I have quite a lot of experience driving straight trucks 6 speed and automatic but I don’t have much 10 speed experience and am wondering if anybody can help point out their method of slowing down while approaching a stop sign or light or a situation where you need to slow down because you may need to stop but also may need to keep going I am wondering with a 10 speed is it ok to ride the clutch while slowing down? If I am slowing down from say 7th would you stall the transmission like in a normal vehicle if the rpm were too low? Would I brake and then also clutch and if I needed to keep going shift into 4th or 5th or whatever gear I need to be in ?? I am good with double clutching properly and up shifting but for some reason I’m not sure how to properly down shift. It’s been 2 years since I have driven a 10 speed and forget what I used to do I probably slowed down in neutral and was riding the clutch while slowing down. I’m staring a new job and have to go for a ride with the boss and will be driving a 10 speed so I want to make sure I’m shifting properly
Proper method of downshifting/slowing down
Discussion in 'Canadian Truckers Forum' started by Mojo250, Dec 8, 2020.
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I've only ever driven 18 speeds but I always just downshifted to 4th or 3rd direct and idled up to the stoplight. 3rd or 4th at idle you should easily be able to ease into the throttle and take off again.
Coasting with the clutch in is not a good practice.BigHossVolvo, magoo68, skipgears and 1 other person Thank this. -
There are a bazillion YT vids out there on shifting.
That aside, here's my $0.25 on your comments, based on the 13 speed that I've driven in recent years:
-DON'T ride the clutch; you'll cause premature wear and possibly burn it out
-DON'T cruise along in neutral; have heard of several who did that, then dropped it back in gear and broke something in the drive line
General thoughts:
-I try to avoid the brake pedal completely when slowing down or coming to a stop, unless I have to (like when it's time to actually stop) -> use the engine /downshifting and jake to slow down
-I use a bit of a hybrid clutching/floating technique when downshifting -> I use the clutch to take it out of gear and into neutral, then use the throttle only to find the correct RPM for the lower gear you want.....as you bring the RPM up, put a very slight amount of pressure on the stick towards the gear slot you want and it'll drop right in when you hit the sweet spot with the RPM ..............lots of folks don't use the clutch at all, but I'm not there yetNYCgorilla and Mojo250 Thank this. -
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I generally don't skip gears for your run-of-the-mill slowing down situations. With that said, though, you can definitely skip gears (up and down); it all depends on the situation, and usually involves a grade. For example, when climbing a hill, you'll need to downshift faster than on level ground, and if the grade is steep enough or the load heavy enough, it's easier to skip a gear entirely instead of shifting multiple times in quick succession.....takes a little practice, but not super difficult.Last edited: Dec 8, 2020
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