The loud pop is not good.
Cars are intricate machines that have thousands of precisely-engineered parts. They do the exact same thing over and again. If you take care of your car, there are many things you should not do. This includes treating gearboxes with respect. Transmissions can be fickle and it is dangerous to put them in reverse when the vehicle is moving ahead.
Michael Vaim’s AutoVlog YouTube channel has a new video that demonstrates why it is not advisable to do this in a 1994 Ford Ranger. This isn’t his first attempt at such an experiment. drove a Chevy Prism in reverse at 40 MPH (64 km/h) in 2018. The Ranger is sporting a manual gearbox as well as a four-wheel drive.
The first attempt fails. While the truck is cruising down the highway, it slips into reverse and the Ford comes crashing to a halt. However, the action only causes the rear wheels of the truck to turn in reverse. Vaim put the Ranger in 4-Low because the transfer case wouldn’t allow it to stay in 4-High.
Before Vaim puts the gearbox in reverse, the truck can reach 45 mph (72 km/h). The Ranger’s tires do not spin backwards, despite a loud popping sound. The Ranger slows down as the strange whine, tick and sound of the pickup’s nearly 30-year-old engine stop it from moving.
Although it’s unclear what caused the problem, it seems that the clutch failed. Vaim claims that the clutch pedal feels very stiff in the video. Although the gearbox still works, there are some damage to the gearbox. The Ranger is a wrecker if it doesn’t have a functioning clutch pedal.
Vaim arrived prepared with a backpack and water in case the Ranger was damaged. Vaim plans to fix it and then he will continue his vehicular shenanigans. Since Vaim purchased it for $1,000, the Ranger has seen a lot. He even had Red Bull, Tequila and vodka in its gas tank.