Shift ! Shift! Shift! Aaaggggg !

Acxman

JK Enthusiast
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Sep 2, 2022
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Washington, michigan
Hi All, Just picked up my first Jeep. Wrangler jk. 2008 3.8 6 speed. I’ve had stick shifts in the past, but only 3 and 5 speeds. 6 speeds seems a little over kill to me. Anyway, my question is, how many of you shift thru EVERY gear when normal street driving . Or how many of you go from say 3rd to 5th or say, 2nd to 4th ?

I love sticks but going through every gear every time seems unnecessary!

Thanks for your input
Tom
 
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My TJUR was a 6 speed and in normal driving I only used 1-4 and sometimes 5, but never 6. I just never found myself in a position where 6 was needed or wanted. In my JK, which is an auto, first I have ever had in a Jeep, it moves fast enough down the highway that I am pretty certain I would use 6th (if it were a stick).
 
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what gear are the diff's? I had the 3.21's and the 3.8 didn't like it at all. 4.10 gears make it enjoyable to drive. 1st to 3rd most of the time. With 3.21 gears 6th was useless.
 
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Hi All, Just picked up my first Jeep. Wrangler jk. 2008 3.8 6 speed. I’ve had stick shifts in the past, but only 3 and 5 speeds. 6 speeds seems a little over kill to me.
It's really not. The Wrangler 6 speed has one overdrive gear, at 0.69. 5th is a 1:1. That means those 5 gears have closer ratios, which allows you to choose shift points that keep the engine in the powerband. There are really good reasons why high end performance cars all have 8-10 gears. OK, so the Koenigsegg Regera doesn't have a transmission at all, but every other performance car does.
Anyway, my question is, how many of you shift thru EVERY gear when normal street driving .
One of the great things about manual transmissions is that you can pick the gear you think best at any given moment.
Or how many of you go from say 3rd to 5th or say, 2nd to 4th ?
Lots, I'm betting.
I love sticks but going through every gear every time seems unnecessary!
It is. So pick the gear you want.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with skip shifting. The only time you really need to go through all the gears is when you need or want maximum acceleration.

GM introduced forced skip shift on Corvettes in the '80's. And it's been on pretty much every performance car made in America since the '90's. It was done to improve Corporate average mileage. Basically, if you're accelerating slowly and shift at a low RPM, a solenoid forces a 1st to 4th shift. Many people hated it, and it can be defeated with a $15 skip shift eliminator.
 
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I skip gears, usually 5th gear is what I skip as 6th seems fine on the freeway for me. At times I take off in 2nd gear, just depends on the area, like a stop sign every block. I just leave it in 2nd, what’s the point of speeding up to just stop in a few yards.
 
Hi All, Just picked up my first Jeep. Wrangler jk. 2008 3.8 6 speed. I’ve had stick shifts in the past, but only 3 and 5 speeds. 6 speeds seems a little over kill to me. Anyway, my question is, how many of you shift thru EVERY gear when normal street driving . Or how many of you go from say 3rd to 5th or say, 2nd to 4th ?

I love sticks but going through every gear every time seems unnecessary!

Thanks for your input
Tom
Unless I get on the freeway I typically never go past 4th gear. I live in the suburbs so the speed limit is 40 mph and under. My tires are slightly taller than stock tires and the rear end ratio is somewhere in the 3's so I don't have to shift as often as someone that has a high ratio rear end. I typically use 5th gear on the freeway and don't shift into 6th gear unless traffic is light.
 
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I’ve got the 4.10’s with the stock size tires, so 6th works pretty well on the freeway, assuming it is flat. I plan on going to 34” or 35”, just can’t decide at the moment. Seems like 34” would work well since I am not sure if I want to change the gears.
 
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I’ve got the 4.10’s with the stock size tires, so 6th works pretty well on the freeway, assuming it is flat. I plan on going to 34” or 35”, just can’t decide at the moment. Seems like 34” would work well since I am not sure if I want to change the gears.
I've got 35's with the 4.10's and they work fine. My wife has the 4.10's with the auto, and it could use a little more gear. I think that's down to the engine. Her's is a 2011, so it's for the 205HP 3.8L. Mine is a '13, so it's got the more desirable 285HP 3.6L.
 
I rev high and I do skip gears a lot, very loud with my Magnaflow. I rarely go on the highway ( have fun back roads to get anywhere). With the 3.8 the only time I can put it in 6th is going down hill.
 
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I've got 35's with the 4.10's and they work fine. My wife has the 4.10's with the auto, and it could use a little more gear. I think that's down to the engine. Her's is a 2011, so it's for the 205HP 3.8L. Mine is a '13, so it's got the more desirable 285HP 3.6L.
Thank you for the info @Dirty Dog That has been one of my concerns is lost of performance, more off road then on. I’m of the mindset a Jeep is for “Jeepin” so whatever mod’s I do is to enhance the off-road / maintain the off-road capabilities. It’s my DD too so not saying I want a terrible vehicle but it is Jeep and when I go Jeepin, I want it to go.
 
