Braking without clutch

So is he teaching you how to float the gears then? And yes there is no reason to use the clutch until you are about stopped or just starting out unless you are in school or your trainer and/or your employer requires you to doubleclutch. When floating gears you have to adjust RPMS on the downshift othrwise it wont shift and you will just grind them. You dont have to "floor" the pedal inorder to do this

 

I'm going to put this in the simplest terms I can, I brake with my left and float the gears using the accelerator with my right, if done correctly you will be able to downshift enough to slow down to the point where you won't have to push the clutch in until you're to a complet stop. But since you're in school they're going to teach you the practices of double clutching and tricks like this or whatever else you learn along the way should be perfected as you gain experience.

This is just how I do it, and I could get more in depth on this practice but I certainly don't want to confuse anyone just learning. When I was at my first job I read this practice in an article pertaining to old time drivers, I've adopted it and have used it for the last 8 and half years. And there is no need to "mash the peddle" when down shifting like you describe, once you learn the correct practices it will be nice and smooth when done correctly, emphasis on CORRECT!

 

Nash,

You need to raise your RPMs (not road speed), to get into a lower gear and use the transmission to slow you down (acting as a brake) this is how you drive a big truck, otherwise you will be wearing out your brakes. You will need to show this for your DMV drive and upgrade to solo at your training company........basically it show you have your "vehicle under full control" If you get into the habit of just pushing in the clutch when you come up to a stop, it will be very obvious to your company after the first few brake jobs. I hauled alot of paper and water loads as a student, first positive comment my trainer made, was the fact that I was one of the first students that knew how to use the gears to slow down the vehicle, dont fight what they are trying to teach you.........it all seems strange at first, but you with this knowledge you will become one with the vehicle, with nice safe smooth stops.

Im not sure what these guys are talking about floating? You will still use you clutch to remove it from gear to neutral. raise your RPM's and then push in the clutch and grab the next lower gear....thats not floating gears.

 

Truck transmissions are not synchronized like the ones in your car. In order to slip a truck transmission into any gear, the engine speed must match the speed the engine would be turning if the transmission were already in the gear you are trying to slip it into. What that means, is that when downshifting, to get into the next lower gear, you need to use the throttle to raise the RPM's to where they would be if you were already in that gear.

When coming to a stop, you downshift through the gears as you brake. As you are nearing a complete stop, the engine will begin to lug. At this point, you can step on the clutch. The clutch should NEVER be pushed all of the way to the floor if the truck is in motion, because that burns up the clutch brake.

 

The easiest way for me to describe it, is say your in 6th gear (on a 10 speed) coming to a stop sign going 13-17 mph. I put my pre selector down first before i do anything, then put some slight pressure forward on the shifter then just give the throttle a little burp (1/4" is most you need to push) and it will come right out of gear smoothly while you coast the last couple feet to a stop in neutral. Some trainers may bug you about coasting in neutral but I believe you are allowed either 20 or 50 feet on a road test to coast. Biggest thing is to make sure you are able to grab a gear at anytime your coasting and not grind the piss out of it. Its the difference between out of control coasting (finding and grinding) and intentional coasting (timing a stop light and not sure if it will go green before you have to stop completely but having the right gear ready to go if you need instant power)

 

"floating gears" is not using the clutch to change gears and no you dont have to use the clutch on a 8,9,10,super 10,13,15,18 or 21 speed transmissions in order to down or upshift a gear. I have exp. with each one of these trannys and didnt need the clutch to change the gear.

 

While you don't technically need to use the clutch, schools, state test examiners, and some companies require the correct double clutching method be utilized. Once you're in a truck alone, that's when you can start floating gears.

Thanks for the list! I didn't know you could float with all those transmissions.

 

I know, but he was not talking about floating gears?? I just wanted to clarify that point. He is a student learning to pass the DVM test, so he is not allowed to float at this point.....now once on his own, thats a different story.