I have a restriction on my license that only allows me to only drive automatics. After looking at several trucks I came up with a question. Can a manual transmission be adapted to be driven by a driver that is missing one leg? Is the cost of such work worth it? If possible, I would LOVE to drive a stick shift, it would be quite an accomplishment!

 

As I said in your other thread, it can be done, it is not super simple, but not that tough.

Hand actuation can be done for many things. If a champ car, or F1 car can be adapted for a guy with no leg function, a simple manual transmission won't be that difficult.

I've been down this road on older vehicles, its just a matter of whether or not someone really wants to make things work.

 

When I worked at a tire shop just out of high school, there was a regular customer who was a paraplegic, had the brake and throttle on a hand control, pull back for gas, push down for the brake. Should have been pretty easy to do brake stands with it. See no reason why you couldn't do that, and leave the clutch for the foot. Clutch would be harder to actuate by hand. Would be tough to shifting gears smoothly, I'd think. At least at first.

 

**** my dodge is a 6spd and the only time i use the clutch is starting off. Cant be too hard!

 

The only probably I can see with this is these 6speeds are geard so darn low that you have to shift 3 times before you make it through a stop light. Dont get me wrong I love my 6speed and wouldnt trade for any auto but it gets old if you live in the city. If you decide to get a hand shaker then more power to you. I think its pretty cool that you want a manual.

 

You will need to have a new shift **** installed that has a 'momentary on' push-button switch in it. This switch will run an actuator that is attached to the clutch pedal linkage that pushes on the clutch master cylinder, (or pulls the clutch cable, whatever the case may be). This leaves the clutch pedal fully operable and allows you to use the clutch by pushing the button in the shift ****. Your hands won't be anywhere they normally wouldn't be to begin with either.

chaikwa.

 

Since she already uses the gas and brake pedals, I think it would be easier to adapt the gas pedal to a hand control since there is no cable now, and let her use the clutch and brake pedals normal.

 

Using the clutch and break with one foot is quite problematic since you need to use both at once.

You could do what a lot of race vehicles do and run a hand clutch on the shifter and use your foot for the gas and brake. Unfortunately, these clutches have a lot of plate pressure so you would need some form of power assist on it. Hand clutches really are not hard to get used to but I have never used a power assisted one.

If only they made a centrifugal clutch for something this large, it would be easy. No clutch pedal needed to get rolling(just give it throttle), and then clutchless shifts. It would be like riding a lot of dirt bikes now.

 

The biggest factor would be finding some one to do the work. An electric actuator would not really allow for slipping the clutch. It would have to be a mechanical system, and it could probably be attached to the clutch pedal in such a fashion to use a pulley or two to gain additional leverage. All you would need is the clutch handle off a Harley and a strong enough cable.

 

I think if you tied into the brake booster for your clutch it would make stuff a whole lot easier. The truck is already equipped with the system, since it would not be used a lot it should be capable of taking care of clutch operations. Plus the truck already has hyd. clutch linkage, so just small things to adapt. If she has been driving an auto for a while you don't want to mess with changing what pedal does what. I wouldn't eliminate the clutch pedal, so if someone other than her needs to use it in an emergency they can, but make it tuck up under the dash or at least out of the way. This can be done, and would be pretty sweet once it was finished.
DS79

 

I was thinking more along the lines of a servo switch... the harder you push it, the more power it puts to whatever you are running, in this case the actuator for the clutch. But the mechanical/lever/handle type set up is a good idea too. I don't know about tying into the brake booster tho. If the clutch was calling for boost power at the same time the brakes needed slamming on, which would take precedence? Or would power be diminished to both at the same time? Trial and error might not be a viable option in this instance!

chaikwa.

 

I'm not talking using the actual brake fluid, but the PS fluid that drives the booster. It is just a simple hyd system and with a variable valve and some plumbing you could make it work quite easly. You might need to add a bigger resevior, and cooler, but I would think the system should work just fine in stock form.
DS79

 

I agree, but do you think the PS system would be able to supply both the brakes and the new clutch system simultaneously without robbing sufficient power from one or the other, so that one wouldn't work correctly?

chaikwa.

 

I guess it depends on which leg is not usable? If someone is missing their right leg then I would think you would have hand brake and throtle controls? If thats the case then why could an amputee not just use the usable leg for the clutch like normal and the hand controls for throtle and brake? Youre not on the throtle when you shift gears anyway so you could move from hand throtle/brake to the gear shift when needed? I dont know and have no knowlege of doing this but that just seems like it would work to me?

 

push button electric over hydrolic clutch opperation.

this would work like so:
you push the switch which moves the valve and in turn pushes the clutch and you let off the switch it lets the clutch out.
i would have some kind of flow set valve also so i could adjust how fast the clutch works from inside the cab, so if i wanted to speed shift i could.
again this would use the power steering system for the hydrolics