Teaching kid stick shift

RiverBBQ

god help me show this kid the way to shift gears. Easy on clutch boy!! 

lkapigian

I learned on a stick and taught my kids on a stick....taught them to go up without the clutch , come down with......big empty parking lots 

RiverBBQ

Big empty church lot, he did pretty well. Keep going to 5th. This is a life lesson that will go on forever. If he gets this I’m not worried about the future . It’s a lost art

RiverBBQ

Can’t post video

SmokeyPitt

FWIW it clicked with my boy when he watched some Youtube videos. I thought I was doing an okay job coaching but apparently random internet strangers did a better job. 

SmokeyPitt

Now his Jeep has an upgraded security system.

northGAcock

Both my kids learned on a manual tramission. I figured if ever in an emergency situation, that was the only option....it would be a value. Great life lesson....but becoming less relevant. 

bgebrent

Taught my kids on a manual.  My youngest son chose to get a Jetta with a manual.  He loves it.

lkapigian

How many remember 3 on the tree

bgebrent

lkapigian said:

How many remember 3 on the tree

We have a ‘71 landcruiser with 3 on the tree.  It’s what I learned on.

frazzdaddy

lkapigian said:

How many remember 3 on the tree

I bark the tires on my dads pick up going to second. 

DoubleEgger

It’s a skill needed if you want to rent a car in Europe. Automatics are fairly rare and expensive to rent. 

Jeremiah

Learned in a race car. They made me start out in third gear. Probably wise looking back now. 

TN_Egger

I learned on this.  Made it a point to teach my kids on a manual, but now (5, 8, and 11 years later) they probably couldn't drive one if they had to. 

RiverBBQ

I learned in 4low CJ-7. Teaching him 4 low Cummins ram. No throttle take off, just hope he remembers clutch is only way to stop truck. Maybe dirt bike learinig will help. 2nd ever driven for me was a 71 Chevy truck 3 on tree. 

RRP

This is no lie - I grew up using a stick - on the floor, on the column, and on the tunnel (my '56 MGA). I had never even driven an automatic until I was 21 and had to drive it to get a drunk buddy home in his car.

bucky925

Learned on a 3 on the tree, taught my wife (then a girlfriend ) and daughter to drive a manual.  The very first thing I told them is above all else the steering wheel and brake peddle still work the same!

WeberWho

I first learned how to shift gears on a Yamaha YSR as a kid. I was tossed the keys to my Dad's car when I was 14 when he and his friends were drinking a few beers out in the garage. My Dad had me roll down the driveway over and over to grab first gear. (I understood how to work a clutch from the motorcycle) I was hooked. I haven't bought a car/truck other than in manual transmission. 

I taught my wife and she now has a manual transmission herself. One of my two sisters car is a manual. Both parents vehicles are as well. 

It's a sad to see so many car/trucks lose the option in manual. Very cool to see you teach your son the joy of driving a stick shift!

Botch

lkapigian said:

How many remember 3 on the tree

My "babe-magnet"[/not] 1970 Ford Maverick had one, with a large, metal, chrome-plated stick that took the skin off your palm in the summer, after walking beans all day; a second use for that unpaired sock.  
 
Dad taught me to shift on an early-50's Allis Chalmers, 3 speed, when I was nine; started driving his F-100 soon after, and had my Maverick at 15 (young driving age in mid-70's South Dakota).  

frazzdaddy

RRP said:

This is no lie - I grew up using a stick - on the floor, on the column, and on the tunnel (my '56 MGA). I had never even driven an automatic until I was 21 and had to drive it to get a drunk buddy home in his car.

Farmall cub, 140, Volvo p1800s ,Karmen ghia and a TR6 for me.

ryantt

First car was a Honda CRX SI woth a 5 speed.   Man I miss that thing.   Now I drive a 6 speed Golf GTI and a 5 Speed Jetta.  Love them 

Gulfcoastguy

lkapigian said:

How many remember 3 on the tree

Remember but dislike. Floor shift is much better.

GrillSgt

Taught my sister, wife and 2 daughters on a tractor. 72 78 94 96. 

Had a 64 Mercedes, rust bucket that had to be parked on a hill, with 4 on the column. 

Gulfcoastguy

I had the misfortune of teaching my kid sister. I took her to a hill in an illegal dump, go out and told her to take it to the top. Starting on a hill is the hard part . Do that and you have it beat. 

GrateEggspectations

DoubleEgger said:

It’s a skill needed if you want to rent a car in Europe. Automatics are fairly rare and expensive to rent. 

I can attest to this first hand. I was forced to drive the narrow and winding hills of Volterra (and many other cities with such driving conditions) in Italy after having attempted stick shift only a couple of times. Even witnessed a bad motorcycle accident on the way up.

Killit_and_Grillit

Good for you! I’m gonna end up paying a fortune to buy an old car to teach my kids a stick just so they don’t destroy our antique tractor. 

Im an “elder millennial” apparently but I didn’t start driving an automatic until a few years ago. 

Since I learned to drive while shifting gears and talking on a cell phone that charged by the minute kinda gives you Jedi status, right? 

GrateEggspectations

My father, a patient and eminently logical man, taught me the secret of driving a manual transmission after several friends had briefly tried without it taking. 

He had me put the car in first and very slowly and gradually take my foot off of the clutch until the gear engaged and the car moved forward without any use of the gas pedal. Finding the point at which the car’s clutch was the key. From then on, it was gravy. 

Foghorn

frazzdaddy said:

RRP said:

This is no lie - I grew up using a stick - on the floor, on the column, and on the tunnel (my '56 MGA). I had never even driven an automatic until I was 21 and had to drive it to get a drunk buddy home in his car.

Farmall cub, 140, Volvo p1800s ,Karmen ghia and a TR6 for me.

I haven't heard anyone mention a p1800 for decades.  My great uncle owned a Volvo dealership when I was a kid.  I always wanted one of those.  By the time I was old enough to drive he had died and his alcoholic son had bankrupted the dealership...

RRP

This thread has been a flash back for me. Way back in 1959 I taught my buddy how to double cluck the 1949 Ford that his parents bought for him. To this day I can still visualize Dave slamming his foot on the floor and slipping it off as quickly has his hand shifted the column shift.

bubbajack

Coon hunting in a Ford F-100, 3 on a tree, when I was a teen.

alaskanassasin

I learned on a 96 f250 diesel, and a 93? bmw 318i. Broad spectrum there, it was way easier to get the truck rolling but the once I got the bimmer throttle clutch ratio down well let’s just say I wasn’t allowed to drive it unsupervised very often.