Gday,

I have a C4 and a very tall diff in my XB. I have a rachet shifter and hold it in 1st for a bit, up to about 4000rpm. Is it better for the box to keep the pedal down and shift to second or should I take my foot off, shift up, and then get back on the gas?

Thanks

i don't think it would matter what way you do it. Either or in my opinion. From what i've heard, those gearboxes can take a bit of punishment, and 4000 would not be that much. Having a tall ratio diff shouldn't make that much a difference, as the output and input from the gearbox would be the same regardless of the diff ratio.

Or so i think...

Do you mean putting around like a grandma shifts or driving hard s**t? Then again 4000rpm is rather high for dorothy to be driving unless you have an overly large converter.

Q. How to shift gently?
A. Leave it in DRIVE.

Ratchet shifters suck. I just tried a B&M in my car for 3 months and i hated it. Swapped back to a T-bar and its much easier to flick through the gears. Especially when selecting reverse in a hurry.

IMO i can shift faster with the T-bar than with a B&M. Less throw and less effort! They are nothing more than an American equivalent to "rice".

Not only this but the cables are easily damaged. Mine was still functional but radiant heat melted the outer casing. The good old T-bar selector rod is indestructable.

If you have a stock gearbox, you might be putting a fair bit of stress on your bands if you shifting into 2nd at 4000rpm. As in a stock box 1st is slowly released as 2nd is slowly applied, so for a moment both bands are applied to give a smooth transition from 1-2. This generates heat and wear. Personally i think you need a shift kitted valve body at a minimum if you are going to drive it like that without killing it.

my 2c

Ok, so maybe I should stop doing that and either get the C4 worked a bit or swap over to a toploader.

The rachet shifter was in there when I bought it. I find its good as the diff ratio is so tall that to get decent accel I need to hold it in 1 and 2. Im looking at getting a 3.5, 3.7 or 3.9, just trying to work out how many revs I'll be doing at 100km/h.

So is lifting off your throttle the kindest to a stock transmission?

In first gear in Drive range in a C series transmission the only thing applied is the forward clutch and a one way clutch, when you change to 2nd. the band comes on to give you the next ratio and there is no releasing of one thing while the other comes on.

Last edited by transman on Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

yer thats what i thought as well there nothing like a btr 4sp.

anyways mac if you planning for a topload who cares about the C4 change full noise mate.

ratchet shifters works a lot better with a manualise aftermarket valve body on a C4.