Gear change advice

Read the sticky but I still have a couple of questions about changing gear in a Series IIA:

1. Does the gear stick have to be in the neutral position when changing between the hi and low boxes? (i.e. clutch in but still in gear is not sufficient)

2. Is starting off in 2nd gear when on level ground and not heavily loaded or towing etc a common practice in these?

3. Any double clutching advice for a 2.25 petrol? I'm new to this but keen to learn the best practices.

Any advice would be helpful, cheers.

1. Don't think so but probably a good idea just out of sympathy for all those poor old cogs.
2.Yes 2nd gear is fine.
3. Practice. Take your time them old drivetrains don't like to be rushed.

Thanks. Any advice on the double clutching procedure itself? I mean, use of pedals, revs etc when going up and down. Sorry, but I am completely new to this. Had a look online but didn't find anything specific to the Series II Land Rover.
If I understand correctly, it is required when changing from 1st to 2nd when going up and from 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st when going down. I also read not to try to shift into 1st gear unless the vehcile has come to a complete stop. Is this advice correct?

Overland said:

Thanks. Any advice on the double clutching procedure itself? I mean, use of pedals, revs etc when going up and down. Sorry, but I am completely new to this. Had a look online but didn't find anything specific to the Series II Land Rover.
If I understand correctly, it is required when changing from 1st to 2nd when going up and from 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st when going down. I also read not to try to shift into 1st gear unless the vehcile has come to a complete stop. Is this advice correct?

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All the early vehicles had no sincro's between any of the gears,















to change gears was an art, so when you needed to change gear, the flywheel and gear box shafts needed to be at similar speeds, rember most of the gearbox is rotating inside still, being driven by the prop shafts from the other end, so to try and match same rotations was achieved by adjusting the revs of the motor and pumping clutch, once in to disengage - adjust engine revs with throttle - then engage clutch again to engage gear, is mainly a timing thing that takes heaps of practice. Then someone invented sincro's and put them into all gears except Ist and Reverse, so unless you want to damage something you will never get into either without stopping, engine just doesn't spin slow enough. The only reason you should need to double ya clutch in a 11a is cause ya sincro's or something else in the box is worn, maybe ya need to do some repairs on it.

Cheers. But, I thought only a few very late Series IIA models and the Series III vehicles had fully synchronised gearboxes and most Series II's required double clutching in the lower gears as they only had the sync. between 3rd and 4th.

HELLO mate ,your going pre wwii then ,dont let it worry you.old landies are very agricultral but very forgiving ,changing up 1rst let it go ,revs of out of gear ,clutch up then down into next gear ,clutch up and away,do this 1 to 2@2to3 you prob wont need it 3to4 ,fourth gear usually has syncromesh .now then changing down ie 4to3,3to2,the same for 2to1 but you wont need it very often.are you sitting comfortably then we,ll begin lol ....in top want to drop to 3 ,clutch down,out of 4 clutch up then rev,clutch down into 3 clutch up and away you go,do this for 3 to 2 as well,its very hard to explain but very easy to demonstrate,if someone can show you it a damn sight easier to pick up,,,,,,hope this is of help ....dave

A great help, thanks for explaining! Just 2 more questions still...

1. Is the advice about not trying to shift into 1st gear unless at rest correct?

2. When you've been using 4 wheel drive Hi and want to return to 2 wheel drive, should the main gear stick be in neutral before moving the red lever briefly back to low ratio in order to disengage 4 wheel drive?

changing to low range you must be STOPPED otherwise you will damage the transfer box ,they were never designed for that,you can however change up from low to high if you are very care full and take your time,mind you its just as easy to stop because by the time you change up you,ll have stopped anyway lol.like its been said before they are very robust but getting a bit old to be abused,apart from that just bash on (nice and steady though) and enjoy.......dave

PS it dont matter where the main lever is just be static and double the clutch ,more importantly take your time dont rush it they dont like it..dave

changing down into first same rules apply ;ie,double declutching but by the time you do it you will be stopped anyway mate,if you are going dead slow you can get it in carefully but you will find theres no need to.....dave

Thanks for your effort in making that all clear, it was a real help and much appreciated!

Hi,
Read the thread at top called "ere wots all dem levers for". Its good info if you are new..

Steve

A mix of good advice and rubbish. Just to clarify a few points:
Ser II has syncromesh on 3rd and 4th, so ideally need double declutching if changing into 1st or 2nd in either direction.
It is possible, with practise, to change down into 1st whilst moving.
It is not necessary to be in neutral to change between low & high. In fact it can often help to get it fully engaged if you lift the clutch slightly with the main box in gear as you push the lever home. Seems to apply more to permanent 4wd motors than Series vehicles though.
It is possible, with a lot of practise, to select low range on the move, and it was designed to allow this, but it is not recommended in normal driving, the best advise is stop. (If turning onto rough ground with a heavy trailer you may want low range without having to get the whole combination rolling again from a full stop)

Thanks for that. So it is not required going up from 2nd to 3rd? I thought I read it was somewhere but could easily be mistaken.

You may well have read it. If you did, the person who wrote what you read was mistaken!

Thanks for clarifying that for me.

One more question came to mind: Any advice for operating the overdrive? What I should do, what I shouldn't do, what to look out for etc.

Overland said:

One more question came to mind: Any advice for operating the overdrive? What I should do, what I shouldn't do, what to look out for etc.

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Assuming its a Fairey, it should only be used in Hi 3rd or 4th (apparently the increased torque in lower gears can kill it). Its got synchromesh, so no double de-clutching nessasary, just clutch down, push the lever all the way forward to engage and clutch up. Same to dis engage. Clutch down, lever back, clutch up.
Simples