floating the gears good or bad??

hey guys,first post,
I float my gears alot(change w/o using the clutch). there is never any grinding and i never force it into gear. It has to be good for the clutch, but what does it do to the trany? basically good or bad?

Doesnt hurt it at all. Lets your cluth live longer, and keeps you in your power band better. If you dont know what your doing though it can really fuck things up!

hey guys,first post,
I float my gears alot(change w/o using the clutch). there is never any grinding and i never force it into gear. It has to be good for the clutch, but what does it do to the trany? basically good or bad?


ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! This is terrible for your trans...especially if you are doing this in all your gears. Its not so bad going OUT of 5th into neutral, but going IN to gears is terrible. I dont think it does anything to your clutch because...shit, you arent even using it...but it is TERRIBLE for your trans. You are gonna end up stripping your gears and needing a new trans...which is rediculous in a street car manual. THE CLUTCH IS THERE FOR A REASON!!!

I bet you the tranny is already ruined and about to go down the pits. Your gears are probally stripped so much from this that it doesnt grind anymore. Dear lord, what kind of moron told you just dont use your clutch?

yah that doesn't sound good AT ALL

Although i am going against the grain on this one, As long as you hit it just right you are fine. Like on my Jeep, I float the gears all the time..... but I am just driving it easy. if your racing then hell no, but i took it like he was just doing it around town, and on the highway. When I used to race an RX-7 even I would float my gears when I was on the straight away's. I had driven it enough to know where the "G spot" was. If you drive a car long enough you get a good feel for it.

I DONT float while racing.......only during like neighbohood driving. Whether the car is new or used i can always find the right spot. i just have to be going the right speed and have the right RPM's. ANYONE HAVE ANY PROOF ITS BAD?? OR GOOD??

Is there a reason you wont just push the clutch in? Its not hard

I don't see why anyone would want to do it either.

When racing its a way to keep you in your powerband w/o dropping your RPM's.

When racing its a way to keep you in your powerband w/o dropping your RPM's.

When im racing, me quick shifting is just fine for me (using clutch...duh) because I shift so fast that my RPM's dont have time to drop, and its probably a hell of a lot smoother on the car...I honestly see absolutely NO instance in which not using your clutch in good or helpful in any way.

Race long enough you will. Any advantage you can gain over the competition ( and Im not talking about drag racing) you take. Every 1/10th of a second pays off.

Race long enough you will. Any advantage you can gain over the competition ( and Im not talking about drag racing) you take. Every 1/10th of a second pays off.


Race long enough and Im certain your trasmission will be costing you more than 1/10 a second...like retireing early due to FUC**D UP GEARS!!! Earlier you said that daily driving was probably fine for floating, NOT racing. Your trans fluid temp HAS to be running very high, and your RPM range is probably consistantly above 4500 which would be HELL on your transmission if you shift without clutching...I cant even imagine what this would sound like trying to force your car into gear...i think you are all on crack if you do this.

Yeah I know i said that it would probably be fine for normal day use.... and it is if you know what your doing. But when your racing and you have to do every little thing to get a gain on the competition becuause all the cars are the same that is what you do. It is also the reason I ran 2 oil cooler's w/ a 7 qt oil pan. That kept everything cool enough to be safe. I would of been running those things regardless if I wasnt even floating the gears. I was able to last 2 seasons on a tranny in 100 + degree weather in Phoenix and Tucson.

Hope you enoy replacing trannies.

u know ur tranys sposed to last the life of ur engine... NOT 2 YEARS! god what are u thinking its a clutch its meant to be pressed... its mean to be used to shift USE IT! dont float... god are all 3g drivers this dumb

u know ur tranys sposed to last the life of ur engine... NOT 2 YEARS! god what are u thinking its a clutch its meant to be pressed... its mean to be used to shift USE IT! dont float... god are all 3g drivers this dumb

If you read the other replies, there is only 1 guy backing him up...the rest of us are just as amazed as you are...im still awe struck..lol

This thread is one of the many reasons i hardly use af.com anymore

andrew im feel so sorry for ur car... not even a 3g should be put threw what u are doing to it...

Most of you guy's are making me to be a dumbass. Let this clear... and it is true.IF you know whar your are doing it does not hurt the gears or the clutch!!! Even when driving dump trucks, which I do (I speak from personal experience) you dont ever use the clutch unless you are stopping!! When racing, and all the cars are the same because of spec rules you do whatever you can to get the advantage on everyone! And 2 years on a tranny on a car that is a dedicated race car is a long time for most that put on 20+ races a year.

