How does this transmission work?

[MaineShark]

Okay, I was looking at information on various manual transmissions, and I noticed that several shifted with a couple of shafts (with levers attached) on the side, instead of the shifter that comes through the top of the case or tailhousing. Reading further, I found that one shaft is for reverse, and somehow the other shaft handles all four forward gears... How does that work? Am I missing some way that the shifter might move the shaft in and out, in addition to rotating it, or is it based solely on varying the angle of the shaft (similar to an automatic transmission)?

Joe

 

[JohnZ]

I've never seen a side-shift 4-speed transmission that didn't have three levers - one for 1-2, one for 3-4, and one for reverse (Borg-Warner, Muncie, Saginaw, New Process, Chrysler, Ford T&C top-loaders, etc.). It'd be a pretty neat trick to have one shift fork manage a 2-gear slider plus shifting a reverse idler gear. I suspect they mis-identified a photo.

 

[drags1998]

Hi Joe, Can you get us a pic of this tranny? I agree with John, Gotta have 3 levers for any 4sp. Ive seen.seeya Paul:confused

 

[Ken]

All internal rail shifters/transmissions I've seen have been top-mount; I've never seen a side-mount internal rail shifter but that's not to say there isn't one out there. I know very little when it comes to the "big picture." :L

 

[MaineShark]

I'm wondering if it was just a bad angle on the video. It certainly looked like it only had two levers. That's why I was wondering if maybe the lever also moved in and out. I just don't know.

Anyway, in the case of the three-lever transmissions, how does that work? Are the levers three-position (ie, the one lever would be first - neutral - second and the other lever would be third - neutral - fourth, with neutral being accomplished when both levers are in the middle position)? Or is it something else? Probably a pretty basic question, but I haven't had much experience with these sorts of transmissions.

Also, are there any transmissions like this with more than four speeds?

Joe

 

[drags1998]

Hi Joe , On a GM tranny, the rear-most lever is reverse. The middle lever is 1st-2nd gear,the front lever is 3rd-4th gears Hope this helps!!!!! Paul