Downshift help

As a new driver, you should be double clutching. You don't have to learn to float until you are ready, which is likely 4 - 6 months in your future, at which time you will be doing much better with your down shifting.

As far as your down shifting, are you trying to go from 10th to 9th, then 8th, etc, or are you trying to skip gears when you downshift?

 

Do you know what speed you should be at for which Gear? 15 MPH sixth gear, 25 seventh, 35 eighth, 45 ninth, 55 tenth. Once you see that adding the two digits together gives you the gear all you need to is LISTEN to the sound of the engine. As you slow down from 55 to 45 the engine will quiet down. Remember that sound. That is the time to push the clutch in, pull the gear lever to nutreal, let the clutch out, push the clutch back in raise the rpm's and move the lever to ninth. Remember the sound. It is all done by ear. Old timers call it listening to the music.

You knew how to shift as a child. You made vooroom noises and shifted as the engine wound up. Just let your inner child come out. Relax and have fun. Driving a truck for Money? It is more like playtime.

 

In real world driving you will not likely be able to downshift one gear at a time. Most of the time you will be slowing down from 60 mph to 30 mph or less relatively quickly....and as you have found out, there is not enough space or time to do that one gear at a time....you have to use the brakes.

You pretty much have to skip gears. This chart will help you find the right gear, based on your speed. It is easy to remember, as you just add the mph together to get your desired gear.
45 mph = 9th gear. 4+5=9
35 mph = 8th
25 mph = 7th
15 mph = 6th. 1+5=6
When downshifting, 6th gear is my go to gear. It is the lowest gear in the high range. If you need to hit 5th gear, it is easiest to do from 6th gear.

If I am coming up on a stale red light, I am in 6th gear. If the light goes green, I hit the throttle. If the light does not turn green when I get to it, I brake and shift into my take off gear as I stop....Empty = 3rd, loaded = 1st or 2nd.

If I am turning I want to be in 5th gear if it is an easy turn, again, one gear from 6th. If a tight turn, i want 3rd gear.

I rarely skip a gear when up shifting. But always skip gears when down shifting.

Also, keep you jake brake off when shifting, as it changes the timing of your shifts, and you don't need that as a new driver. I use the jake when going down long hills. Sometimes I use the jake when downshifting to 9th and 8th if I have the space but I shut it off when I shift.

 

Congrats, been trying to get a tanker job but they want 1 year recent. Nevermind been driving since 1990 but took a break for 5 years.
Double clutching ha. Told my CDL test guy I didn't know how, told me to pretend and do it the right way,,, floating.

 

Road Tests are usually about seeing if you operate safely, not your familiarity with their equipment

 

To float a downshift (depends on motor and drivetrain of course), bring the RPM down to around 1000, level off engine speed, put pressure on shifter, if it doesn't slide out, drop off the pedal and it should. From here, you can, in one fluid motion, shoot the RPM's up and slide it in to the lower gear.

It's very hard to explain without being able to show you, and it's very hard to explain in general... you just figure it out through trial and error.

 

It's really hard to say this with any sort of certainty. Even transmission within the Eaton lineup have different ratios. And those ratios change (IIRC) when you pair them with different rear ends.

My truck is a Eaton 18 (RTLO I'm fairly certain) with 3.70 rears and 22.5R tires. The RPM jumps for direct gears are 400, and the splits are 200.