Parking on hill w/manual trans, which gear is best?

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1st or reverse depending on the hill, AND the parking brake.

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Still not quite what im lookin for, but WHY 1st and not 4th?

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1st or reverse, which ever one is numerically higher. Say first gear is 4:1, so one turn of the driveshaft is 4 turns of the engine. In fourth gear of say .75:1, 1 turn of the driveshaft is only .75 turns of the engine. Now which is easier, turning the engine 4 times or .75 times.

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last time i checked though, say you were push starting the engine..using the starter. You'd sure move a lot better/easier in first than you would 4th. What about an overdrive application? even 'easier' to turn the engine? 1st being a big gear turning a little gear would be easier to turn thanks to the torque of that setup. Say a 5th gear where a little gear would have to turn a larger gear, it'd take more to actually do that..just how it is in my head

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When parking on a hill which gear would be best to leave the trans in, 1st or 4th? I say 4th, friend says 1st...for some reason in my head im thinking 4th will be harder to turn the engine over...but its been a looooong week!

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or easier to slip the clutch. My old man would never leave the '53 or '57 Plymouths in gear when parked; said if someone bumped you, could chip a gear. Of course not too many steep hills in Fresno, and old MOPARS had a POWERFUL parking brake on the driveshaft.