resque me from 3 on the tree
 

hey guys i just bought me a SWB 1977 c10 this weekend from NC. drives great except for me. i never driven a column shift manuel before. i had such troubles pulling away from the seller that i could see the pain on his face for selling it to me. he even called me the next day to see if i made it home safely. i live in WV. so needless to say i had to store the car at a relatives until i'm able to come back to NC to pick up. i plan to upgrade the transmission to a automatic or 'normal' shifting manual. what are my options?




1977 c10 cheyenne, inline6, 3 on tree, front disc (but manual).

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Have you driven many manual transmission vehicles before? The 3 on the tree is just like a standard on the floor just put sideways. Look at it from the passenger side to get a good visual of how the shifter should move. If you can drive a standard floor shifted manual trans than the 3 on the tree should not be a problem. It will most likely just take some getting used to.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

I love 3 on the trees...they are so much fun to drive, and you gets lots of strange looks when doing so by passer-by's who don't know what one is. :D

Learn to drive it, you might like it.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

I learned to drive in a 66ish Mercury 1/2 ton with a three on the tree. Once you're used to it, you might like it.

Thanks for reminding me of that old truck.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

You can convert it to a floor shifter, which is what I would do. Either way, I would keep it manual transmission.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

I'm with Jeff, Those Ole trees are a blast from the past. :thumbs:

We use to shorten the lever, One could bang that tree as quick as a floor shifter !

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

I too learned to drive in a 3 on the tree, a 57 chevy 1\2 ton. Remember unless you are stopped shift with your palm out, you only need palm in(pulling back on the shifter) reverse or low if you are stopped. Jay

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

First car I ever drove was my Dad's '63 Ford Falcon with a 170 Special inline 6 and a 3-speed manual column shift. Just learn how to drive it. I'd much rather have 3 on the tree than a slushbox.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

i can drive a floor shifter with ease. how would i go about converting this tree to a floor shifter? something else thats bugging me a liitle is... when i step on the brakes she plunges over to the right of the road pretty hard. the seller told me it was pretty common on '3 on the tree' trucks. did i get sold a bill of goods? because my initial thought was that one of the brake calipers were working and causing it to pull that direction.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

I have been around old cars/trucks all my life so I don't know how I missed this one. I mean I know there are a lot of marques that I have never heard of but most of those are one off, out of business companies that built 12 cars in the 1920s.:lol: Not really, I know there is a ton of history that I don't know but a Mercury??? I had no idea they ever made trucks. Always cool to learn something new.
I agree with others...stick with the three on the tree. It's a hoot once you get the hang of it.
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Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Sounds like the drivers side caliper is not functioning properly!

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. Could be the drivers side is not grabbing enough or the passenger side grabbing too much. I have a '76 doing the same thing. First it was darting right because the LF hose was collapsed inside. After I replaced the hose, it was darting left because the LF caliper was sticking. Now, since I have replaced the caliper, it is darting right again but only a little if I really stab the brakes hard. Don't know what that is yet...haven't investigated and prolly won't until I drive it some and see if it settles in. The truck has not been driven much in quite a few years.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Man, I miss my 3 on the tree. I loved it!
My first 73-87 (and fullsize truck), a 1973 GMC C150 307 V8 3 spd.
I don't know why you're having problems, I always thought they were easy to drive. I would leave it a column-shift.
I want another 3 on the tree again someday...

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

i want to convert it to floor shift or automatic. can anyone help me? here are some pics. i love my truck

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

R 2


1 3

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

http://www.jegs.com/i/Hurst/530/501-0016/10002/-1

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HUU-5010016/

http://performanceparts.com/part.php?partID=13324

Or start hittin' up garage sales, swap meets check the classifieds here

Floor shift conversion is straight forward remove column shifter, remove linkage, cut hole in floor, mount shifter on tranny, attach boot and knob, go drivin'.

Auto conversion a little more involed. You will need; transmission, flex plate, flex plate bolts, torque converter, torque converter bolts, cooler lines, cooler, dip stick tube, TV/kick down cable depending on tranny you pick. may have to change or modify transmission crossmember. May have to lengthen / shorten drive shaft.

Is this the info your lookin for?

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

If you go with a manual floor shifter spend the money for a quality shifter. You'll be glad you did.

My 1st vehicle, 1953 Ford F-100, flathead V-8, 3 on the tree. Man that was a kool truck!

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

3 on the tree and manual floor shft are the same as far as foot/clutch operation...I don't understand why you are having problems if you say you can drive a floor shift no problem?

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Hurst makes a cheap floor shift conversion (Indy IIRC). But if you can drive a floor shift the column is no problem. As old as the truck is it probably will 1-2 with very little effort. my 67 Biscayne you cluld just slap the shifter and it would go 1-2. 2-3 was a little more effort.

if it seems to be hard to shift the column linkage might be jamming or badly worn. Not so common an issue on these trucks as in the earlier ones. Columns can be rebushed or swapped.

Or swap in a 5 speed, manyt threads on it.

Brake pull has nothing to do with th trans, calipers and hoses are cheap. Do it now beofre it gets worse (they never heal themselves....)

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

I learned to drive in a 54 chevy with a 3 on the tree. It's no different than a floor shift. Just a simple H pattern.

Personally, I never heard of braking problems being related to a column shifter. It's just a shaft and some linkage to the transmission.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

absolutely!!! thanks guys for the info. i had never driven this style of shifter before, this is why it was so diffecult for me. like i said, i had an 8 hour drive ahead of me back to WV in this blizzard weather. this was no time for a learning curve on how to adjust to this 'H' style shift pattern. actual, when the seller was trying to teach me, i never realized it was a 'H' pattern. just up and down. so i striped gears constantly. i drove it for about 10 miles before i made the decision to turn around and store it at a realitives. when i come home next i'll give it another try. but if all fails, i now know i can convert it to a floor shifter pretty in the garage.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Stay with the 3 on a tree setup, driveing it is a breeze. A friend of mine has an old Benz with 4 on the tree. I have to kind of laugh when I hear people comment about haveing trouble shifting. Try to shift a qudraplex in a Mack truck. Thats what I learned on when I was a kid and drove semi for years after that until I lost my license for "high speed driving awards". jim

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Aren't all manuals an "H" pattern, regardless of column vs floor? :D

Give it time grasshopper before you convert. :)

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

Keep it stock. Just practice and u will be fine.

Re: resque me from 3 on the tree
 

we just did one at my garage here a couple of months ago... Bolted in a TH350 with a Genie shifter. Got the driveshaft from the wrecking yard , ran a seperate tranny cooler because the radiator we had was a single core... it was a gravey swap. :)

Also, we did have to get new small block motor mounts the the motor mounts on the truck had to be moved to the forward holes. :)