Floating Gears

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by sage92886, Aug 24, 2007.

  1. DozerCowboy

    DozerCowboy Light Load Member

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    Jun 8, 2009
    Port Saint Lucie, FL
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    priceless ! ! ! ! Hahahahahahahhaa
     
    dgarrett0008 Thanks this.
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  3. LostSoulCA

    LostSoulCA Medium Load Member

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    Apr 7, 2009
    Visalia, CA
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    I am still in school. I watch the other students shift everyday. I wish I had stock in Eaton. Personally, I don't think you can ever shift consistently unless you have an understanding about what is going on inside the transmission. These transmissions aren't synchronized. Even when you double clutch the gears won't go in until the rpms match up. The first thing I had to learn was not to depress the clutch to the floor. For the next couple of days when I had trouble shifting it was because I was into the clutch brake.

    I started floating because I could shift smoother and more consistently by floating. My instructor brought my attention to the fact tha I was using two fingers to gently find the gear and making sure my rpms were correct before letting the transmission fall into gear. The second part of that movement is to feather the throttle to achieve the rpms I want to enter the next gear. Most students just take their foot off the throttle and wait for the rpms to fall. Sometimes that works but if you aren't in place as the rpms pass the correct speed you will be contributing to mr eatons retirement.

    I'll bet you .50 there isn't a pro driver out there that doesn't feather the throttle and another .50 that most of you don't even realize you are doing it.
     
    statikuz Thanks this.
  4. stepnfetchit

    stepnfetchit Medium Load Member

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    Jun 23, 2009
    Monett MO
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    Real good response. It's about learning the truck you are driving. It all depends on the terrain, the load, and your experience. Clutch's don't really wear out from use, the clutch 99.9999% of the time goes out because of not being properly adjusted. LEARN YOUR EQUIPMENT!! It's common sense not ROCKET SCIENCE!
     
    dgarrett0008 Thanks this.
  5. kajidono

    kajidono Road Train Member

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    When I took my CDL test, I'd noticed in the book it said to double clutch between every gear. I thought that was nuts so I asked the test lady how many points it was off the test if I floated the gears. She said just one so that's what I did. Not very well at the time but I passed.

    Does anyone else heel-toe the brake and throttle to downshift in a hard stop? Letting off the brake to downshift always bothered me so I figured out how to do that pretty quick. Anyone who rides with me has to have the seatbelt one in case something happens. You'll end up plastered to the windshield. :biggrin_255:
     
  6. Logan76

    Logan76 Crusty In Training

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    I heel toe alot also, I float gears in my car every day, I haven't even started driving school yet to get my class A, but I've driven a straight truck the past year or so. I think double clutching for me takes more time, and as said above its a non-snychronized trans, so it does'nt matter clutch or not unless your rev's match it's not going into gear.
     
  7. blackw900

    blackw900 The Grandfather of Flatbed

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    A.W.O.L
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    I have been floating gears so long that I wouldn't remember how to double clutch if you asked me to. I have never had a transmission problem in over three million miles! I've driven two sticks and every air shifted box that has been built to the best of my knowledge. I've even driven an autoshift ten speed which brings me to my point!

    An auto shift ten speed is the same ten speed that you shift manually, the only difference is that the trucks ECM interfaces with the transmission to shift the gears in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY THAT I SHIFT WHEN I FLOAT THE GEARS! You use the clutch to get going and then the rest are floated by the computer. These transmissions were designed to be driven either way and either tecnique works fine without causing ANY damage to the transmission if done correctly! The key as with anything else is that the tecnique you are using is performed correctly.
     
  8. GasHauler

    GasHauler Master FMCSA Interpreter

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    Great post. That's the kind of information that is needed the most. Wannabe's or drivers with 0-1 tears experience have not had the time to teach anyone PERIOD. Treating the truck like it was your own and getting the most out of it was what most old timers were taught. You don't have to float gears once you know the truck but what makes a good driver is the ability to know how to shift every way there is. If a driver got into one of our trucks during a road test and lack the knowledge to use the equipment with the clutch or without the clutch we just wouldn't hire them. We ask our new hires to show us all the different ways to shift including skipping gears.

    Like I said before banging a gear is where the damage will occur. Every driver has done once or twice and you know it's wrong. You bang a gear during any road test something is going to be said. I suggest to these new drivers to stop thinking that floating gears makes you look experience, it doesn't. Knowing what gear to select at any given speed is experience. When you can take the truck from high to 5th or 6th and make the shift smooth then I would be impressed.
     
  9. Logan76

    Logan76 Crusty In Training

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    I'm new to it all, hell im super young, but I don't see how someone would emphasize on how you shift, to determine your experience? I think most times people shift out of how they were taught (In my case, my dad was a OTR driver and taught me to float gears when I was learning to drive my first vehicle) or that's they're personal preferance. I personally don't judge anyone's experience by if they can float a gear, because any dummie can rev match a shift.
     
  10. Truck Driver

    Truck Driver Medium Load Member

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    Dec 5, 2007
    Sacramento, CA
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    It don't matter how you do it as long as you do it right. You should be proficient in both methods and I don't mean being able to shift without grinding. You could go through the gears and not crash a single one and still be a bad shifter. You got to work at getting smooth and seamless and professional. Often that will mean going beyond what they taught in school or what your trainer showed you. Its not just a question of clutching or floating but the ability to shift it as best it can be shifted, which ever way you choose to shift it.
     
  11. localtrucker

    localtrucker Light Load Member

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    Dec 5, 2008
    Minnesota
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    Got a question then when floating down what is the trick or tips on getting a smooth shift, you guys always talk about what rpms to be at or around got all that just want to know the footwork part like feather the throttle out of gear and rev up to 1400 or 1500 or do you take it out of gear then pause then rev up to the right rpms, I hear trucks slowing down for a corner or a complete stop and it sounds like there not even downshifting but I know they have to be.
     
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