RMVB or FMVB

ftoy516 · Jan 24, 2018

RMVB or FMVB?

What do you LOVE.... :dblthumb:

Just thinking about the pros and cons of each of these Valve bodies, and was wondering what others have/prefer.

I have neither, but i am looking down the road.

Been trying to read up on this subject and I was thinking that i would see what others liked running in there rigs and why. It seems that most people like the engine braking option, but there are mixed opinions on the RMVB/FMVB....as for me i think that i would like the Reverse valve body. In my mind it seems more natural to pull back on the shifter to change gears (the way it would be done in a Manual trans) not that there is anything wrong withe the normal pattern. Also the first to reverse seems like it might be quicker??

Wondering if anyone else has any thoughts on this, and maybe why they like one Pattern style over the other.

Also looking at this from a trail rig standpoint and not a racing application.

1tfrot · Jan 24, 2018

imo, all depends on how you're using the rig. all crawling might be better to have the reverse pattern so 1st to reverse is quicker. I prefer to have the standard pattern due to needing more wheel speed with mud and dirt here in the Midwest so I can go from 3rd to reverse quickly. I just did the radesigns th350 detent mod so now any gear other than park is even easier to get to.

jccarter1 · Jan 24, 2018

Personally I like a standard valve body and just tune the governor to shift high

gottagofast · Jan 25, 2018

jccarter1 said:
Personally I like a standard valve body and just tune the governor to shift high

This

tonybolton · Jan 25, 2018

I put the reverse in mine. I like 1st nearest reverse.....in case I see a bypass I missed

croes · Jan 25, 2018

RMVB with a winters shifter, added the RADesigns center detent. I'm usually in 2nd or 3rd and don't have an issue getting to reverse in time.

ForMud · Jan 25, 2018

Standard....For no other reason than I'm used to it. I spend a lot of time in 2nd, so getting to reverse would be about the same.

BUG-E J · Jan 25, 2018

ForMud said:
Standard....For no other reason than I'm used to it. I spend a lot of time in 2nd, so getting to reverse would be about the same.

This. I have driven buggies with reverse and i just dont like it. If you run a park lock out finding reverse from any position is quick and easy

poolman · Jan 25, 2018

BUG-E J said:
This. I have driven buggies with reverse and i just dont like it. If you run a park lock out finding reverse from any position is quick and easy

I agree.

tonybolton · Jan 25, 2018

BUG-E J said:
This. I have driven buggies with reverse and i just dont like it. If you run a park lock out finding reverse from any position is quick and easy

I've been meaning to get a shifter with that, just always gets back burner'd due to "it works now/nothing wrong".

My trail ridings are generally pretty uneventful. However, this past Sunday on a slick ledge/step section of Trail 21 I was unleashing all 120hp to get a good bounce up this one section and my knew/leg knocked the shifter into reverse. It's amazing how much quicker you can drive DOWN something than up. LOL

redneckengineered · Jan 25, 2018

croes said:
RMVB with a winters shifter, added the RADesigns center detent. I'm usually in 2nd or 3rd and don't have an issue getting to reverse in time.

Can you elaborate on this?

Here's another question. We have a FMVB in the Tennessee Mojo buggy and Jessica finds that she is usually attempting gnarly obstacles in 1st. So for her, if she needs to grab reverse she's in the furthest gear away. Any tips to make it easier to get from 1st to R in a FMVB. She's running the Winters shifter. I gotta give her credit, I've seen her make a couple saves shifting that thing through the gates standing on two wheels. I would have rolled for sure.

Bebop · Jan 25, 2018

I like a RMVB because :

If I want to upshift (which is what I usually do, ie : start from 1st then upshift), I know I have to pull
If something goes wrong and I want reverse, I just have to push all the way forward on the shifter and it will stop moving in Reverse, from any forward gear.

I rode with a FMVB a bunch of times and I don't like it. When trying to upshift, I always fear that I will overshoot and hit Reverse while going full throttle uphill. That would suck.

This is why I don't like FMVB and I don't like gated shifters like the ArtCarr ones.
Muscle memory is awesome once trained well and this is how I trained mine : Upshift = Pull, Reverse = Push. Can't miss it.
And if you have a tigger type shifter, you can go even further. With the trigger, you can set it up so it's impossible to over shoot a gear when upshifting but still retain the ability to go to Reverse at any moment.

@redneckengineering : A B&M trigger type shifter or just removing the gates on one end of the shifter would solve her issues with finding reverse.

wizzo · Jan 25, 2018

redneckengineered said:
Can you elaborate on this?

