Manual vs Auto-shift transmissions

hey how's the going man, long time is right, I'm driving a Pete with a stick these days as well as a kenworth also with a stick, bit of a change for me eh?

 

That it kid my friend from across the pond, no it looked like a little tower unlike the ones by the dash of the old autos I did have to at least try out. My old company contacted and said I could rehire for 38 a mile and they got some old ant eater nosed kW t600 waitingwith w stupid ten in them, though I haven't got around to calling back yet....

 

I had the chance to test drive a Pete and a KW with ultrashift 2 trans, they take some getting used to, but I wouldn't turn them down. I was more leary of the truck than the trans. The Pete I drove had a breakaway tower with push button controls for the shift, the Volvo I-shift and Mack Autoshfits use a breakaway swingarm mount that attaches to the drivers seat for the controls, be it push button or autoshift lever. Oh, and don't worry about measuring, I'll lose anyhow.

 

I'll be getting into this career shortly and also thought about this after seeing a company that had auto shift trucks....I asked myself what I would rather learn to drive with....definitely manual....

 

Glad we agree to disagree like men not something I see too often, you earned that thanks

 

Here's my deal with the auto shift..its a long one.

I have a 2007 int'l 9400i, 475 cummins isx, and eaton 18spd auto shift. Been driving for 8 years..did the mountains and haul heavy. Been doing heavy tankers for about 3 years now. This is my 3rd truck and owned it for a year and a half and its my first auto trans.

At first I found that the shift pattern was a bit off and it went through most of the gears when I was mt or bob tailing. Found it annoying but it made it up while highway cruising. It's nice to put it on cruise and it does all the work for you. Even running heavy. I did find the truck very slow from a start. With 475 hp and mt, I would have loaded trucks come around me when leaving a light.

I did some flatbed and van work for a bit and it ran well but it does NOT like tanker work. So many missed shifts but its somewhat understandable if you've hauled tankers before.

The problem I was having was with the engine. Ran very hot and felt like the power was low. So, I had the emissions remove and tuned the engine to 600hp. I gained 1.25 mpg and the engine runs ssssooo much cooler. No egr bs anymore either. Cost $5000 but well worth it.

Heres the problem..the truck is still slow..ill smoke anything climbing a hill but on take off, city work or in traffic then its a #####.

Started to notice that the truck was running off. Then some times she was rocking. Weird. I took it to int'l and they reprogrammed the trans computer. It ran great...for about 3 days. Now, it double downshifts to a gear too low and revs the engine to the sky then has to up shift once you give it fuel etc etc. I can't take it.

I love everything else about this truck and I got a great deal on it but this trans is just aweful. Btw..if you're driving up an icy hill, use the manual function. They're known to blow power dividers.

Heres my current game plan..the shop that did my egr delete looked into swapping the top on of my current trans and installing the stick shifter assembly, reprogram the ECM to not allow the trans to control the engine and voila. Technically this trans is a reg 18spd but with a brain on top. Turns out, he spoke to his trans guy and it can not be done. Only thing is to swap out the trans all together and reprogram the ECM. Ok fine..I went looking for a trans and found a great one for $3500 with your core..as soon as I told them my "core" they didn't want it and the trans was now $6500!!!!! So the whole job would be 8-9 grand once its done...wwwwwaaaayyyyy too much. Better off selling the truck and buying a manual.

So I called a mechanic at int'l and we got talking. He said that it can be done but needs to talk to his trans guru in the states. Ill have the bring the ECM to be programmed cause they can't touch it but that's no biggie.

So now I wait till next Wednesday to hear the action plan. He thinks that it'll be around $1500-$2000 to do it.

I hope it works cause I love the rest of the truck

sorry for the rant lol

 

Well....got the answers and it wasn't good news. Only 2 ways to do it.

1. Swap the trans out with a manual. Buy a new clutch and reprogram the ECM. One problem. Nobody wanted my trans as a core. So a reman eaton 18spd without core is $6000-$6500....not cool. After the trans, clutch, labor and ECM it's an $8500-$9500 job.

2. I called the shop in Georgia called Georgia Rv and truck. They do the swap all the time. Total cost is approx $4500. What they have to do is get the casings from a manual trans, pull the guts out of yours and transplant it in the new cases. Current case has no room for a a-5000 valve. Problem is that I'm nowhere near Georgia and good luck finding cases. Everyone I called here in ontario wanted $3000 for an 18 spd core. Nobody sells just the cases.

at the point that I will leave it for now and sell the truck soon. Crappy deal

 

Dont know why an O-O would want an auto transmission at all. Just from the additional downtime because it WILL require more maintenance than a manual. I supposed if you are a part-timer that would be ok, but downtime costs you more than what the mechanic has on the bill for you.

 

The only time mine does that is when I have the engine brake set to high. Then it will do everything possible to slow me down very quickly when I let off the throttle.