old people and clutches

I have noticed that through out the years of talking with people who have
had their manual transmissions for years, that I observed that the older the
driver, the longer the original clutch has lasted for them. No pun intended,
but could it be that slower deliberate movement of the clutch pedal leads to
longer clutch life?

 

Probably has more to do with the fact that they're not in as much of a rush
and don't rev up to 3K RPM taking off in 1st from a light while taking 4-5
seconds to fully engage the clutch like I see, or beat the sh#t out of their
car because they're not in a rush like the younger people. If this was a
definite known fact, I would speculate that the conservative driving they do
could be the reason for longer lasting clutches. I don't think it can ever
be proven a fact though....I was 35 and got 200K miles out of my clutch on
my old '94 SL2. I now have 51K on my '06 Vue 5-speed with no problems (with
the clutch anyway - Got a funny whine that starts when the car starts
moving. You hear it over 20mph and the pitch gets progressively higher the
faster you go, like I have snow tires on...Speculate it's my front
bearings...sigh...Going to change them soon myself)

IYM

 

It's the highway driving for the snowbirds that only use the car to drive
between NY and Fla...
Not much shifting there. <G>
Beside that, I agee with IYM

 

Thanx, I'm trying to keep the RPM's low, but that's not as much fun

--
marx404

 

Us older folks sift at about 2k rpm and we also get better gas mileage

 

Huh? I'm too old to shift THAT fast! In first gear I get to 2k rpm almost immediately upon light pressure on the
accelerator!

 

HaHa!! Youngwhipper snapper.. old is starting in SECOND gear

 

My '03 ion s'clutch 'squeals'' while shifting when its cold.Hope
that's not a sound of new parts due,it's only got 65K.How can anyone
get exicited revving up one of these newer cars?,I do short peel outs
fron a red light,but thats about it.

 

If it squeals when you put in the clutch, it may be a throw-out bearing
about to go. Does it chatter as you come up to friction point or slip when
engaged? Slipping is most easily seen by either popping the clutch with no
accelerator and stalling the engine or in top gear, flooring it and seeing
an immediate rise in RPM before the car starts to speed up.

 

No. Old is starting in 1st gear on a 3 speed and NEVER use 2nd. On a 5 speed it means starting in 3rd.

I was teaching my son to drive his "new" 98 SL2 for the last few weeks. I was showing him how if you're not in a hurry you can go 135 or 24 or 124 or whatever makes sense. It took him a while to get over that the gears don't have to go in order. Especially when slowing down.

Bonus. Why did old folks (most likely all dead now) never use 2nd?

 

Ooh, Ooh! I know. Was it because on a column shift 3 speed, if you weren't
careful, you'd wind up in reverse instead of second gear and making a
terrible grinding noise?...
I drove one of those once.

R 2
|__|
| |
1 3

 

No. Model T's had two forward speeds. And folks who learned to drive in prior to the 30s got in the habit that you needed a gear to get going and one for cruising. Everything else was a waste. Here are some notes on how it worked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T

As to column shifting. Most of the US did that in the 40s and 50s and well into the 60s. If my mom could do it you should be able to.

David Ross

 

Live and learn. I knew some of the specifics about the model T engine and
ignition system but not a thing about the rest of the drive train. that was
very informative - thanks.

I learned to drive on a '54 Olds with a 4 speed (+reverse) turbo-hydramatic
transmission. Was a bit of a shock when my dad sold that and bought a '69
beetle. Driving on flat ground was an easy learn. What took lots of practice
was starting on an uphill grade. Had my share of engine stalls and angry
folks honking their horns behind me.
A buddy let me drive his old chevy with the column shift once. Took a bit of
getting used to.

 

Clutch life is based upon slippage. Minimize the slippage during take
off and when changing gears and the clutch will last a lot longer.
Therefore the RPM we shift at has nothing to do with clutch wear. Use
the hand brake to hold the car while stopped on an uphill incline.

In the past standard transmissions were far more common than they are
today. Perhaps those that grew up with standard transmissions are more
inclined to do these things than those that grew up with automatics.

 

I grew up where my dad and uncle built a lawn mower. Engine was off a 2 cylinder flathead hay bailer. Level clutch. That was driving a 3 speed motorcycle transmission. That was driving a 3 speed w/reverse transmission/shortened drive shaft/rear end off a Crawsley (sp?) station wagon. This was my lawn mower when I was in grade school. (Much to my mom's consternation.) Later in my teens I earned my money mowing fields with a Ford 8N tractor. By the time I got to drive a pick up with the shift on the column it seemed incredibly easy. The pattern, not getting going from a standing start.

Things have changed a bit.

David

 

You also usually get better over time. 20 years of driving a clutch is a LOT of experience.

David

 

Just to not. Most of the folks I knew who skipped 2nd gear were born prior to the LAST century.

David

 

In the interest of clutch life you never want to take off in any gear
other than 1st unless you are going down a steep hill. I like to run my
car up through the gears using 1-2-5 as 2nd will take me to 60 MPH. It
must not hurt gas mileage too much as I usually average 30MPG, 28MPG if
I drive it hard (94 Eclipse 2.0L turbo 250HP).

Because the Model T was made by Ford, using 2nd gear too much would
cause the tranny to puke its guts out onto the street.