Thank you for the info @Dirty Dog That has been one of my concerns is lost of performance, more off road then on. I’m of the mindset a Jeep is for “Jeepin” so whatever mod’s I do is to enhance the off-road / maintain the off-road capabilities. It’s my DD too so not saying I want a terrible vehicle but it is Jeep and when I go Jeepin, I want it to go.
I've got a firm No Trailer Queen policy.
Some years ago, I competed in 4 Wheeler Magazines Real Truck Club Challenge in my Ram 1500. The competition was roughly 1500 miles from our home. Before any of the events, there were photos and inspections. This conversation took place:
4WM guy: Where's your trailer?
Me: Trailer?
4WM guy: Yeah. How did you get it out here?
Me: I drove it. It's supposed to be Real Trucks, right?
4WM guy: What if you break it?
Me: I won't. Or I'll fix it. And drive it home.

Ultimately, I snapped the rear driveshaft. Went to a junk yard, got a driveshaft of the right diameter. Cut the yokes off mine, cut the "new" one to length, welded my yokes in and reinstalled it. Ran the last event, and drove home.
 
I've got a firm No Trailer Queen policy.
Some years ago, I competed in 4 Wheeler Magazines Real Truck Club Challenge in my Ram 1500. The competition was roughly 1500 miles from our home. Before any of the events, there were photos and inspections. This conversation took place:
4WM guy: Where's your trailer?
Me: Trailer?
4WM guy: Yeah. How did you get it out here?
Me: I drove it. It's supposed to be Real Trucks, right?
4WM guy: What if you break it?
Me: I won't. Or I'll fix it. And drive it home.

Ultimately, I snapped the rear driveshaft. Went to a junk yard, got a driveshaft of the right diameter. Cut the yokes off mine, cut the "new" one to length, welded my yokes in and reinstalled it. Ran the last event, and drove home.
Very funny, when I was in my late teen’s maybe 20 our family went to Pismo Beach (had a YJ), did some sand wheeling. Got stuck in hole finally went down to 8lbs in the tires, got right out of there, except the back end got air, rear end came down and bam, heard something. The driveshaft busted right out of the rear yoke. We took it off dad disappered. He came back and said “founded a welding shop, they welded on a tab on, it should hold. Put it back on, new u-joint (carried a couple) and drove it for about three months that way. Finally bought a new and threw the other in the tool box.

RE - DS (not saying was your issue) we would go on the Rubicon and people would talk about how strong their aftermarket u-joints were. One day my dad looked at me said ”I don’t get that strong u-joint idea, I’d much rather replace a u-joint on the trail then worry about the DS breaking, I’ve always kept that concept in mind.
 
Very funny, when I was in my late teen’s maybe 20 our family went to Pismo Beach (had a YJ), did some sand wheeling. Got stuck in hole finally went down to 8lbs in the tires, got right out of there, except the back end got air, rear end came down and bam, heard something. The driveshaft busted right out of the rear yoke. We took it off dad disappered. He came back and said “founded a welding shop, they welded on a tab on, it should hold. Put it back on, new u-joint (carried a couple) and drove it for about three months that way. Finally bought a new and threw the other in the tool box.
I actually never did replace that cobbled together shaft.
RE - DS (not saying was your issue) we would go on the Rubicon and people would talk about how strong their aftermarket u-joints were. One day my dad looked at me said ”I don’t get that strong u-joint idea, I’d much rather replace a u-joint on the trail then worry about the DS breaking, I’ve always kept that concept in mind.
My issue was I got hung up and the DS was in contact with the edge of a rock. The driveshaft spinning scored it, and when I hammered the throttle to climb out of a hole, it snapped.
I'm a firm believer in building things to break where you want.

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When I built this thing, I put in hub fuses. I don't know if they're still a thing, because they only work with manual locking hubs and it doesn't seem like anybody uses those any more. Basically they were a metal ring that would snap before your axles. They were dirt cheap and you could replace them on the trail in minutes using just a hex key.

The rear yoke in the cars I've built is always weaker than the front. If the front one goes on the track, it's like a pogo stick, and incredibly dangerous. There's also a driveshaft loop at the front, just in case.
 
It's really not. The Wrangler 6 speed has one overdrive gear, at 0.69. 5th is a 1:1. That means those 5 gears have closer ratios, which allows you to choose shift points that keep the engine in the powerband. There are really good reasons why high end performance cars all have 8-10 gears. OK, so the Koenigsegg Regera doesn't have a transmission at all, but every other performance car does.

One of the great things about manual transmissions is that you can pick the gear you think best at any given moment.

Lots, I'm betting.

It is. So pick the gear you want.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with skip shifting. The only time you really need to go through all the gears is when you need or want maximum acceleration.

GM introduced forced skip shift on Corvettes in the '80's. And it's been on pretty much every performance car made in America since the '90's. It was done to improve Corporate average mileage. Basically, if you're accelerating slowly and shift at a low RPM, a solenoid forces a 1st to 4th shift. Many people hated it, and it can be defeated with a $15 skip shift eliminator.
That was the very first thing I did to my 07' corvette. I thought something was broke until I read the manual. Was very annoying.
 
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That was the very first thing I did to my 07' corvette. I thought something was broke until I read the manual. Was very annoying.
An awful lot of people hate it. You can also defeat it by holding the shift to a slightly higher RPM, or using a bit more throttle. But it's just annoying. I was into F-bodies in the '90's and I don't recall anybody who didn't hate the skip shift.

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I put the eliminator in my '99 before I left the lot. It's got 165,000 miles on it now, and I am not sure I've ever driven it with a light enough foot to trigger the skip shift, but it's possible. :)

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I have one eye, and my friends have jokes. So they got my wife to let them into the garage, and replaced "Jake" with this IMG_3104.JPG

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