Got my first manual truck and

[Wolfdog91]

Ok so new farm truck in a little five speed 2wd Ford ranger . Dad just kinda bought it for next to nothing and said here learn to use it . Had to sell my Nissan ( money pit) and our GMC3500 is a bit too big to get to alot of places so yeah. Anyhow never drove stick ( no not in the army either lol, most everything was automatic except for the 88's but they had a automatic manual no clutch just slapped it in the gear you wanted and went )so I've been watching YouTube videos like crazy and I've gotten past having this thing smell like I lit the clutch on fire ( never ground any gears though so I got that going for me lol). Anyhow I think I'm good enough for driving on the pavement but off road is a little rough. Been practicing in the cow fields around the house everyday after work and I think ive got a decent grasp but still struggling.So couple of questions.
1. For a 2wd manual off road what gears should I be using? Been trying to mess around with 2nd and 3rd but honestly 1sr seems to do the best
2. Is 1500rpm too much to get my self going in first ? Seems my truck need that much to get moving good and not stall out
3. I was listening to a video on my way to work about driving off road with a manual and they where saying it's really good to have a manual modified so you keep it crawling with really low RPM's. Think there's was a jeep. How would a guy go about doing that ? Makes sense to me for the most part. Deal is I don't have anything thing like a low or high gear so not sure if it's something I can even do confused
4. Going up a hill in 1st giving it gas, get about 2000 rpm and it stalls out if I'm off the clutch completely. Is that normal ? I've played with working the clutch as I go up in rpms when I feel it about to stall out and that seems to work pretty good but I'm not 100% if that's the proper thing to do,as the first time I did it I really smelled like I did some work on the clutch lol . But only that one time , don't smell anything when I do it now
5. If I'm climbing a hill and stall out, any way I can consistently not go flying back down the dang thing? I mean it seems if I break before I stall out and stay in gear it keeps it's self there but if I wasn't on the brake and I stall it's game over and I'm flying. The break don't seem to help much with that either

I'll probably have some more soon but that's about it for right now. Sorry if these are kinda stupid btw but again never drove a stick much before this I'm self teaching and, and YouTube actually doesn't have a tone on How to off road with a 2wd 5speed lol .


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[missionary5155]

Good for you! Nice looking PU!
2000 rpm should not be stalling unless that is some steep hill. Our Samurai will go up most any hill in 2nd at 2000 rpm with a 1300cc 4 cylinder.
You wrote about the "88"... Tank retriever? I was Armor. 1971-74 M60A1's. We had 88's.

[Bazoo]

Unless you’re shifting, you shouldn’t use the clutch at all. When starting out always use 1st gear.

Some trucks had a bulldog first for starting with a load, and you could start in 2nd with no load. Your truck doesn’t have that.

I can take off on flat ground using 0 gas pedal. It’s about easing the clutch pedal out. You shouldn’t rev the engine over none-1000 when starting off on flat ground. 1200 maybe in a hill.

Start pedal down, When you let the pedal out, about 1/2 the amount of it’s travel is free (meaning it ain’t doing nothing to the clutch, just moving the pedal), then you have a short maybe 1/4 amount of travel (this is the most important part) that is beginning to engage/full engagement, then the last 1/4 is full release of the clutch itself but still letting the throw out bearing spin and then when off, the throw out bearing is at rest too. If you slightly ride the pedal your throw out bearing spins all the time and will wear out prematurely.

That 1/4 area of travel that the clutch starts engaging is where your control is. During the beginning of that 1/4 area of travel you let the clutch out very very slowly. The truck starts moving and or the rpms start lowering, you give just a tiny bit fuel. Don’t look at your tach go by sound and feel. You start moving as you let the clutch pedal into about half the distance of that 1/4 area of (clutch grabby) travel. Then you let off completely and you’re going.

That approx 1/4 area of pedal travel that you feel clutch grabbiness is the key.

When shifting gears during rolling, you don’t have to worry as much about it. Just do it slower than you probably been doing and smooth. That’s the easy part. Taking off smooth, without killing it and without doing a burnout is the hard part. Letting the pedal out during that 1/4 area of grabby section of movement is the key.

