Needing Some Serious Helpful Advice....

The main trick to down shifting is to lug the engine before trying to down shift..Just remember you can do it! It is all in the feet.

 

Don't quit. Only quitters quit. Keep at it. Ask for more practice. Learn to match rpm to speed. Good luck and thanks for you service

 

It's not a bad thing... You're right that shifting will come to you eventually, it's one of those things that's "easy to learn but hard to master."

Some of the million mile vets have their off days and grind a couple gears. So don't expect perfection all the time.

Don't know if that helps, but getting the gears just takes practice. No reason to give up.

Oh, and FYI... Sni would've booted you if they thought you couldn't get it down. So you must be doing better than you think.

(Side note: search the threads...there are countless questions from other drivers about up and down shifting. We've all been there.)

Oh yeah... I happen to be in the Charlotte area until the end of the week. I plan to drop by and at least get fuel. If you're there I'll buy you lunch or something eh?

 

You're going to have good and bad days no matter what you do, but especially in trucking. Downshifting takes a little more time and practice than up shifting does. It's a matter of co-ordinating your rpms with going to neutral then dropping to the next gear. You might try using the clutch to go to neutral then release the clutch and rev to whatever the shift point is for the lower gear. Don't get discouraged after a little time and practice you'll get the hang of it and will be able to hit gears better than any automatic.

 

first off, thank you for your service!
your training tells you not to give up, and believe me after a frustrating day like the one you've had it's easy to entertain the idea. your tired and feeling like an idiot but know it will get better with practice and time. so no, don't go the automatic route. stick with it, if nothing else so you can conquer downshifting and know the feeling of working hard for something and finally succeeding.

then come back here in a couple days and start a thread titled "I DID IT"

 

Oh yeah... Being able to do manual opens up quite a few fields (someone please confirm?) that you couldn't do in an auto...

Not to mention, from what I saw when I was in your shoes in orientation... SHIFTING IS A WANTED SKILL.

If I see you at some point I'll elaborate on that. If not then you can search my posts, I'm sure I've talked about the "Grind me a pound" guy on here before.

 

I am a former 64C... That was 88M before it was cool!

I learkednon a Vietnam Era 5 ton, 5 speed synchro, nothing like these, and then went to permanent duty on an M915... Back when it was Semi Automatic, then went to an M931 fully auto, then made the transition to an Eaton.

You can do it, just takes some coordination. And practice.

 

Try this (Your instructor may or may not agree).. First of all.. Downshifts can ALL be made at the same RPM range. Its a math problem. At first use 1000 RPM.. DRAG the RPM down using the brakes.. Effective braking is one way to get in control of the downshits... DRAG the RPM's down.... once at 1000, tap the clutch and move to neutral... when your foot is OFF the clutch, QUICKLY "wick" the RPMs up.. you only need to raise them 400 or so RPM to get into the next lower gear.. Think of a flight of stairs... Upshifting is always easier cause your going down stairs,, gravity does the work.. When you are climbing the stairs (downshifting).. you have to raise your foot (RPM) high enough to get to the next step.. Too low? You hit the front of the step and don't get anywhere.. too high? You don't get on the correct step.

You also have to have your foot off the clutch to make the whole thing work. If you have your foot buried in the clutch, you are not matching the engine / drive train / road speed. Think of the drive train.. the engine is always moving.. the transmission is moving when the clutch is released.. (even when out of gear). To get the truck into gear you have to match the transmission to the road speed (zero).. so the clutch brake allows you to slow the transmission to meet the road speed (zero). Once you release the clutch.. the wheels start moving the speed of the wheels and transmission are now "synchronized"... if you now push the clutch in.. the transmission stops moving and you cannot get the truck into gear.. there is no way to match the now not synchronized wheels with the stationary transmission..

Without a whiteboard.. this is probably confusing as hell... sorry

You have to control a lot in a little bit of time.. it will come to you, but its nothing like the cars and bikes.