My husband says that backing up a steep hill with the clutch in reverse (of course) hurts the clutch also he says that when you back up and then put the car in first without stopping it also hurts the clutch. Looked in your discussions but couldn’t find anything. Thanks for any info,
StriderTitan
Backing uphill in reverse won’t hurt the clutch but he has a great point about shifting into 1st gear while still rolling backwards.
With the latter, this is not only hard on clutches it’s also rough on internal transmission parts such as synchronizer hub assemblies and gear teeth and is also rough on drivetrain parts such as halfshafts, U-joints, differentials, etc. depending on the type of vehicle involved.
The only way backing up a steep hill could hurt the clutch is if you are “feathering” the clutch. Feathering means the clutch is not fully engaged or disengaged as you are holding your foot on the clutch petal and allowing the clutch to slip to control the speed of the car. If it is a long hill and you do this frequently over time it will harm the clutch. If you are a “featherer” then yes it is hurting the clutch. If not, then no clutch damage.
As for shifting into 1st while the car is still moving backwards, very bad on the transmission and clutch. Try the reverse, shifting into reverse while the car is still moving forward. You will hear a bunch of gear grinding and probably couldn’t make the shift at all. There is no sychroniser on reverse gear in most manual transmissions. You are wearing out your 1st gear sychroniser (expensive to pull the tranny to repair) and putting extra stress on the clutch to overcome the backward inertia and then moving forward.
I suspect hubby is right on both counts.
The clutch does not know or care what gear the transmission is in. It’s all the same as far as the clutch is concerned.
Allowing the clutch to slip in ANY gear, now that’s another matter…