[JoeJames]

Stop light at the top of a hill is always a work out. After awhile it will get to be muscle memory. Light is red so you downshift to 1st - clutch engaged, with brake. Then lift clutch a bit while releasing brake when light is green and giving it a bit of gas. It is tough to do three things at the same time with just two feet. Hard to explain - I can still do it though - started legal in 1965 - 62 Comet with three on the tree.

[gwpercle]

Congratulations on your new truck ... Nice looking .

I thought I could help since I learned on and been driving standards since 1963 ...
... but all my driving has been on the pavement ... any off road stuff was an accident .

Telling some one how to work the clutch and shift gears is tough ... it's like kissing a girl ... you just have to do it a time or two and then it becomes second nature and you enjoy the ride .
Remember ... Practice Makes Perfect !
Gary

[waksupi]

For off road, 1st or 2nd gear will probably be best. Whatever speed that doesn't jar your teeth out of your head.
Just get out there and drive it, it will become natural within a week or two.
I've had two Rangers, good little trucks with low maintenance.

[dverna]

You will get the hang of it. My first car was a manual and I had never driven a stick before.

There are plenty of YouTube videos of starting on a hill. I had to learn the hard way...no internet when I did it.

[Winger Ed.]

You finally got a 'boys' version truck,,,,,,,,, What a hoot!
One thing about having a manual trans. at this point in history---- nobody will want to borrow it.

Awhile back, a buddy got a fancy, new, high end 'city truck'.
I asked him if he got the boys model or the girl's version. He said/asked, "Huh"?
I told him, "Oh yeah. They're like bicycles. Basically the same, but with slight differences".
He still looked confused. So I told him the girl's trucks all have automatic transmissions.
If I posted his reply, it would definitely land me in the penalty box.

I've had manuals for well over half of all the cars & trucks I've ever had.
I'm in a 2006 F-250 with a 6 speed now.

The best way to learn how to use it is find a old guy to ride along an show you.
Don't worry so much about watching the tachometer. In the old days, most cars didn't have one.
You'll learn to feel when you need to shift.

Remember: When balancing at a up hill stop light or something---- brakes are cheaper and easier to change than clutches.
If you run out of feet to use all three pedals-- use the emergency brake. Let it off when you start moving again.
Once ya get the hang of it, there's no reason the clutch shouldn't last at least 100,000 miles.
If not--- it's operator error.

[Bmi48219]

Suggest you stay away from steep inclines until you get the hang of clutch-accelerator coordination. It’s a balancing act. Most everyone stalls out a few times learning to drive a manual transmission, and grinds gears too. As others said the most important thing not to do is ride the clutch.
I’ve owned dozens of manual trans vehicles and driven many more, anyone can learn it.
At least you’re learning in a vehicle with a synchronized gearbox, PS & PB.

[Geezer in NH]

Just drive it forfet looking at the TAC. Go by feel you will learn quicker so you can stop on a hill nd take off again will mean you are getting it. 1985 boght the wife a Mustang manual trans she had never driven one. Only took 2 weeks she figured it out on her own.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Cant add anymore to what's been provided except to add that driving a manual is all about feel and listening, the truck/engine will let you know when you do too much or too little of something. Don't look at the tach its just a visual reference for those who feel they need to know the engine speed. After a while you wont even think about it and just go thu the motions.

When teaching our boys the first several outings were spent on the weekends in a large open packing lot starting and stopping in forwards and reverse over and over, We were also lucky that the open lot had a ramped entrance/exit for some hill work. They learned both the parking brake method and the clutch hold method to get going. They hated it and wanted to spend the "driving" time doing 70 on the freeway but later realized i was right. My first manual transmission experiences were with a 1970 GMC 3/4 ton without power steering on the farm... after that one pretty much everything else was a breeze.

Good luck and Have fun, that's a nice truck and you should be able to enjoy it got a long time. My son owned one, bought new, similar to that one but quickly traded in in when he moved back here to Virginia. The manual transmission and no A/C were not to user friendly up here in Northern Virginia just south of DC given all the traffic in the area.

[DougGuy]

OP ever notice how a big truck seems to just dump the clutch when taking off from a dead stop, bumper raises, cab tilts with the sudden torque? They do that to lessen slippage of the clutch. It makes the clutch last a LOT longer. Most modern manual trannys will upshift with no throttle quite easily, you will figure out the perfect engine rpm to shift, by letting off the throttle and pulling the shifter towards the next gear, it will leave the present gear and engage the next with just light hand pressure on the shifter, without using the clutch.

