Gear Stick

[Matheous-2]

I recently heard from a 'pro driver' that resting ones hand on top of your gear stick can damage the gearbox.....Is this an old wives tale?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

I hate it when I'm in a car with a driver who does that.
They come across as arrogant to me. Dunno why.

[shoota]

Bad practice too aside from any mechanical complications.

[erin-x]

I do it all the time! When I got my new car the guy said that there was a sensor in the gearstick and if I rested my hand on it an alarm would go off... I've never heard it and I got it in June! :)

[Toureman]

Partly but it can be dangerous as you do not have much control of your steering wheel in an emergency.

[Dee-M-See]

Driving Instructors and Driving Examiners will tell you that driving with your hand on the gearstick indicates indecision, and you can be failed if you did it while on test

[mjwman]

1) it takes up any freee play and wears syncro rings and 2) why? You should have both hands on the wheel anyway!

[Matheous-2]

Thanks to all- I will now restrain myself from doing that ( which really was infrequently)-honest!

[Hopkirk]

To me it is a sign of laziness - the driver can't be bothered to move the hand back to the wheel.

[TWR]

The worst habit a driver can
have is resting his / her foot on the clutch. regards your Q, No problem, but two hands should be on the wheel.

[DangerUXD]

what are these strange vehicles with a "gear stick"? You mean there are cars that need to have gears changed manuallY? Surely not!

[Matheous-2]

DUXD- If I get a say in choosing our next car....an automatic will be my choice. I had one about 25 yrs ago and loved it!

[chas2008]

As a majority of modern cars are front wheel drive there is linkage/cables/rods between the lever and the box theres no way resting your hand on it would damage the gearbox.

[DangerUXD]

I did think that too chas, I guess they are talking about the classic and indeed correct configuration where the gear box and engine etc are all in line driving the rear wheels then It's feasable that the gear change knob is actually directly on top of the gear box.

[chas2008]

DangerUXD,
im not even convinced on a rear wheel drive it would cause any problems, the gear lever is still connected by rods/levers/bushes,not direct on to forks/synchros. The only possible instance i could think of is something like a moggie minor where the lever came direct from the gearbox at an angle under the bulkhead.