Shifting by engine sound!!

do you tach every gear?

 

We all use engine sounds without realizing it. I lost my hearing descending into Reno. Subsequently, I was clashing gears in town. Fortunately, my hearing returned before my co-driver got out of the bunk.

 

I like to go around the corners in Chicago so fast that the inside tires lift up. It saves wear and tear. Lets do away with inside tires also...

Mikeeee

 

Great Idea, mine is off by about 6mph anyway.

 

Did'nt I see you on 395 last year?

 

Clutches have a purpose....starting out and stopping. Other than that, floating the gears is perfectly fine since commercial big rigs don't have synchronized transmissions. Tachometers are an aid, nothing more. We all know you cannot go by a hard set rule of when to shift your truck by the tach because there are far too many variables involved like weight, road speed, percent of grade, so on and so forth.....plus tachometers help in training rookies in shifting the truck until they develop a better feel for it.

 

a well seasoned driver knows every sound from his/her vehichle and know intuitively if something dont sound or smell or look right. this comes from being on the same tractor and learning its personality. happy trails

 

With experience you'll learn to drive with all your senses. You'll know what gear to be in at any given speed. If you are bringing the engine to such a high rpm that it goes flat then you're shifting against the peg and it's not good for engine life. If you can accelerate you're not lugging. It's no longer necessary to keep the engine rpm high to develop high power. The power band is a lot wider in today's truck compared to the old. So you use hearing and feel to know when to shift. After a while you don't even think about it you just do it. Every truck is different but after you gain knowledge you can just drive and know. On a ten speed I start out in the gear that will move the truck with no power applied. I go through the gears shifting as soon as I can to the next higher gear. When downshifting I'll let the truck roll in gear and go from 10th to 7th and maybe down to 5th and stop. If you're rolling and a signal light changes green you bring your rpm's up and select the gear you need to accelerate. If it's 5th or 6th you'll hit that hole and go. Never downshift every gear, it's senseless and will wear you out if you drive in the city all day long. Just start out knowing your power band is somewhere around 900 to 1900 depending on the engine. You can use a modified progressive shifting by remembering as the speed increases gradually increase the engine rpm before shifting. Like a straight 10 speed select lowest gear to get rolling shift at 1200 next gear shift at 1250 then up another 50 or 100 rpm until you hit high gear. You'll save on fuel plus wear and tear on the truck. Treat your equipment well and you'll be paid back in more ways than one.

 

It's a lover in a way. Every sound, move, you are going to know. The real fast trucks are harder to drive. I'm a truck Owner. (I said Lot Lizard) but they bleeped Me. It has to be clean, polished and ready to go. After 30 years, I Still don't know who's Boss. Had my Wife also. Getting paid to travel!
Ah give me the load #,

 

I haven't gotten to the point where I can shift by sound yet, I'm still depending on the tach mostly. Can anyone tell me if the shift points are lower on a Volvo than they are on a Freightliner? I got in a Volvo today and was grinding all over the place.