How To: 6speed manual transmission with "Safeshift" system

[Gray Gear]

I always wondered why there are so few technic cars with manual transmissions...

I would like to change that, so I made a little guide, maybe it will help some of you. This is meant to help you get going, but not to carry you all the way.

This is a small mockup of a compact 6 speed with shift assembly Yellow is power input (connected to the wheels) and red is power output (connected to the fake engine.) It is ideal for a mid-engine RWD car, as the engine can be placed right above the transmission.

 

This is the secret of the "Safeshift" system that I developed. It makes it impossible for two gears to engage at the same time. That means you can shift without being careful, like this:

The heart of the safeshift system is this sliding piece, which locks the 2 inactive selector rings in the neutral position:

 

If you want to recreate this mockup and start experimenting a little, here are some pics for you:

(Don't ask for instructions please, if you need the then I cant recomment trying this anyways )

The Shift lever contains a 6L bar with stop (piece 63965)

 

I hope you liked it 

 

Gray Gear

Edited May 2, 2020 by Gray Gear

[grego18f]

Interesting setup! 

It is true there are not so many manual transmissions nowadays. But I see one major reason to this : most of the people out there base their car on real recent supercars, and almost all of them have sequential gearbox. 

 

I myself plan on doing a manual Porsche 992 with rear wheel steering (the rws depends on the position of the selector). I just can't figure out a way to build a reliable shifter for a 7+R gearbox.. 

I'll give a try with your solution. 

[amorti]

Looking good! Nice solid engagement in each gear 

[MinusAndy]

Thanks for posting this, It couldn't have come at a better time!

[Gray Gear]

4 minutes ago, MinusAndy said:

Thanks for posting this, It couldn't have come at a better time!

I know, I got the Idea to do this guide yesterday after our little chat 

[MY1]

nice system tho its too bad the gearbox doesn't work 

Edited November 21, 2020 by MY1

[Gray Gear]

5 hours ago, MY1 said:

nice system tho its too bad the gearbox doesn't work 

What's the problem? For me it worked fine...

[Jeroen Ottens]

I like it a lot! The safeshift system is very ingeneous. And I like the fact that you made sure that the linkage from the stickshift to the gearbox are all form-locked. My only gripe (but that is easily remedied and purely my own internal rules) would be that you use these 1x1 plate with clip on top to shift the driving rings. That feels a little flimsy and is rotation sensitive. Maybe a pin-with-stud and a lipstick or microphone works as well?

Edited November 21, 2020 by Jeroen Ottens

[Gray Gear]

33 minutes ago, Jeroen Ottens said:

I like it a lot! The safeshift system is very ingeneous. And I like the fact that you made sure that the linkage from the stickshift to the gearbox are all form-locked. My only gripe (but that is easily remedied and purely my own internal rules) would be that you use these 1x1 plate with clip on top to shift the driving rings. That feels a little flimsy and is rotation sensitive. Maybe a pin-with-stud and a lipstick or microphone works as well?

Microphone no for sure, lipstick idk. But I feel like it would be too high.

I have never had a problem with the clip pieces, they work well in my Honda NSX, Mazda RX-7 and Nissan GTR MOC. Never had any problems with them going out of place or falling off etc. You just have to brace the top to keep them in place.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Gray Gear

[scynox]

I dont want to sound so negative but is it considered legal? both shifter and switcher? did lego use those solutions in a set yet?

[Gray Gear]

4 minutes ago, scynox said:

I dont want to sound so negative but is it considered legal? both shifter and switcher? did lego use those solutions in a set yet?

Obviously LEGO did not use this shift system, it is my own design, but there would be no point in MOCing if all I would do was copy-Paste LEGO solutions and never figure out anything myself. But it is not an Illegal solution because I am not stressing pieces anywhere. I dont like that either.

[aeh5040]

That's an extremely neat and interesting idea!  (I'm not sure why it seems to have provoked so much complaining).  The form factor looks very convenient for vehicles too.

[scynox]

1 hour ago, aeh5040 said:

...I'm not sure why it seems to have provoked so much complaining...

do you mean we should not say anything against any model/design shared here in this website?

3 hours ago, Gray Gear said:

Obviously LEGO did not use this shift system, it is my own design, but there would be no point in MOCing if all I would do was copy-Paste LEGO solutions and never figure out anything myself. But it is not an Illegal solution because I am not stressing pieces anywhere. I dont like that either.

cool. have fun. it is against my principles with lego but definitely not with yours.

[Gray Gear]

21 minutes ago, scynox said:

do you mean we should not say anything against any model/design shared here in this website?

cool. have fun. it is against my principles with lego but definitely not with yours.

I always thought as long as there is no brick connection that LEGO would not use the whole build stays "legal". But appearently there are people (like you?) who also want the whole assembly to be the same as in a LEGO set? Where does that mindset stop? Am I even allowed to build anything that is not an official LEGO set? Is making a MOC in itself even legal?

Thats not for me, to me this just seams like a creativity stopper. I myself could not care less, I just dont like to stress or bend pieces. Anything else is fine. But to each their own I guess.

[aeh5040]

4 hours ago, aeh5040 said:

I'm not sure why it seems to have provoked so much complaining

 

2 hours ago, scynox said:

do you mean we should not say anything against any model/design shared here in this website?

No, I mean I'm not sure why it seems to have provoked so much complaining.  If I meant "we should not say anything against any model/design shared here in this website" I would have said that. 

I'm not sure if there is a way to make it any clearer! :)

Edited November 21, 2020 by aeh5040

[MY1]

On 11/21/2020 at 1:25 AM, Gray Gear said:

What's the problem? For me it worked fine...

where the blue 24t gear and the red 16t gear are at the input and output it won't spin or  I'm looking at it differently then how u actually built it . but maybe I should build it before I say anything

[Gray Gear]

5 hours ago, MY1 said:

where the blue 24t gear and the red 16t gear are at the input and output it won't spin or  I'm looking at it differently then how u actually built it . but maybe I should build it before I say anything

Yes, the blue 20t gear and the red 16t gear are locked together using a 4th clutch ring that is not used for shifting gears. I did that on purpose. 

[Rudivdk]

On 11/21/2020 at 9:50 AM, Jeroen Ottens said:

My only gripe (but that is easily remedied and purely my own internal rules) would be that you use these 1x1 plate with clip on top to shift the driving rings. That feels a little flimsy and is rotation sensitive.

You might forget that the top of the clip is permanently inserted into the ridge of the corresponding driving ring. So it can't rotate or fall off,  it's pretty much formlocked...

@Gray Gear nice and compact solution! Dunno how I missed this back in May...

Functions-wise it reminds me of my own old gearbox with fixed h-pattern, although your version is even more fool proof locking the unused rings in neutral as well. And it seems yours is also easier to incorporate into a model.

[1963maniac]

I just found this tonight. Looks very interesting! Will do the build tomorrow.

April 5 -  This is very good engineering!!  It works very well. I just got done. I had a little trouble getting the top with "safestick" on. With all the moving parts, it would have been easier to put it on with a downward motion. This can be accomplished by repeating the pin connector with pins at the other end  and omitting the black pins on the 5x7 frame.

Edited April 6, 2023 by 1963maniac