My old car had an explicit warning about leaving your hand on the shift **** while driving. It made some sense (accidently triggering wear on the synchros).

Anyone have thoughts on where to keep my hand (particularly in stop + go traffic) when not on the wheel?

 

I've not heard this in a long time but assume it is still good advice not to let your hand rest on the shift lever to avoid wear on the synchros. Someone told me this first back in 1954 when I got an MG-TD. Took it as gospel then and have continued thru the decades.

What I do with my hand now is hold on to the emergency brake handle, wish I had a center armrest.

 

I got one of the ebay arm rests for like 69 bucks. so far ive enjoyed it greatly, especially the extra storage!

when it wasnt there, i used the passenger seat bolster or the ebrake, or the steering wheel

 

Or just rest your forearm/hand on your leg...ready to shift if need be.

 

Or just keep it on the wheel........lol

 

crazy talk!

 

Of course some of it will depend on where you are driving. IF you are doing the tight twisties in the mountains you may not have time to take your had off the shifter before having to shift again.

As a good rule of thumb it is not wise to rest you hand on the shifter for the stated reasons, but if it is a very light pressure (i.e. fiinger tips just felling it) then i probably will not have great detrimental effect. But if it is the full palm rest then could cause problems.

 

Yeah. I've found that being in stop and go, and shifting always from N-1-2 and back that I'm becoming lazy about my hand placement... and the armrest actually makes it worse by "aiming" my hand right at it. The problem with pressing sport before setting off every day is that the car steers itself @ 10 mph on my commute. Anything above, I leave my hand off except to shift.

I'll focus on better driving technique again just to be safe.

 

Just don't hit a bump...

 

According to Jim Morrison, you should keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.

 

Interesting, I never heard this before. Guess I should start worrying `bout it huh? Seriously though, both hands on the wheel? You should have at least 1 hand on your coffee/sammich and your other holding your phone while you try to drive with your elbow and keep your dog from jumping out of the window.

 

I heard somewhere if you put your hand on your shifter too much you might go blind....

 

I thought that most cars didn't have the gearbox right under the stick. Don't they normally have linkages that run into gearbox. If this is true the only wear would come from pressure on the two engaged gears.
Frankly I've driven standard cars all my life and I think you would have to put a lot of pressure on the stick to make any difference ...

 

 

I am blind!!!

 

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I bought a brand new 1980 Chevy Citation. It was a V-6 with the 4-speed (no 5's as they hadn't figured out how to make one for a transverse engine). I also have never owned a car with an automatic. Anyway, I was about to make a shift and placed my hand on the shifter. Just before I was going to press the clutch, I hit a bump or railroad track or something. It was enough to make my arm pull on the shifter. Basically it was like trying to shift without the clutch, but completely ill-timed. The result was that it broke the synchronizers in 2 gears. Fortunately it was still under warranty at the time. Also fortunate was the fact that it didn't take gears with it. Evidently the parts jusat exploded and dropped to the bottom of the casing and didn't get stuck somewhere.

The Moral to this story:

Don't touch the shifter until you are actually going to shift!!!

 

We all know what happened to Jim Morrison......

 

Living in a Galaxy Far Far Away?