[rbuck351]

If your going up hill don't let the rpms get below about 1500. The rangers have a high speed low torque at low rpm engine and should not be ran at low rpm other than to start. If it stalls at 2000 rpm in first run going up hill you will have to run it at higher rpm. DO NOT run it with the clutch slipping except when starting and even then when you are taking off give a bit of gas and let the clutch out at the same time. Let the clutch out fairly fast to keep slipping to a minimum. Spinning the tires is cheaper than slipping the clutch.

[Beerd]

Nice pick-up!
Like others have already mentioned, forget the tach.
Listen to the truck (turn off the radio!).
..

[Winger Ed.]

A trick I use when stopping at a traffic light on a uphill grade:

The car coming up behind you will always want to stop about 2 inches from your rear bumper
and not leave much room to roll back a little when you take off.

When I see someone coming up, I ease off the brake and start to slowly roll backwards---
they'll see that,,,,,,, and leave you enough room to start off again.

Another favorite trick is if there isn't anyone behind you, but a car beside you----
Slowly roll backwards.
They'll think they're going forward, and try to push their brake pedal through the floor.
Once, I did that once to a woman cop,,,, she about had a panic attack until she realized I was moving, not her.

[megasupermagnum]

I'm going to assume this is the 2.3 I4 engine. They are decent engines. One overlooked item on them is they actually have 8 spark plugs. Often the 4 hidden ones are forgotten. They aren't super fun to change, but not that bad compared to many vehicles. I recomend you change the plugs and wires, blow out or replace the air filter, and clean the MAF sensor. That usually takes care of most stutter or lower rpm issues on these. The MAF sensor cleaning can be found online. They make an aerosol MAF cleaner, don't use anything else. Those MAF's are old style designs, and are prone to damage and dirt, but they are easy to clean.

There's nothing reasonable you can do to that truck to make it even a decent off road vehicle. When people talk about off road gear ratios, one thing you have to remember is that a 4x4 truck has a transfer case with a low range. In a Ranger it gives you a 2:1 ratio, meaning you go half speed. A 2x4 does not have a transfer case. Changing your differential gears won't help much at all. A 2.3l 4 cylinder already has the lower geared transmission (lower 1st-3rd gear), and likely has a lower geared differential like 3.73 and likely 4.10. They are great gas mileage, general use, parts haulers. They do terrible off road, one of the worst vehicles I know of. Death traps on ice too. That's ok though, because cow pasture and dirt roads is not what I'd consider off road. It will do fine there.

Figure out the stalling. Once you do that, it will be easier. This engine is not a low rpm motor, but they shouldn't be stalling until under idle. It's not great every day practice, but you should be able to roll along at 800 rpm, and stomp the gas, and it should not stall. Since these engines don't even make 100 hp, you need to keep rpm up for hills and such. For putting around a cow pasture, you shouldn't need anything except 1st gear.

[farmerjim]

It is amazing to me how many people can't drive a vehicle with a standard transmission. When I rented a car in Mexico, I had to put my wife on as the second driver because her brother in law couldn't drive a standard. Wife learned how to drive on a jeep in an open pit mine at lunch time. Then drove it to the motor vehicles office and got her license.

[MaryB]

If you are running out of power going up a steep hill just downshift a gear... had a hill in the town I grew up in that many manual trans cars and trucks were down to 2nd gear before reaching the top!

[Bazoo]

What Ed says about rolling backwards go get room at a stoplight is 100% correct.

[quilbilly]

Nice pick-up!
Like others have already mentioned, forget the tach.
Listen to the truck (turn off the radio!).
..

What he said! As written about last week in the Wall Street Journal, car thieves don't like stick shifts. Those Rangers have an almost bullet proof transmission according to my neighbor who has a service manager at various dealerships and shops for many decades. I certainly miss mine having had four over the years. When they quit making Rangers for a few years, I bought a Nissan Frontier with a manual transmission and it was garbage compared to the Rangers'. The Ranger could yank a firewood log out of a ditch with aplomb with the 1st gear but no so, the Frontier.