Taking off in 1st ???

My theory is if the truck shudders or shakes when taking off, the gear selected is too high.

 

It can shudder in low, just a matter of clutch control.

 

You can start in low if you want. The reason you can’t get it out of low is you gave it too much gas. All you do is get it barely rolling and throw it in 1st.

Just start in 1st or 2nd though.

Only reason I ever start is low is I’m either off road and need to creep slowly or didn’t feel like using the clutch to start. (We won’t teach you that trick yet)

 

So many factors to consider. How heavy? What transmission? What rear end ratio? On an incline/decline?

I start a 13-speed, 3.70 rear end, 510hp Paccar MX-13 pulling B-trains weighing in at 137,800 lbs gross in Low gear. It bounces a lot in 1st.

My C-13 CAT pulling under 100,000 lbs gross likes to start in low as well, and I always stand by the "lower is always better" adage. Nothing wrong with an extra gear shift to save the clutch and drivetrain from extra wear and tear.

I never start empty higher than 2nd, and never start higher than 3rd bobtail.

 

I think it’s safe to assume he’s under 100k if he doesn’t know what gears to use... just saying.

 

Very good advice.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Most drivers are way too hard on the drive line because they're too lazy to shift.

Years ago I was working with a guy and when we would pull out at a light he would be gone- I couldn't catch him. I couldn't figure out what the hell he was doing. I just thought he had a really fast truck.

Turns out he liked to pull out in 5th gear.

 

Very good advice.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Most drivers are way too hard on the drive line because they're too lazy to shift.

Years ago I was working with a guy and when we would pull out at a light he would be gone- I couldn't catch him. I couldn't figure out what the hell he was doing. I just thought he had a really fast truck.

Turns out he liked to pull out in 5th gear.

 

I had a old 9800 that refused to get out of a lower gear once trying to leave a truckstop. Before I could process the situation quickly and resolve it before it went bad, the locked transmission gear fed power until the engine itself stalled.

Front end was 10 feet off the pavement in a proper wheelie. The rear axle seals broke first followed by a number of other things immediately after. I was loaded too.

The big problem was getting that tractor's steers back onto the pavement without smashing it. The People were very good to me in the area including other truckers who went ahead and called in all sorts of help immediately before I had a chance to understand that my truck was in fact broken from being locked in a gear I could not get it out of.

It was probably the only time in my entire life that a big truck did that to me (Or I did that to the truck, depending on who is arguing what in the shop) and of course the employer blaned me. I defended my position very vigorously.

What I should have done from that first day i saw that old truck was find someone else to run for rather than try to drive it. This is not a bash against old iron with that outfit but this particular one should have been sent to the junkyard long ago.

Even to this day I'll swing by and check the yard to see if that monster is still with us on our roads.

And finally but not least. To this day I don't understand why the gearing locked the way she did that day like that a absolute irrevocable lock with never going into anything else until something breaks. (And several somethings did break.)

 

Bull.