RHD manual gearboxes

[Boza]

Hey guys I was on a tour bus once and the guy driving it said the gears were back too front it wasn't a big bus it was a small mercedes or something like that.

He said the pattern was back to front like 1st was where 5th or 6th should be and vice versa I was wondering if there reall y is a RHD manual gearbox or was he just a bad driver that didn't know how to drive and was making excuses.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Boza

Hey guys I was on a tour bus once and the guy driving it said the gears were back too front it wasn't a big bus it was a small mercedes or something like that.

He said the pattern was back to front like 1st was where 5th or 6th should be and vice versa I was wondering if there reall y is a RHD manual gearbox or was he just a bad driver that didn't know how to drive and was making excuses.

What size Bus, like how many seats. Front or rear engine?

[commodorenutt]

They don't reverse shift patterns on gearboxes for LHD & RHD models.

Most gearboxes on cars & light commercials are a traditional H or pattern, with 2 differences being:
1. Where reverse is located, and lockout mechanisms.
2. Less common - sometimes where 1st is (some trucks & older 3-speeds have a 'dog leg' first (where 2nd is in a modern 5/6 speed manual).


Could it be that it was a column shift? They are sometimes considered backwards - ie 1st is closest to the steering wheel, and 3rd is closer to the dash - being the reverse of what you'd expect for a H pattern, but perfectly sensible when you've driven it.

[Boza]

Nah wasn't a column shift I think it was the size of school bus maybe but not one of those great big coaches.

I was sitting upfront and the guy kept having trouble shifting and said it was a new bus they got and the gears were reversed like it was made for rhd or something like that he said but I think it was rear engine'd

[GasoLane]

It's quite possible if it's an older type rear engine. As the gearbox would have been designed for a front mounted engine, with the engine in the back and the gearbox behind that the pattern would be reversed.

[last fairlane]

Boza back in the seventies I drove a semi trailer
it was a MAN with a 12 speed ZF box
and you drove it **** about face
just think of a six speed Falcon box
1st and 2nd was where 5th is plus it had a 2 speed spliter
3rd and 4th where where 6th is
5th and 6th were where 4th is
7th and 8th were where 3rd is
9th and 10th were where 2nd is
and 11th and 12th were where 1st is
dont ask about reverse you had to push the stick down
like an impala shift and grab 2nd gear
and it was a crash box no syncros at all
I also drove an MAN with a pogo stick and also a collumn shift one
just think Mk2 Cortina but with 12 gears
thanks John

[Trevor 57]

Most likely a ZF gearbox (made by the German ZF Friedrichshafen AG engineering company), many Benz trucks came out with them, the box ran from right to left, I have driven heaps of them

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

It's quite possible if it's an older type rear engine. As the gearbox would have been designed for a front mounted engine, with the engine in the back and the gearbox behind that the pattern would be reversed.

I think its all a bit more complicated than that regarding positioning of engine, gearbox, diff .. and rotation of them.
My Corvair has the differential at the rear wheels, the engine attached behind the diff, and the gearbox in front off the diff. The gearbox/diff operate as normal .. but the engine rotates anticlockwise and drives a shaft through the diff/gearbax, back to the input shaft of the gearbox. The gearbox is a modified (but largely standard) Saginaw manual or Powerglide auto ...... its all very weird.