# Forward/ reverse DC motor **URL:** \ **Category:** Do It Yourself (DIY)\ **Created:** [May 5, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/forward-reverse-dc-motor/656 "2008-05-05T18:33:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gbond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f4b2a3/32.png) [@gbond](https://community.electricforum.com/u/gbond)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/forward-reverse-dc-motor/656/1 "2008-05-05T18:33:48Z")
I am a bit confused about this issue… i see that in most cases it appears that reveres is handled by a switch that reverses the motor… i will be doing my conversion on a 5-speed manual transmission so can i not just put my car into reverse? I read alot that reversing the motor (on a DC motor) is hard on the brushes, so want to find as many ways as possible to limit ware and tear on the motor. ---
**Author:** ![Telco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@Telco](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Telco)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 9:21am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/forward-reverse-dc-motor/656/2 "2008-05-09T09:21:59Z")
Should be fine, the motor won’t know it’s moving the car backwards and the transmission won’t know it’s not being driven by a motor. Most transmissions have a 3 to 1 ratio similar to 1st gear so it’ll move about as fast as it will in 1st. ---
**Author:** ![Heretic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/46a35a/32.png) [@Heretic](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Heretic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/forward-reverse-dc-motor/656/3 "2008-05-09T13:25:00Z")
Consider a 2 speed powerglide transmission - cheap to acquire and can be rebuilt to handle 2000hp for little money - gearbox is 41kg (91lb) for the alluminium model, sleek, and you can get them with removable bell housings - high gear locks the transmission input and output shafts together, so 1:1 ratio with next to no drivetrain loss