Automatic Manual Transmissions vs Manual Transmissions

My preference is AMT unless I have the option of a 13speed. I have the latest Eaton brand AMT 10speed currently and I haven't had any issues with it other than a computer glitch one time that made it dump the clutch taking off. It's really handy when I get sent to LA. And simplify so many things. Only thing I have a strong preference for manual is when docking and backing under trailers. Takes awhile to get used to that in an AMT. And I'm still not satisfied in those applications.

 

I could imagine if the trans is acting up how expansive the repair would be.

 

And expensive, as well!

 

After 35 years of banging gears I will take Auto shift every time. I move trucks piggyback out of San Antonio, TX and I drive all new trucks. Many of them come with auto trans these days and they are very reliable. You can place the switch in auto or manual shift. You know it's funny but you can always spot a new driver belly aching about how automatics are unreliable or getting excited because he has just been assigned a truck with a 13 or 18 speed transmission. Then even though he/she has only 20,000 on board they feel a need to go through every single gear. LMAO I think we all used to be that way.

While we are on the topic, you know it's funny but you simply can't compare today's trucks to their predecessors. They are as different as a DC3 aircraft and a commercial airliner. When I was about 22, one of the first trucks I drove back in '80 or '81 had a duplex or sometimes called a twin stick. You had two shifters; The main and the auxiliary. Today, they are bundled together in the same box, roughly speaking, with the two gearshifts replaced by the shift lever and a hi-lo range selector, roughly equal to today's 9- or 10-speeds. Now, let's see if I can get this right.

First gear on the main box, low then into high on the auxiliary. That's the easy part. Next, shift the main into second, but before engaging the clutch, you pull the auxiliary out of high, rev the engine, slip it into low and engage the clutch. Now you're in second low. Depending on the load, you might have to do that all the way up through the gears 'till you get to top speed. More likely, you'll cheat and run through a few gears in low before you have to start splitting them. It only gets worse when you get into the 3- and 4-speed auxiliaries; today's 13 and 18 speeds.

Shift timing had to be impeccable, and good drivers could often skip shift and even split odd gears. If you missed a shift, it would bite you but good. The teeth on the gears were spaced pretty widely apart, so there was a good chance that a partially engaged gear would kick the shifter back. If you were lucky, the meaty part of the palm of your hand took the brunt of it. Drivers have had wrists and fingers broken by the kickback.

If you happened to miss a split shift, you wound up in what they called double-nothin' -- both transmissions in neutral. That often meant a full stop to get the thing back into gear, though some of the better drivers could finesse them back into gear, if they could remember which gear they were in. You may have seen pictures or heard stories from older drivers of drivers with one arm wrenched through the steering wheel gripping a shifter while the other arm grapples with the other stick. God forbid you happen to hit a pothole at that moment, because the big steering wheel with all its leverage could whip around and easily break an arm.

Ahh... the good ole days!

 

The main reason for the push for automatic transmissions is nothing more than EPA interference. They want to have every truck at 80k to get the same mileage as a pickup. The only way these guys have been able to achieve this is with aero trucks and automatic transmissions.

Take the Western Star for instance, the new 5700 comes standard with the DT12 AMT while the 4900 comes with a Eaton 7,10,13,15 or 18 speed transmission as standard.

They will both have their places in the trucking industry. My only experience was in a 2001 Mack Vision 460 with the 3 pedal ultrashift. Took about a week to get it figured out but it REALLY sucked going down grades. The main reason was the motor and the lack of jakes in the truck. Previously I had only driven either 13 or 18 speeds with CAT motors. I can tell you that the jakes in the mack would not hold you back even if you chained it to a tree.

If I absolutely had to buy a truck with an automatic transmission it would be the Allison 4700 and it would also have the braking option in it. Along with the jakes that would really hold you on a hill.

 

Oops, double post.

With that being said, I am seriously looking at a Western Star 4900 glider that will get a CAT put into that space under the hood. Not under the firewall like these new truck seem to like.

 

A manual trans is The only way to go if you are a driver that wants to be in full control of your truck. Also rocking and auto out of a muddy or icey hole must be #### near impossible

 

Says someone who hasn't driving one much at all if ever!

 

I have tried a 2007 western star with the Allison 4800. A 2012 Volvo and a 2013 Kenworth with the ultra shift. How many more do I need to try before you make any more assumptions

 

Gotta love that MAXBRAKE!

Can't stand that grade gripper lol