floating vs double clutching

I float to shift up and double clutch to downshift. Just comfortable with that

 

You'll have that, on the big jobs

 

I often clutch out, but almost always float in.

I am trying to remember the last time I double clutched.....



That said, when you are in school, learn to double clutch. Most companies, when they road test you, look for double clutch. Per the manufacturer, it is the "right" way to shift. However, if you are shifting without grinding or clunking, you are shifting correctly. I ran a Cascadia for 250K miles, floated it probably 90% of the time and turned it in with a transmission that was so tight I was accused of having a new one put in. The key is to not force it.

 

Was talking about this a couple months ago and our safety guy said that they dropped the DC requirment for CDL testing. Aslong as you are not grinding gears then they did not care if you clutched or not.

If you have to bump the clutch to get it out of gear then you are not letting off the loud pedal enough. You still have to match your engine rpm for the next gear anyway so how would clutching back in help anything. I find it to be a complete waist of energy to clutch for anything but stopping and starting.

One thing, Sometimes it takes a little bit to get used to how each truck shifts. It doesn't matter if you use the clutch or not. I know that it took me a little bit to get used to the pete and its 13 when I got out of the volvo and its 10.

 

I'm only 27 and in pretty good shape but when I first started driving, after 6 months my left knee started hurting. So I taught myself to float and 3 years later I haven't had any more knee pain.

 

Guess I'm just a pizzpoor floaterouter then. This tranny is still pretty tight. The one gear I seem to have to clutch out for the most is the one on either side of the ranges, going into the next range, most often on the way up.

I need to get a different stick on this one anyway. There's a huge bend in this stick that makes the shift pattern so big I have to lean forward to put it in the forward rightmost gear. I liked the small little shift pattern of the Cascadia I had.

 

That beats when i backed under a trailer on my second run with the bags deflated. I overshot the center of the fifth wheel and got the kingpin stuck in front of the fifth wheel. I was ranting and raving in the truckstop over the phone to my wife and another trucker overheard what i was saying. WHen i got off the phone , he asked me if i needed any help. He brought over a few blocks of wood from his skateboard and we cranked the landing gear. At the time i was so mad, i couldnt think straight.

 

I'm beyond even floating, I levitate.

 

My Volvo has a 10 spd, yesterday I drove a straight truck(filling in for someone who called out as a favor) and it had an 8spd I just couldn't float, only way I could from grinding was double clutching, sucked!