manual trans. drivers... push in clutch all the way?

For you guys /gals who drive manual (4 wheels, tacoma or any other car) do you push the clutch all the way in when putting the gears in? How about when you take the gear out? I always push the clutch in all the way to engage, is that necessary ? but only half way to disengage and have done this for a couple other cars to.

Thanks

 

Sometimes I go all the way...ANd sometimes I just do it until I can shift gears. I really don't pay attention to it.

 

Usually not all the way to the floor. But enough to get the job done.

 

Will not pushing the clutch in all the way in hurt the truck in any way? Getting pretty close to 50,000 miles but id rather drive the next couple hundred thousand miles not doing something i dont have to.

 

typically...........every manual trans vehicle is a little different BUT.........as a rule, you are correct, you must push the clutch all the way in to put into gear, but not as much to remove it, really, the slower you go and the greater the gear change (skipping gears) the more you have to use the pedal.
HOWEVER, once you are rolling, you can go through all the gears up or down without using the pedal at all. you do this by using the engine's rpm's to get all the gears to sync-up, then it can slide right into or out of gear.
Try it.........once your rolling good in first gear, pull back gently on the stick, you'll see that it won't easily come out of gear. now, let of the gas while still pulling gently back on the stick..........you'll see that it comes out easily. You'll see it is definitely easier to get it out of gear than into gear.
The reason it works is that during acceleration the engine is "pushing" against the back wheels through the tranny and all the gears, so they are all in a bind. when you decelerate, the wheels are then pushing against the engine and keeping all the gears in a bind. BUT, when you find that little sweet spot where you are getting the engine to turn at about the same speed as the wheels are turning, then the gears are not in a bind and can be pulled into or out of gear. When you shift up, you must allow the engine to slow down, when you shift down, you must speed the engine up to get all the gears to syn-up.
Thanks GURJohn

 

sorry..........but one more thing to remember........ the most important thing is don't force the tranny into gear. A good rule of thumb is that if you have to pull real hard on the stick to get it into gear or if you hear the gears grind, then you're being a little too rough with it.
thanks

 

thanks thanks

 

this is mostly done on big rigs/tractor trailers... not really done on cars that much although it can be done if you pay attention to rpm's. I work for fedex and drive big rigs and never use the clutch only when taking off or coming to a stop. But I have never found a reason to do this on a car which only has 5 or 6 gears. I do it on semis due to the fact that some of them have 10 13 18 or more gears so if you use your clutch all the time your foot really begins to hurt from all that clutch work lol.

 

i am 30, have never owned an auto, and prob have driven over 300,000 miles. i cant say that i am aware at this point as to how i press the clutch, but im sure its damn near all the way. once you learn the vehicle, you can shift without the clutch as stated above, but it must be 1 swift movement out of and into gear. when you do this, its a nice thing...feels good

the only thing you should worry about is if you are shifting and getttinga grinding noise, you are doing it wrong. also, if you are sitting at a light, holding the clutch down doens;t hurt either, you just never wanna have the clutch in the middle, all the way up, or all the way down is a good rule to follow

 

I only press it all the way down to start the engine. Shifting into gear/ putting into neutral, I press about 50% to 75% of the way towards the floor.

 

X2. Generally to the floor to start and to get in 4lo.

 

i can't see a reason for depressing the clutch fully just for switching between the gears. seems to me like depressing it -just enough- to get into gear is the point...

 

If you're pushing in the clutch far enough so everythings going in smoothly and easily with no grinding etc... than its far enough. As far as no clutch shifting, yeah you can, but why would you want to on the tacomas? you know how when you let off the clutch these things hold revs for a minute? well you have to wait until it decides to drop rpms before you can shift into the next gear. no thanks i'll just push the clutch.

 

"Power Shifting" , as we used to call it, is easy to do, but I have seen many people screw up the synchronous alignment of gears. Just be careful. If I had been to lazy to use the clutch on a manual transmission, I would have bought an automatic.

Just my 2 cents

 

Starting with the Tacoma facing an unobstructed forward path:

Push the clutch in completely and start the vehicle, shift into first gear.
Without using and other pedal, slowly release the clutch until the Tacoma starts to move forward on its own-
The angle of the clutch when the truck moves is the optimal shifting point.

At least thats my understanding and it works for me.