Here's another question. We have a FMVB in the Tennessee Mojo buggy and Jessica finds that she is usually attempting gnarly obstacles in 1st. So for her, if she needs to grab reverse she's in the furthest gear away. Any tips to make it easier to get from 1st to R in a FMVB. She's running the Winters shifter. I gotta give her credit, I've seen her make a couple saves shifting that thing through the gates standing on two wheels. I would have rolled for sure.

Have you modified the "gate" itself at all? I cut out a tab on mine to make it easy to shift where I need to be.

I run a th350 with stock valve body and art carr shifter. LOVE IT. As mentioned above, I cut out one of the tabs in the gate to make shifting easier. I hardly every use 1st gear. Usually going from 2nd to reverse. Only time I use first is steep down hills where I don't want to hold brakes the whole time. Stock 6.0, th350 & stock converter, 3.0 atlas and 5.13's in the axles. For whatever reason, my buggy likes 2nd. Or at least that is my preference.

BUG-E J · Jan 25, 2018

tonybolton said:
I've been meaning to get a shifter with that, just always gets back burner'd due to "it works now/nothing wrong".

My trail ridings are generally pretty uneventful. However, this past Sunday on a slick ledge/step section of Trail 21 I was unleashing all 120hp to get a good bounce up this one section and my knew/leg knocked the shifter into reverse. It's amazing how much quicker you can drive DOWN something than up. LOL

I run a dirt track shifter so i just have a pin i slide through the shifter. I can also lock it in park this way. I dont know the technical name for the pin but its the style people use on the trailer hitch.

gottagofast · Jan 25, 2018

https://www.powertraincontrolsolutions.com/Performance_Aftermarket/Products/Electronic_Shifters/Push_Button_Shifter/

Electronics scare me but if you could wire in remote switches for R, Up and Down it could be pretty sweet

redneckengineered · Jan 25, 2018

wizzo said:
Have you modified the "gate" itself at all? I cut out a tab on mine to make it easy to shift where I need to be.

I run a th350 with stock valve body and art carr shifter. LOVE IT. As mentioned above, I cut out one of the tabs in the gate to make shifting easier. I hardly every use 1st gear. Usually going from 2nd to reverse. Only time I use first is steep down hills where I don't want to hold brakes the whole time. Stock 6.0, th350 & stock converter, 3.0 atlas and 5.13's in the axles. For whatever reason, my buggy likes 2nd. Or at least that is my preference.

No and that is most likely what I will do.

waggener1 · Jan 25, 2018

1tfrot said:
I just did the radesigns th350 detent mod so now any gear other than park is even easier to get to.

Help me understand the benefit of the Radesigns center detent. I looked it up on their website, but they don't provide a good description of how it improves functionality or ease of gear selection. Also, are any modifications made to the gates?

slravenel · Jan 25, 2018

redneckengineered said:
No and that is most likely what I will do.

shitty pic but all I have at the moment.

Here is mine like he is saying. 4L60E though...art carr shifter, normal valve body

Absolutely love it this way, there is nothing stopping me from jamming reverse in any gear...I cant go further than reverse, so no worry there. When getting really rowdy you pop it over to the right side and you can keep it in 2, 3 or 4, N with gates to keep you from ****ing up too bad and going to reverse without popping it to the left. Muscle memory takes care of the majority of it all.

redneckengineered · Jan 25, 2018

slravenel said:
shitty pic but all I have at the moment.

Here is mine like he is saying. 4L60E though...art carr shifter, normal valve body

Absolutely love it this way, there is nothing stopping me from jamming reverse in any gear...I cant go further than reverse, so no worry there. When getting really rowdy you pop it over to the right side and you can keep it in 2, 3 or 4, N with gates to keep you from ****ing up too bad and going to reverse without popping it to the left. Muscle memory takes care of the majority of it all.

Perfect, I will modify hers something like this. You need to pull the "4" off and replace it with "fullycommittedneverlift1400hp"

slravenel · Jan 25, 2018

redneckengineered said:
Perfect, I will modify hers something like this. You need to pull the "4" off and replace it with "fullycommittedneverlift1400hp"

I ordered it but it was on backorder.

One thing I have been really focusing on is when I get really close to the top of the race hill, I jam it in R for race mode to really launch across the finish line

Havent won a race yet, still trying to figure out why the thing dies every race right near the finish; and I also keep losing forward gears and having to rebuild my transmission, so need to look into that also....but I sure do love that bouncin racin! booyang