trackspeeder
Stone crusher.
I always thought firmer shifts were a good thing too, as firm as your kidneys could stand would make the clutches and linings last longer in the tranny. But I heard something the other day that has me a little worried about that theory. It seems you can have too much of a good thing, and it can put too much stress on the linkages and the connection points on the bands, and over time actually break them from bringing them in too sudden. That and the added stress to the rest of the driveline from the harsh shifting.
There probably is a point that is just right, but I guess like everything, you can over do it.
When a shift is to firm it can strip the internal splines off the frictions. A tranny the doesn't have a modified center support will flex under load. This will back off the feed bolts or break the intermediate shaft. Other damage would be imbedding the external spline steels into the case. This can be expensive carnage.
The ideal shift should be fast and firm. Minimal slippage is what you're looking for.