# Driving a car in reverse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920 "2007-06-29T13:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/21 "2007-06-30T00:57:39Z")
[QUOTE=Doctor Who] No, Ferris, this does not work. 😉 [/QUOTE] Ferris was such a narf. Cameron really should have decked him one, then run off in the Ferrari with Mia Sara. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/22 "2007-06-30T03:14:26Z")
[QUOTE=G41184B] I believe what he means is that he removed the rear differential and re installed it upside down, and not that he removed the back half of the car and flipped it over [wheels to the sky]. [/QUOTE] That’s what I meant. It also meant rewelding the mounting brackets, redoing the brake lines, mounting the brake backing plates 180 degrees to keep the brakes the right side up, adding a vent tube and filling the rear end to the top with gear lube to keep the carrier bearing in lube. A few other tricks we learned. Cars tend to overheat real fast in reverse, the fan was removed from the engine and an electric fan was mounted in front of the radiator to suck air away from the engine. We mounted the gas pedal on top of the transmission hump, it made it a lot easier to drive with the seat in at an angle. A rear view mirror is mounted so the driver can see the driver’s side of the car, it is to your back when driving. We also had to run a puke hose off the transmission filler tube, the car was fast enough to force tranny fluid out the filler tube. The car was a 1967 Pontiac Catalina 4 door sedan with a 425 Buick engine. The only real problem driving the car was all the weight was in the back and the car would spin out easy. I have a couple pics of the car, I’ll see if I can find them and post them. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/23 "2007-06-30T10:20:46Z")
Some Mercedes models have two reverse gears. One is short-geared for normal use and the other is long-geared for use on snow/ice or other slippery surfaces. Top speed with the long geared reverse is something near 80km/h. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/24 "2007-06-30T10:39:12Z")
Don’t try it in [Australia](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15163585/) our ever vigilant police will get you. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/25 "2007-06-30T10:42:47Z")
\>Bah! James Hargis and Charles Creighton went from New York to Los Angeles driving backwards in 1930. It took them 42 days. This is off point. The OP is clearly talking about crossing the country eastward. Hargis and Creighton’s car was pointed east, was it not? If Hargis and Creighton were to cross the country eastward, that would have been forward, not backward. Next time read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/26 "2007-06-30T12:58:03Z")
The OP isn’t talking about crossing the country at all. Pfft! Some people! ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/27 "2007-06-30T14:42:40Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] \>Bah! James Hargis and Charles Creighton went from New York to Los Angeles driving backwards in 1930. It took them 42 days. This is off point. The OP is clearly talking about crossing the country eastward. Hargis and Creighton’s car was pointed east, was it not? If Hargis and Creighton were to cross the country eastward, that would have been forward, not backward. Next time read the OP. [/QUOTE] They went both ways. Er, that is, the car went both ways, from NY to LA, and then from LA back to NY. “…They make the entire journey from New York to Los Angeles and back entirely in reverse…” From [here](http://www.chevron.com/history/timeline/timeline_noflash.asp?timeline=people) (Scroll down to '1930) ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/28 "2007-06-30T17:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] They went both ways. Er, that is, the car went both ways, from NY to LA, and then from LA back to NY. [/QUOTE] Oh, thanks. Now I’ve got [Patsy Gallant](http://youtube.com/watch?v=-vjYim6mPsw&mode=related&search=) stuck singing in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/29 "2007-07-02T01:21:42Z")
Manual transmissions have helical-cut forward gears; some have helical-cut reverse gears while others have straight-cut reverse gears. Straight-cut gears would not hold up as long. Whether they’d last from Boston to New York, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/30 "2007-07-02T03:12:14Z")
I drove a '91 Subaru Justy about 20 miles reverse from Eldersburg to Mt. Airy (Maryland) in reverse. Aside from the whirring of the straight cut reverse gear and neck cramps, everything was fine. I had to get it to my friend’s dad’s sawmill back in the woods so i could replace the tranny since it was STUCK in reverse. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/31 "2007-07-02T14:21:31Z")
Tangentially, I once read about a person (female, IIRC) who rented a car with manual transmission somewhere in the UK. She subsequently drove many miles, all in first gear. I forget whether there was a transmission problem, or what. Any Brits recall this? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920/32 "2007-07-02T15:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] Once upon a time, drum brakes were designed so that the tangental force acting on brake shoes would also increase the perpendicular loading force. \Going in reverse, all this works against you. [/QUOTE] Nearly all self energizing drum brakes (what is described above) work well in reverse. The master shoe has less lining than the slave shoe in an attempt to equalize wear, but the arraignment of double acting hydraulic cylinder, king pin, and adjuster link is symmetrical, so works exactly the same regardless of direction of travel. The only exceptions I know of are special “free backing” brakes for use with automatic trailer braking systems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-a-car-in-reverse/409920.md?page=1)