Double clutch or Float. You decide.

No offense meant, but that is not the proper technique to properly float, we call that "hunting or searching", you should raise the rpm's to the proper level and then put it in gear. Though your way works for shifting, it is slower, especially in the mountains.

 

I obviously don't have near the miles you have. so I'm trying to learn something here.

What you speak of above is downshift. Right? "Raise RPM and grab gear"
The way I upshift is, bring up to 1500 rpm, release throttle and shift to neutral at the same time. Lean lightly on the next gear, and as the rpms drop, it will fall in to the next higher gear as soon as the transmission syncs. The trick is not to apply too much pressure to avoid the grind.

 

Generally speaking and especially for new drivers, the double clutch is more used to break the torque that they build up by almost universally raising the RPM's to high when learning upshifting. I've also come to the realization that floating is the answer for drivers who never got comfortable with double clutching and never cared to try and learn it. With so many drivers who simply gave up, they simply rationalize it with their "proof" in numbers.

 

I double clutch. For no reason other then there is a clutch there.

 

I learned by double clutching. It's the safe way to go for newbies that don't have the experience. Floating is less work and more efficient. However, ONE NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING OR THEY COULD DAMAGE THE TRANS.

 

First of all, why is a downshift necessary? The main reason for the downshift is to keep the truck in gear that allows the engine to remain in the "operating range". The good news is that All downshifts can be made at the same RPMs. You need to find out what the "drop" is between each gear. We will say for an example 300 RPMs between gears. Also it has to be clarified that the BRAKE and the tachometer are THE aids to learn downshifting! So a basic downshift (than can be adjusted as conditions and experience warrants) can be practiced by. I used 1000 RPMS as the generic set point for downshifting.
1. Slow down! (why else are you downshifting anyway) Use the brake to slow down and drop the RPMS..
2. THINK about what gear you are in and WHERE the next lower gear is!
3. When the RPMs drop to 1000, TAP the clutch and move the gear shift into neutral
4 GET OFF THE CLUTCH!
5 Quickly "wick" the RPMS up to 1300 or maybe just a tad higher..
6. AS soon as the RPMS are up there, TAP the clutch and move the gearshift into the next lower gear....
7. Prepare for the next shift QUICKLY.

New drivers tend to run out of room for their downshifts and that tends to make them rush and miss shifts.. using the brakes to SLOW DOWN and drop RPMS give the driver more TIME to complete more shifts and will limit the chances of missing gears completely and coasting out of gear (a huge gig on CDL and even company road tests.

NOTE: This is for the newbies and wannabes. not for the old hands.. not directed at the quoted poster...

 

Very interesting technique.

 

Never perfect of course.. there are a thousand reasons why sometimes this doesn't work all the time, but there has to be a set number or goal to work with or people will be out there in outer space flogging the dog.

 

I was taught to double clutch and that's what I used when taking my DMV test because that's what's required. However our instructors also taught us how to float. I like floating but I prefer double. I can see where I'd prefer floating, like in heavy bumper to bumper congestion on a highway, otherwise right now I think I'll be sticking to double clutching the other times.

 

I see what you're saying and this newbie thanks you for your post. As a note, I've learned to downshift without doing any braking first, however it requires more rev for the downshift (more speed = more rev), around 1500 rather than the 1300 you suggested. I like this way better I think because I can complete the downshift without ever having to brake a bit first.