Driving a 18 speed

Your bio says you have 27 years driving, I am biting my tounge on that. Anyone with any real driving ability very soon learns how to shift a gearbox without the clutch for anything but the very first gear , and reverse: even a complete stop you can do without the clutch. As for an 18 if you are not heavy haul or a lot of mountains full load you don't need it, a 13 would do.




Now see the picture unless you are heavy only an idiot would start out in bull-low, so you are working with 16 gears, empty you do not shift high in 1-7 then shift into hi which basically is an overdrive for the gears. Loaded you can shift the gears 1-4 go to your high range the shift each shift as a split. Heavy you go down to your bull low, and shift through.

 

Something to bear in mind when deciding on a transmission is the weight of the unit. For us, hauling frac sand, we HAVE to be able to scale a 50,000 pound load. I've recently switched from a truck with a Cummins/Eaton 10 speed combination, to an almost identical truck with a Cummins/Eaton 13 speed combo, and it is a little heavier. If I were to ever buy my own truck, I would probably go with a 10 speed just for that reason.

Just for reference, however, we run mostly Oklahoma and Texas, grossing very near 80,000 on almost every load. We have hills and wind, but we don't run in the mountains. A 10 speed does just fine here as long as you have a decent torque/horsepower engine. Yes, the 13 speed gives you more of a chance to stay in the "sweet spot" of the RPM range, but I don't see much difference in fuel economy with it. Every now and then, on a hill, I may have to sacrifice and drop a gear on the 10, where I could have split a gear on the 13, and been going a little faster when I reached the top, but it's not gonna cost any noticeable amount of time in the long run.

Like I said, if we ran in the mountains or real heavy, or if we had low torque engines, then a 13 speed would be beneficial.

As far as driving differences go, the hardest thing for me when switching from a 10 to a 13 was remembering not to go into the "low hole" over to the left and down every time I hit high range. But you'll get used to that pretty quick. After a few trips through the gears, it will stick and you won't even think about it anymore.

Funny, when I started out in the 90's, the first few trucks I drove had 13's. The first time I drove a 10 speed was a nightmare (having to remember the opposite). Skipping from 5th to 7th on a 10 is a big jump..... LOL.

 

I would love a write up on this. I would love to master the 13.

 

Try progressive shifting at about 100 rpm more than the last. For example if your first shift finds the slot at 1100, that is without the clutch the next should find it around 1400. On a 18 speed the shift differential is around 200 rpm increase each time, on a twin stick depending on the engine an old Cummins 350 or 692 Jimmy it is around 2100 for every shift LOL

 

Drive it like a 9 with od

 

I had a couple also, total crap, if there was no air pressure it would not start, I figure in the future they might perfect it.

 

Any one can slide gears after a years driving.