i've been having some problems occasionally shifting my 5spd '95 tracker into reverse.   on occasion when i need to back up i won't be able to smoothly shift to reverse.  i'll have to keep it in neutral and let the clutch out so the tracker drifts a little forward/reverse then it'll go right in.  if i try to force it, it'll 'grind' the gears a little.  is this a sign of a problem?  thanks....

milk

my GV does it too. sometimes you can put it in first then reverse and it all works out well. I think it's a safety feature making it nearly impossible to hit reverse going down the road at high speed making it difficult to shift into reverse period

give that a try and see how it works. on ocasion if you let the clutch out in neutral then try again it might work but usually just first then reverse works

same on my 91 sammy

I have found that if you put it in 1st and then 2nd it lines up the syncros  to where there should be no grind going into reverse. Not sure about sammys since I have just started building them, but on hondas the reverse gear is a dog style gear, straight gears instead of the spiral set gears.

Every suzuki vehicle I've driven has been like this occasionally. I haven't tried first then second to line up the synchros, but I will next time. I usually just let it drift a couple inches and it goes right in. If I'm on flat and it wont drift at all, then I let the clutch out slightly then push it back in and the shifter goes right into reverse...

Is the grinding bad for it? I dont mean intentionally grinding it,  but when it grinds when you try to put it in reverse while slowly rolling backwards or if the gears are spun up from the clutch being engaged while in neutral. Nothing I know of has a synchro on the reverse gear, so I am guessing that if it grinds, it can take it, but I have never had a manual trans apart(yet), so I dont know if it damages it .

Is the grinding bad for it? I dont mean intentionally grinding it,  but when it grinds when you try to put it in reverse while slowly rolling backwards or if the gears are spun up from the clutch being engaged while in neutral. Nothing I know of has a synchro on the reverse gear, so I am guessing that if it grinds, it can take it, but I have never had a manual trans apart(yet), so I dont know if it damages it .

thanks guys, i kinda figured it was pretty "normal" and had to do with the gears not being aligned or something seeing as how if i let it drift or put it in first it'll go into reverse.  but i guess my real concern is what urbanwheeler mentions.  again, thanks everyone for the speedy answers

milk

reverse just does not have a sycro in it so it jams a lil sometimes if you dont like the little bit of grinding try doing a double clutch. works for me 90% of the time i dont even hear a little noise if you push the clutch down twice before hitting reverse.

the feeling of stuck in a space becuase it wont go into reverse kinda sucks though 0.o but from what i have seen more then just zukis do that.

mine has the strange grind into 3rd..could be a crappy driver with lazy shifts though 

try doing a double clutch. works for me 90% of the time i dont even hear a little noise if you push the clutch down twice before hitting reverse.

Works for me too

like i said its a dog gear..... or paddle gear if you like. looks like this      l l l l l l l l    instead of this        / / / / / / /      if you get what i am saying. it isn't going to hurt reverse to grind it but no one likes to grind it to find it.

Quote from: Mike71 on June 17, 2006, 10:11:33 AM

try doing a double clutch. works for me 90% of the time i dont even hear a little noise if you push the clutch down twice before hitting reverse.

Works for me too

For me too 

i tried the 1st to 2nd to reverse thing last night when i couldn't get it to reverse without it grinding and it worked like a charm    pretty neat little trick there...  now i won't have to worry about being embarrassed when trying to back up out of a parking spot or something 

Glad it worked for ya!