7MT owners - how often do you downshift to 1st?

[kodiakisland]

I've never used Crawl. 1st starting out, 2nd at 15mph. 1st if I ever get below 10mph.

Must be flat there. We have plenty of lights on a 6-8% grade with a few over that in town. C comes in hand for that rolling on 37s.
Not to mention plenty of off road C use.

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[dejones64]

Must be flat there. We have plenty of lights on a 6-8% grade with a few over that in town. C comes in hand for that rolling on 37s.
Not to mention plenty of off road C use.

Yes pretty much flat here around the Twin Cities. I've only been off-road when traveling out west, and forgot I even have C. I'm still on my original 32's, will upgrade to 35's when those wear out. Haven't had a chance to use my rear lockers yet too.

 

[BroncoNon]

I've driven manuals for a long time, and have always stuck to the general guideline of shifting into 1st only in rare situations (like turning up a steep hill). This has served me pretty darn well over a dozen or so different vehicles, but in my Bronco I have found I am lugging or at least on the verge of lugging if I try to accelerate in 2nd after, for example, turning at an intersection. I'm a bit surprised due to how low the gearing is, but my Badlands is still pretty heavy with all the bash plates and whatnot.

I've never had a turbo manual before, and I am extra cautious to not lug the turbo engine. However, I'm not sure shifting into 1st frequently is great either. It's synchronized, but I've also read that sometimes a 1st gear synchro is built less robustly than others.

So, it's a bit of a quandry. What do you guys do?

Also, when I am wheeling I will shift from crawl to 1st while on the move sometimes. Is that a bad idea with this transmission?

It never feels like I am stressing the synchro in either of these situations, but it may still be something I shouldn't do.

the only times i go into 1st is when in traffic, or taking off from a stop. Other than that, 2nd gear is the lowest when in rolling motion.

 

[JerryG]

In my opinion it comes down to gearing. I have 38s but with a 5.38 gear ratio. This gets me out of first and into second at about 10mph. Under on road conditions I never need to downshift to first and can safely stop from second. Things were different when I had 4.7 and 35s and 4.7 with the 38s.

Crawl gear - I use for street driving all the time. And by street driving I mean when stuck in bumper to bumper traffic being in C is a more pleasant driving experience than doing it in first.

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