By no way am I saying take out your new car and immiedatly start floating the gears. After getting the feel for the car, and feel comfortable driving it in such a manner go ahead and try it. If you know what a cluth even did you would know what floating the gears is OK. All a clutch does (in a nut shell) is synchronise your gears so they can be shifted. If you know at what RPM's your gears are inline you will be safe. So please stop saying that floating your gears is bad, it is an efiecient way to shift w/o dropping your RPM's. If you still feel that I am wrong come to AZ and I will drive you around in a Super 14 (type of dump truck), or my RX-7 and show you how effective it can be IF you know what you are doing!

actualy no it doesent... it disconects the engine from the transmission letting the engine spin and the tranny not... thats y u have to put ur clutch in at a stop light :) or switch to neutral... u can rev ur engine and not move... i dont know jack shit about dump trucks but they might be able to do it... but in cars i know that they need to be clutched... unless u love to slip the clutch then it shouldent be to hard on the clutch if u shift fast anyway... a clutch is basicly a brake its got 2 pads that connect and turn if used right u only need to use them for fractions of a second as u let of the gas depress the clutch and shift, if ur not good enough then u run down the pads faster... anyway its bad to float so dont do it unless u wanna have some gears minus the gear part... :)

Sry guys but i think i am going to have to go with Stickin_It_2_Em.... i mean he does know what he is talkin about.He developed his own thought by lookin into what the clutch and trany ACTUALLY do and came to a good conclusion rather than just saying what everyone else says. It like how they used to say situps where good for you when really they F'ed up you back and didnt do anything for zones 1 and 3. PLUS i think experience says alot. How many times has he had to change his trany???

im just saying....the 3G transmission is bad enough. why create the chance of making it worse?

its not bad for a transmission that is built for it. if you notice, NASCAR drivers dont use their clutch unless they are stopping. they float the gears when getting up to speed

Only on a single synchronized gearbox floating gears is fine as long as you know you torque range. But on our cars, the gearbox is dual synchro (Upshift/Downshift), therefore you must use your cluch to prevent damage. Otherwise you'll just be striping the synchro away.

Man Legionofone go find your own fucking forums you don't even own a 3g .... oh wait they probably don't even have a forum for ur piece of shit .. if they do it probably has what 5 users? lmfao .... and you say 3gs suck? I woudn't waste the gas to smoke ur ass. and go ahead say 3gs suck? I don't really care but its getting fuckin retarded take ur granny car elsewhere

Man Legionofone go find your own fucking forums you don't even own a 3g .... oh wait they probably don't even have a forum for ur piece of shit .. if they do it probably has what 5 users? lmfao .... and you say 3gs suck? I woudn't waste the gas to smoke ur ass. and go ahead say 3gs suck? I don't really care but its getting fuckin retarded take ur granny car elsewhere

where did that come from? maybe i missed that post. anyway, if i recall correctly, legions car has the same engine as the 3G v6 does. well after some research, i found out that i was wrong. it has a 2.5l v6 with 168hp and thats not even to the wheels

no just a little pissed that he posting in our forums and saying our cars suck when his car is a v6 and the 3g eclipse 4cyl could probably beat his ass .... yea eclipsed4utoo ... I also went and found the specs cause i was just curious cause he talked alot of shit about his car lol

Sry guys but i think i am going to have to go with Stickin_It_2_Em.... i mean he does know what he is talkin about.He developed his own thought by lookin into what the clutch and trany ACTUALLY do and came to a good conclusion rather than just saying what everyone else says. It like how they used to say situps where good for you when really they F'ed up you back and didnt do anything for zones 1 and 3. PLUS i think experience says alot. How many times has he had to change his trany???


Just because he approves of what you are doing to your tranny doesn't mean his arguement is more valid than anyone elses. It is the answer you WANT to hear and so naturally it is the answer you are more prone to accept.
Nascar drivers float their gears eh?
Any Idea how much they build up their motors and transmissions?
they have to have the must durable equipment they can to last the duration of the race so thats all well and good if your car is specifically built for racing.
BUT Guess what, stock 3g's are not dedicated racecars with bullet proof transmissions!

I'm not trying to discount what anyone is saying here. Both Stickin and Legion make interesting points but really when it comes down to it I would much rather lessen the chance of messing up the transmission because god forbid you do screw up then it could deal a fatal blow to the life of your transmission and who wants that?

We are just trying to help by suggesting you use the clutch instead because lets face it if you test 2 of the same cars and shift one with the clutch and float gears on the other, the one who floated the gears will most likely have his transmission go before the other's.

