KENWILFY@AOL.COM writes:

<< ...I had never heard of any problems with the reverse gear
before so I just didn't know.  For the record I was doing this
in a 2wd Vanagon.... >>

Shooting from the hip and with sometimes faulty memory here....

Reverse and the large Cross Country gear are the same gear
but the CC gear has a 'beveled' edge for clearance on the back
side.   I would think that if a roll start is hard on a CC gear and
its associated counter gears then the same would hold true for
the reverse gear and its counter gears.  Personally, I'd use 3rd.

-Todd Hill
 VolksWerks Transaxles
 Olympia, WA
 360-412-0948