New Student - Manual Transmisson - Never Done!

A lot of rental car companies have them. I have rented both a mustang and a jeep that had manual tranny's.

Yes though you are correct, country is pretty lazy!

 

i've driven manuals all my life, but i learned to shift asynchronous transmissions by watching some videos on youtube, more or less. Come in to it knowing the basics, and then its just smoothing out the details.

 

You'll be fine. Shifting a truck is different from a car, so you might even have an advantage because you won't have to "unlearn" bad habits.

 

Isn't that the truth. Been driving an ol hand shaker for since I was 15.

 

in school the instructor said it is easier to teach people that have never driven a standard
then us who have

 

They say that, but I don't buy it. Some people who hadn't driven a stick did fantastic, but others couldn't get used to the clutch and were missing the gates (especially 3 and 5 up shifting a 9sp) Anyone can do it, and I still say the key is to be calm. Time it right, and keep your movements smooth, and those both come easier when you're calm and relaxed.

 

I learned way back with manual transmissions, then drove very little for a few years, and when I did they were mostly automatics. When I went to truck school, I realized that the only thing the same between a semi and a car is the motion of moving the stick from gear slot to gear slot (different patterns, obviously). So yeah, having a clean slate might actually be an advantage. When I was home last time, I bought a sporty 6-speed BMW, and proceeded to grind the gears a couple times trying to float it... Silly me. Next time I'm getting one of those automated manuals with the flappy paddles on the wheel for shifting. The benefits of a manual, without the confusion from truck to car. You'll do fine, just take it slow...

 

It is by far, better NOT to have driven a stick and learn how to do so with a big rig than to have learned and be confused by bad habits. There are simple rules to shifting a truck.
1). Know the operating range of the transmission (and ask what it is when you get into the truck). This is the RPM range up or down that the engine must reach between gears and it can vary by as much as 200 RPM (that's revolutions per minute).
2). When up shifting, allow the engine speed to drop slowly while moving the gear lever to the next gear up (it's usually about 400-500 RPM's). You really don't need to even use the clutch if your ear is tuned and double-clutching (that's clutching to get out of gear, then clutching again in neutral in between gears before going into the next gear) is generally done by new drivers (us old farts need to save our knees for things like climbing into and out of the truck).
3). Going down hills: Find the gear you need to be in BEFORE the downgrade. You really don't want to have to change gears on a downgrade but, if you do find you must, get to the next gear by getting the engine speed low enough to make the change. This means hard braking, clutching, revving up into the next lower gear's operating range and shifting. Remember that the acceleration of the vehicle on a downgrade equates proportionately with the operating range of the gears so, if you miss the gear, you're in a world of hurt as the vehicle can 'run away' from you. Many a driver has wrecked a truck because they lost control of the vehicle on a downhill grade.
4). Upgrades. (getting nervous yet?): Not as deadly dangerous as a runaway downgrade but a good place to snap your drive shaft if your truck speed is not matched with your transmission speed and you 'pop' the clutch. If you're loosing your 'pull' on the hill, it'll be necessary to grab a lower gear or bog down and stall (not good - you don't want to have to start out part way up a hill). My truck has a 400 RPM range so I'll let it get to about 1200 RPM's before shifting to a lower gear (bringing engine RPM's up to 1500 as I shift down to the next lower gear - the vehicle will slow down between shifts enough to make up for the other 100 RPM's in the range).
Are we having fun yet?
If this sounds confusing... it should cause I'm getting confused trying to say it properly... in fact, I might have botched it all up.

It's different doing it than saying it... up shift, rev down, down shift, rev up... something like that.