Nascar drivers float their gears eh?
Any Idea how much they build up their motors and transmissions?
they have to have the must durable equipment they can to last the duration of the race so thats all well and good if your car is specifically built for racing.
BUT Guess what, stock 3g's are not dedicated racecars with bullet proof transmissions!

thats what i was saying. look how much they build their transmissions. thats why its ok for them to do it. our stock 3G transmission is horrible. noone should ever think about doing this in our car

Ok great points have been brought up by both sides.Enough facts have been preseted to make your own opinion on things, so lets go ahed and let this thread die. Things has gotten to the point that statment are going to be made that will turn this into another " Four more Years!!!" typr thread.

And as for Legionofone.... Fuck off wanker. If you dont like the home team get out of the ball park. We dont go bashing your car, so dont bash us. Unless you own and drive a 3g eclipse shut up!!! Find somthing more constructive to do with your time (like looking at porn is a good one) and leave us ALONE!!!!!!!

2006 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 6.0L, with a 5 speed. I started floating them at 50,000 and I currently have 190,000 on it. I've driven slow. I've driven fast. I run a 1000 lb Fisher 8.5' XV2 in the winter. I've hauled over 20,000 lb with my dump trailer. I've towed skidsteers, backhoes, mini excavators, and anything else you can think of in the dump trailer. I even float with a load on the truck and yes with that 20,000 too. In your infinite wisdoms, I would've left my tranny about 100,000 miles ago. It's still going just fine. I think there's a bunch of you scared to try anything or just incapable of doing it. If you truly think it's bad for the gears, prove it other than your opinions.

I maintain my RPM's better through shifts. Consequently it's less fuel used to build those lost RPM's back. Unless I'm rough on the old girl, she doesn't make a noise in the tranny. I don't see the point in this double clutch talk. Sounds like a transmission guy's trick to wear your clutch out sooner. It's about like wash, rinse, repeat.

If it wasn't need, why'd they put it there? That's your logic? Even floating, it's still used. Starting, stopping, switching directions. You will need the clutch. How much stuff is on your current vehicle they added but you don't use?

Are we bringing this topic back out for its 10th anniversary? Ok, what the hell it's an interesting topic that I know a thing or two about.
There are 2 types of transmissions mentioned in this discussion (or argument maybe) synchronized (like in cars and light to medium duty trucks) and non synchronized (like in heavy duty and commercial trucks). The answer to the question "should I float gears?" is different for each type.

Synchronized transmissions- my answer would be probably not. The sychromesh gears in this type of transmission were meant to work together with the clutch to make shifts smoother and easier. No need to double clutch, gears can be changed at any RPM using the clutch with a single press. It's actually now more difficult to shift without the clutch and not damage the transmission. It takes a gentle touch most people don't really have, and if you botch too many shifts, it will grind the synchros and tear the transmission apart as it fills up with loose metal shavings. Just use the clutch, it's not that hard.

Non-synchronized transmissions- totally different. With no synchromesh, things get a little tricky. I've driven a couple of semi trucks (not far since I've never had a CDL, but I've done it) and the shifting techniques involve more than just pushing the clutch one time and going to the next gear. First, you have to wait for the right RPM corresponding to your throttle position (and no there is no shift light), then push in the clutch once, go to neutral, release the clutch, push it back in and go in to the next gear... all timed just right so you catch the next gear at the right RPM.
The alternative to this is of course, floating gears. With a non synchronized gearbox, a perfectly safe option, and much easier than the double clutching madness described above. You can basically feel every thing through the shifter. When it seems like it's about time to shift, start to come of the throttle and the shifter will start to loosen up. Pull it out of gear, lift off the throttle and ease it into the next gear (don't force it, or it will grind if you do), all done without even touching the clutch. What makes this method preferable is the number of gears, and the fact that if you do use the clutch, you have to double clutch.
One of the trucks I drove had an eaton-fuller 9 speed manual and that was the lowest number of gears I encountered. It was pretty smooth once I got the hang of it. The other one I actually drove was a Rockwell 10 speed that didn't like to cooperate until it warmed up, which for me it never did, since I only did short trips, but even so, all that clutching will take a toll on the left leg. Even worse, there are such things as 12,13, and even 18 speed transmissions. That's why most real career truckers stop using the clutch soon after passing their licence tests, otherwise their left legs would fall off.

So in conclusion, unless you're driving a commercial truck, use the damn clutch, it's easier than trying to float through the synchros.

Sorry but no, Floating gears does not destroy your transmission as long as it's done right. My trainer back in the day, owned a diesel transmission shop and preferred that I floated his gears while being trained using his own truck. He had over 500k on his rig and not once did he have to replace his transmission or clutch. He only used his clutch for stopping and his first initial take off.