Driving With Hand On The Shift Lever???

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I've seen articles all over the Internet, and on You Tube telling everyone how, "driving with your hand on an auto trans shift lever", is very bad to do. Can anyone accurately explain why? Or is this yet another Internet B.S. story, that for whatever reason got legs on it's own, and has no truth? Thanks in advance.
 
Always two hands on the wheel. If something happens and you need to steer quickly the lost time moving your hand from the shifter to the wheel will make a huge difference in the outcome.
 
On manual transmissions, yes, as it places forces onto gears/syncros/whatever, which can cause wear. By resting you hand there, you might be pushing it slightly out of the place it wants to sit at; thus preloading something or moving it slightly, and thus causing some undue wear. Automatic, I have a hard time believing that it's moving anything such that extra wear occurs (different means of changing gears). So in an automatic I wouldn't think twice about it. Even though on manuals I do on occasion (it's not like it'll wear out in ten miles doing this).

In my truck I love resting my wrist on the gear lever, it puts my finger in the right spot to work the radio. The shift lever is also all the way down when I do this, so it's not possible for anything to occur. Heck in my Camry it's not a bad spot either.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
On manual transmissions, yes, as it places forces onto gears/syncros/whatever, which can cause wear. By resting you hand there, you might be pushing it slightly out of the place it wants to sit at; thus preloading something or moving it slightly, and thus causing some undue wear. Automatic, I have a hard time believing that it's moving anything such that extra wear occurs (different means of changing gears). So in an automatic I wouldn't think twice about it. Even though on manuals I do on occasion (it's not like it'll wear out in ten miles doing this).


That's what I was taught, along with keeping both hands on the wheel. Looking at a cut away view of an M/T I could easily see why it is best not to rest my hand on the shifter.
 
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How many of you guys regularly drive a stick? And how many have a wife that drives one? This is a non issue for most drivers.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
How many of you guys regularly drive a stick? And how many have a wife that drives one? This is a non issue for most drivers.


Wasn't sure how to ask this question. I *used* to drive stick all the time, wife still does. I'm very comfortable using my left hand to do all the steering. Heck, it's not that hard--I mean, I haven't had a car without power steering for a couple decades.

And even then... I only needed two hands to steer when parking.

Most cars, a quarter turn on the wheel is going to be a hard swerve at speed. Two hands may be best but IMO that is like saying you should only drive after a full nights rest, and never spend more than 30 minutes behind the wheel 'cuz you might be tired, etc.
 
Maybe with modern manual transmissions it’s not a factor but if I’m driving a stick I move my hand from wheel to shifter and back. The only time is when constant shifting is needed like a winding mountain pass but even then the shifter is not that far away.

It’s a bad habit, just like having the other foot resting on the brake pedal.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
On manual transmissions, yes, as it places forces onto gears/syncros/whatever, which can cause wear. By resting you hand there, you might be pushing it slightly out of the place it wants to sit at; thus preloading something or moving it slightly, and thus causing some undue wear. Automatic, I have a hard time believing that it's moving anything such that extra wear occurs (different means of changing gears). So in an automatic I wouldn't think twice about it. Even though on manuals I do on occasion (it's not like it'll wear out in ten miles doing this).

In my truck I love resting my wrist on the gear lever, it puts my finger in the right spot to work the radio. The shift lever is also all the way down when I do this, so it's not possible for anything to occur. Heck in my Camry it's not a bad spot either.


Thanks. That's the answer I was looking for. One that explained this from strictly a mechanical standpoint. Not get a lesson in drivers ed.
 
Is anyone going to answer the OP's question?

Does having your hand on the auto tranny shifter knob cause any damage to the tranny?
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
How many of you guys regularly drive a stick? And how many have a wife that drives one? This is a non issue for most drivers.


Wasn't sure how to ask this question. I *used* to drive stick all the time, wife still does. I'm very comfortable using my left hand to do all the steering. Heck, it's not that hard--I mean, I haven't had a car without power steering for a couple decades.

And even then... I only needed two hands to steer when parking.

Most cars, a quarter turn on the wheel is going to be a hard swerve at speed. Two hands may be best but IMO that is like saying you should only drive after a full nights rest, and never spend more than 30 minutes behind the wheel 'cuz you might be tired, etc.



I understand the point you are making. It’s the what if situation that pops up when you least expect it. My fathers teaching and drivers ed both emphasized safety in the what if something happens. In my 45 plus years of driving, I have experienced a number of these emergency situations. A child runs out in front of you, in my case the kid was on a bicycle. Avoid a head-on crash at all costs. In my two cases I was fortunate to have room to the right, and in one case of avoiding hitting a person who skipped on ice in front of me and fell, the swerve to the left avoided hitting him.

All these times I had both hands on the wheel. I hate to think what the outcome would have been otherwise.
 
Originally Posted By: Leo99
Is anyone going to answer the OP's question?

Does having your hand on the auto tranny shifter knob cause any damage to the tranny?




I think it has been answered. I believe older transmissions may have had issues from that type of driving. I don’t know about the newer ones but there was the bigger issue of only one hand on the wheel.
 
An auto shifter nowadays is just an electronic switch. Like on my LR3 you could throw it in park at 70 MPH and nothing will happen I think.
 
I'm tempted from time to time to rest my hand on the shifter.

BUT, shift linkages and switches can be less robust then the tranny, any damage can keep a car stuck in park, etc.

Hit a bump and you could shift accidentally, weight of your hand and arm on the shifter and linkage is why I won't
do it often.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
How many of you guys regularly drive a stick? And how many have a wife that drives one? This is a non issue for most drivers.
My girlfriend drives a 5 speed Mazda 3 daily and I drive an 18 speed at work daily.
 
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Originally Posted By: billt460
I've seen articles all over the Internet, and on You Tube telling everyone how, "driving with your hand on an auto trans shift lever", is very bad to do.

lol.gif
No. Unless it's on the steering column, then that's not very safe.
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is this yet another Internet B.S. story, that for whatever reason got legs on it's own, and has no truth? Thanks in advance.

Yep


On a manual transmission it can possibly apply a small force to the synchro collar against the shift fork and apply a small force against the shift gate too, but neither are damage inducing and the 'forces' are only worth mentioning because they exist
 
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