Float or Double Clutching.

Let the shop figure it out; say you're a driver, not a mechanic. Tell them you never learned to float gears & have been instructed not to & to contact you in the drivers lounge when the truck is ready.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about shifting. trucking companies are going to automatic transmissions. they have very little trouble out of them. plus they save about 1.5 mpg. alot of people on here will say different. I liked them. it took 10% of the stress out of the driver on remember what gear they were in. the drivers like them over the fact that they had no shifting to do. they would take quicker routes that had alot of stop lights along the way. they didn't have a metal shifter post to crawl over to get in the sleeper. they also have better performance in the mountians.

floating the gears is how these semis with manual transmissions are desiged to be drove. shneider is the only one I know of that makes the driver double clutch. fyi. the replacement of a clutch in a semi is $2100 + to have it done right.

 

Floating in gears 6 thru 10 is more "forgiving" to the shift than shifts floating 2 thru 5 because... umm, how do I put this... the speed vs rpms is less "sensitive", as it relates to the truck's "off the throttle" deceleration or "on the throttle" acceleration.

Example: Notice how quick your truck will decellerate and drop in speed and rpm's when you take your foot off the fuel in say,, 3rd gear? Now try it in say,, 9th or 10th gear. Higher range gears allow far more "timing" tolerance while float shifting than lower range gears.

In a nutshell, THAT is the reason. But the school is trying to save $$ on trans wear/tear, at the cost of not really teaching you the WHOLE experience of floating. They intend for you to get proficient at floating 6-10 flawlessly (with less wear/tear on THEIR trans), then when you're on your own it makes it easier to float the more "speed/rpm sensitive" lower gears.

 

some reading...

http://www.roadranger.com/ecm/group...adranger/documents/content/rr_trdr-0515hr.pdf

 

How so? And is that going up, down, or both? I hated an auto, drove one for a week. It was going down the mountain where I hated it and didn't think it was as safe as a stick.

Even if they are "better performance" I hate them and will never learn to like them because they suck when backing and backing is risky enough in my opinion.

 

TMC makes drivers double, although most of us didn't. Rebuilding a trans is a lot more then 2100 which is why they would rather replace the clutch. I dotn know where you got your numbers, but I can get a clutch replaced onmy rig for a lot cheaper then 2100.

Autos DONT save 1.5 mpg unless the driver that was driving the manual was a horrible driver. They also dont do better in mountains. I've driven and auto a few times and i could out shift it any day. I'm faster and more precise then an ultrashift plus. The ultra shift takes longer to make downshifts and thus looses momentum. Im not saying they are horrible, but it will be a long time before every fleet is driving autos. You also cant tap the dock nice and slow with an auto.

 

If you forget to hit the hold button older trans can shift them selves out on an downhill and then your a runway truck. With no clutch its hard to recover. They shouldnt make a shift they cant do, but when they wear out they sometimes do.

 

I use the clutch rite after my pretrip and rite before my postrip and for reverse.other than that its the useless pedel on the left.

 

Wow...If the truck has clutch...then use it....talk about lazy......

 

Make me.

I float, which makes me a confirmed floater, not a lazy driver.
I walk uphill 7 miles in knee deep snow every day to get to my KW to drive & float. Without shoes/sox. Lazy?!