the 8-speed transmission to coast in N.

You are preaching to the choir. Coasting 5 straight miles. That's fantastic. If the 6-speed would have cost me $2k instead of saving me $2k, I still would have gotten it.

 

[chrgr739]

i have always had some form of manual transmission in my life, i just got rid of a 2017 Subraru WRX with the 6sp manual in it... and the whole time i owned it i think i only stalled it twice... i stalled my JT twice on the way home from the dealer. its a rubicon with 4.10s but what complicated matters is that the dealer lifted it with 37s.
as others have stated it likes to be wound up a little bit, and the engagement point is very narrow in the travel of the clutch pedal.

 

[homerun]

i have always had some form of manual transmission in my life, i just got rid of a 2017 Subraru WRX with the 6sp manual in it... and the whole time i owned it i think i only stalled it twice... i stalled my JT twice on the way home from the dealer. its a rubicon with 4.10s but what complicated matters is that the dealer lifted it with 37s.
as others have stated it likes to be wound up a little bit, and the engagement point is very narrow in the travel of the clutch pedal.

Nice JT I see you are just down the way from me. Let me know if you want to check out some 4x4 trails this summer. Nothing to serious as I do not have a lift or 37s on my JT yet, but I do have a 6 speed!

 

[chrgr739]

Nice,

we are always looking for people to go wheeling with, we have a few TJs as well.
Are you a member of any clubs? we just joined the Mountaineers last year.

Sponsored