First and second gear wont enguage

The gear is too low for the speed you are going. You need to wait until you are almost stopped before dropping it in the hole. Like at the very last second! If not, wait until you are completely stopped, push the clutch to the floor, let it up then push it in again and put in the hole. If you are stopped and the gears aren't lined up it won't go in. So by clutching a couple times you are spinning them to try and line them up.

 

It's reasonably difficult to diagnose a shifting problem without watching what you are doing. For instance how does someone else know that you know what the proper rpm is for the speed you are going in your particular vehicle. For that matter how do we know that you know, or even what gear you are coming from. We also do not know whether you are attempting to float or D/C. If D/Cing make certain the clutch pedal is up when making the rpm change.

There is simply too much not known to offer you much help on this, so perhaps one of your 20 year trucker friends could take a ride with you and offer suggestions.

By "rumble you mean what"? No clutch brake that I know of is instantaneous. They require a little time to stop the front box gears, some more time than others. If you heat the clutch brake up by pushing the clutch to the floor while rolling, it will not be as efficient as it should be, nor will it last as long as it should. Is your clutch and brake properly adjusted?

If the front box gears are stopped and it will not go in to gear, just ease the clutch up just enough to move them so you can put it in gear. Some drivers prefer pumping the clutch a time or two. I prefer the former.

Whenever you stop and are going to start moving again such as in traffic, red light, stop sign etc, try getting just short of your stopping point at idle, half clutch and slip it back in to the gear you are going to take off in just as the vehicle is stopped. This way the clutch brake is utilized very seldom, and you can’t do the ultimate embarrassing move of new drivers by placing it in reverse after a stop. Plus you are ready to go without getting in an argument with your clutch and transmission.

 

Like chompi said you have to be pretty close to stopped to drop it into 1st or 2nd. If you do it right while slowing to a stop you can pop it in without bumping up the RPMs right before you come to a complete stop.

 

Why would you want to go into second or first while you're rolling? I've hauled oversize trucks in NV for many years and the only place I need a low gear like that is if I had to stop on a up-grade. Sometimes we had to start in second but not very often. Going that slow for those gears you better off just pushing in the clutch and coming to a stop. If you let the engine die down it will be instant. It also sounds like someone has been going to the floor with the clutch while the truck is moving and has blown the clutch brake. Are you downshifting every gear? You might want to learn how to skip gears if you are. There's no need to use every gear when slowing down or stopping. On a 10 speed I go from 10th to 6th to 3rd then stop. I'd be ready all the time if the light changed and I would go to the gear that matched my speed. It's easier on the truck too.

 

Would like to know how u skip like that it would really help me 10 6 3?!.

 

This advice isn't meant to be smart though it sounds that way.

You just gotta learn to get right. Pressure, time, rpm is all you need throw the clutch to the side

 

Rarely use first and second

 

Road speed and rpm's matched to the gear you need... I've used 2nd once pulling dry van - and similar to @GasHauler, it was a stop on an up-grade.
As far as skipping goes you only need to hit all the ups and downs for test day. Beyond that do a 10-8-4, or whatever it is that matches your road speed and tach.
There are going to be times when a certain gear is no longer an option, say a hard brake from 55mph down to 30mph - if you started in 10th then 9th is really no longer an option (unless you tach to like 2800rpm, but that's an idiot move). So a 10-8 skip it would be.

 

Would that 55-30mph lug or stall the engine or trying to get to 4th gear from 8th almost stall out or is the clutch in while braking that would keep from stalling.?