Teaching Mrs WD to drive vs teaching me to dance

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

So the time came when Mrs WD wanted to drive - WD ( our 1947 Dodge WD-15 truck).
WD has a 3 speed transmission with no synchros on 1st and essentially none on 2nd. You can get from 3rd to second without a sound, but upshifting from 1st to second requires patience and double clutching. For the life of me I cannot explain double clutching to her, especially since it is only necessary on the 1-2 upshift and 3-2 downshift ( I admit I do 2-1 on occasion, but she isn't ready to go there yet).
She gets the motions, but I cannot explain the theory in a way that makes sense to her, so she only kind of gets it. It's almost exactly what happens when she tries to teach me to dance. I know where to put my feet, but I have no idea why.

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

You could get some lego technic gears and pieces.

Build a gearbox, use one of the lego electric motors and put a speed control on it.

Then you'd have an open air illustration of rev-matching into gears.

Match the engine with clutch engaged to where the input gear needs to be to spin at the same speed as the new output gear, then engage new gear with putting the clutch back to dis-engaged, then re-engage clutch.

Sometimes seeing it in action might help a lot, same as a mirror or video with a dance.

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

The thing about dancing is people tend to not have the same dimensions.

There has to be an adoption from person to person to perform the same dance.

Do you move by angle of limbs or distance of motion?

There is indeed a difference between where to place your feet and why.

The why is a desirable form in motion.

Dancing is something I have to see an example as I go to learn. Head knowledge alone will not do it.

pete3799 · pete3799's Garage

Take her for a drive and shift without using the clutch at all. When she sees that you can get it into (and out of) gear when the revs of the motor match the revs of the trans. it may sink in that THE DRIVER is the synchronizer for the transmission.

island911 · 05-03-2018, 06:50 PM

Beautiful truck.

Why not fix the synchro on 2nd?

Bill Douglas · 05-03-2018, 07:12 PM

That's hardly fair. You know, the fact that driving comes naturally.

oldE · 05-04-2018, 03:36 AM

Try explaining it this way.

The transmission, or gearbox of the vehicle holds the gears which allow the driver to match the engine speed with the road speed of the vehicle. If there was only one gear, the engine would lug at low speed and scream at highway speed. The gears use cogs of different ratios so the engine is operating in a good range, neither too fast nor too slow.
Because the gears are different ratios, they are spinning at different speeds. When you change gears, the gears have to be brought to the proper speed so they match or mesh. This is the job of the synchronizers. If they are not working or not present, you get a grinding noise.
To prevent the grinding and allow the gears to mesh, we push the clutch pedal to disengage the clutch, shift into neutral, re engage the clutch to get the gears spinning again with no load, then push the clutch again to allow us to shift into the new gear.
This is all done to make sure the gears inside the transmission are spinning at the right speeds so there is no grinding noise. It is the mark of an experienced driver.

Good luck.
Les

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by island911

Beautiful truck.

Why not fix the synchro on 2nd?

Thanks. All in good time on the synchros. I’ve got a shop to build and a 911 engine to put back together first.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldE

Try explaining it this way.

The transmission, or gearbox of the vehicle holds the gears which allow the driver to match the engine speed with the road speed of the vehicle.
Les

At this point her eyes start to glaze over.
I like your sig line. Rindt was one of my favorite drivers.

wildthing · 05-05-2018, 05:52 AM

Two ballerinas in a pirouette. They have to be spinning in sync to look beautiful...

scottmandue · 05-05-2018, 08:53 AM

Beautiful truck! (There is a ratty old primer grey Chevy for sale in my neighborhood but I'n sure the guy will call it a classic and ask big $$$)

Teaching your wife depends a lot on your relationship... teaching anyone driving can be interesting... teaching three on a tree can be even more interesting...

YMMV

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Beautiful truck! (There is a ratty old primer grey Chevy for sale in my neighborhood but I'n sure the guy will call it a classic and ask big $$$)

Teaching your wife depends a lot on your relationship... teaching anyone driving can be interesting... teaching three on a tree can be even more interesting...

YMMV

And this tree is on the floor. There is a special feel about a transmission that has your hand on one end of the stick and the shift rails on the other.

scottmandue · 05-05-2018, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

And this tree is on the floor. There is a special feel about a transmission that has your hand on one end of the stick and the shift rails on the other.

My bad, my only experience with vintage 3 speeds was with the steering wheel mounting.