The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Ouch! found a design flaw

I was driving my 49 6400 the other day, and the engine had died a time or two at slow idle. As you guys may know it can get REAL exciting trying to start a 7000lbs truck in traffic while slowing creeping backwards into a brand new lexus some idiot pulled six inches off your rear as you try to operate the brake, gas and starter pedal all at the same time! So.... I pulled out the throttle cable to increase the idle speed. I'm a genius, right? Well.....The cable is pulled out and I slow the truck to a crawle to go over a curb. I decide to slam it into granny low. AAAARRRGHHHHH. My right fingers gripping that old black rubber shift knob went right into the hard steel knob of that throttle cable! I'm John Wayne old school tough ( or like to think I am ) but I darn near had tears in my eyes. Am I the only one who has done this?

years ago i had a dodge with a shifter that had a wild bend in it. so if i had my hand in the normal position when you shift into granny low i would bang my knuckles on the dash. i don't know how many times i did that, but i finally did remember after 10 times. i would let go and just hold the back of the knob. so like bill clinton would say, i feel your pain!

The twin-stick TriPlex transmission in the B-73 Mack I learned to drive big rigs on had some creative bending done on the shifters. The shift knobs ended up about 4 inches apart, and it made for some pretty quick split shifts once I learned the technique.
Jerry

This is not a story about hitting one hand on the dash while shifting or even hitting ones hand at all. It is however a story about a shifter that interfered with other items in the cab while running though the gears, oh and I think you will find it amusing.
The truck a late 80’s Mack concrete mixer I was put in this old beast when the truck I usually drove broke down while loading this same morning. Anyway I clime into the replacement truck and pull under the plant to be loaded, I am now running late with this load mine you. After I am loaded and have my load ticket from the plant I head out the gate like a flash trying to make up for lost time. Coming to the fist light just outside the gate I must make a right and note that I have got just moments to get thought the light while it is still green. As I approach this light which I know is about to change I boogie right along down shifting as I prepare to make my right turn. Well I make the light with time to spare, enough for the SUV behind me to make it as well. What I hadn’t noticed is that as I down shifted to second the shift lever hit the drum control pushing it back into discharge and as I stepped back on the throttle to accelerate away from the intersection that I so skillfully negotiated trough the drum had changed direction and began to discharge the loan onto the SUV on my tail which just so happened to be the friendly Tacoma weights and measures cop. In the end when it was figured out what and how it happened no blame was put on me so today I have a good laugh about the whole thing.

Dave, in a situation like yours, drivers were instructed to stop the vehicle, turn on the 4 ways and direct traffic around your vehicle. Put the vehicle in first gear and set the emergency brake if you have one. Make sure that first gear and the emergency brake will hold the vehicle. Get out and put out your flares and a block behind your rear wheels. Reenter the vehicle, step in the clutch slowly and release the emergency brake slowly and make sure the block will hold the the vehicle. Then restart the vehicle, place it in first gear and move it to a safe, level place to park and retrieve your flares and blocks. This safety precaution has been published in safety manuals since the 50's and probably before that. The bottom line is: If you are rolling backwards and hit someone, you are at fault. If a vehicle rear ends a stalled vehicle, they are at fault. Never allow your vehicle to roll backwards.