Sorry...just keep your foot on the throttle to disengage the jake while shifting and if the transmission doesn't drop out, you did alright.

Your first post asked for advise and now your tired of hearing the advise you are getting? To me. a real pro does not need to use any kind of braking device 99.9% of the time GOING UPHILL. Dont know the year or make of your truck but some of the newer engines can drop pretty low and it might just seem like you are lugging it

ok since i'm not a professional mechanic i had to google what the heck an 8ll tranny was but i found out that it is a 8 speed with a deep reduction which sounds like there could be a pretty good drop of rpms between the gears. sounds like you could use your jake but your gonna have to shift gears alot faster than your used to. (i take no responsibilty for you not hitting the nail on the head and trying to jam those gears and knocking off teeth on your transmision gears)

You ask for advice then don't like the answers? Why ask? A real pro uses the jake for a downhill grade as they were meant for. Go ask one of the mechanics at your maintenance department their views on this. I bet the old pros around there keep the jakes off around the yard. We had one of those cowboy drivers let it slip one day leaving the yard, his jakes were disabled the next day. As far as the foot on the clutch issue, the mechanics know who does or doesn't do this. If your not getting at least a couple of years out of a clutch adjustment somethings wrong. Sorry, but the real pro's will get'er up the hill without the jake.

That's what I've found works best too. Using the freeplay in the clutch pedal to disengage it while shifting.

You may well succeed in learning to shift uphill with the jake on, but you are just learning to work harder instead of smarter.

You can probably learn to piss upside down without getting your head wet also, it will still always be easier to do it standing up.

ive been observing a lot of truck drivers at a job site ive been working on, all these guys are in trailer dumps, and a lot of them upshift with loads with the jake on until they pick up some decent road speed. they arent on any real hill when starting out, just a slight incline. these guys are real pros, i tried it too when i was empty, found it to be quite simple and safe, since you keep slight pressure on the throttle before grabbing the next gear up. i also realize its a skill that takes time to master, so im taking it slow.

ANYWAYS, just wondering if any one had any tips on downshifting when going up a hill. sometimes you have your foot into the throttle and you just need to go down a gear, other times your approaching say a turn you need to make, and wish to slow down in advance. it can be hard to grab a gear on a hill, cuz the speed keeps falling and the rpm's are going the opposite direction, as you give it some throttle.

thanks for any input you may have. - dan

Djc, these fellows you are working with might be real pro's and I hate to be so condescending, because I am sure not Mr Super Trucker, but there is absolutely no reason to have the jake on when upshifting, if you keep slight pressure on the throttle then its disengaged anyway. You say they keep it on until they get up to a decent road speed, then what?
Lol I'm not trying to give you a hard time I just dont get it.

Cant really give lots of advice about downshifting, truck slows down, take it out of gear, bump it up 300 or 400 rpm's and slip it back in to the next lower gear. Coming up on a curve, gear down to the speed you want or.....more common is to slow down with your brakes, (maybe even use the jake) take it out of gear, bump the tach, and put it in the appropriate gear BEFORE your turn.

One more thing, if your speed is falling so is your rpm's...........hmmm reading your post do you mean the speed is falling while you are giving it throttle to upshift? If thats the case, thats the way its supposed to go, take it out of gear, bump the gas, put it in the next lower gear. Its kind of a quick process but after awhile it wont seem so bad or quick.

hey all, any advice to upshifting on a hill? this time im talking about driving empty, it can be kinda tricky, especially in the lower gears. i could try double clutching , but double clutching is no good if your rpms arent right. im sure theres some good advanced techniques, i have some ideas but id rather not keep throwing ideas agaisnt the wall, i wanna hear what some of you have to say - thank you , dan

not sure I follow - you can always get out of gear .. but you can't ever get INTO gear unless the rpm/road speed ratio is right. The clutch lets you have considerable leeway (well, some, anyway) in your rpm of choice. Ergo, double clutching should work just fine (it certainly does for me, when running empty) in any terrain.

floating, on the other hand, requires a fairly specific rpm/speed ratio before you can get back into gear.

Me, I double clutch. Even on a hill, it's no big deal

__________________
----------------------------------------------------
Keep the big doors at the back!