10 speed hills...

That truck probably did not like having it's reduction taken away vs a hill as you went up the transmission shift tree into high range and upwards towards 10th gear as if you had a 10,000 HP engine. She was probably feeling the drag of gravity and wanting to slow down while you battled against her forcing the issue with the resulting and worsening loss of good pulling power with the ultimate possible result of lugging too much (Which hurts her) or straining something else.

When you have a turn like that, stay in gear until you come out. Hit the hill. If you are already wound out, go ahead and take a gear. 6th high is plenty. You will get moving asap when she starts to see the top and gain speed. That would be the time to stamp on her and work your way to highway speed. But wait patiently until she sees the top first.

You will be way less stressed, less busy and more eyes up because you will have people going to learn that you are large, slow and in the way and they are not going to be happy. You follow me?

You did ok. Don't sweat it. A little knock, rock or bounce don't hurt none. But some newbies think if a little grind wont do it then they foolishly turn it into a really BAD grind. Thats not a good sound to anyone. You will evolve and become smooth in time. Don't worry. Just think about what she (Your tractor) wants. You will know then whats possible or not.

 

We all do. What do you think she feels. She might just dig in like mule and quit all together forcing you to start over again while the teasing and trash talk comes over the radio.

Gears in a truck need just a low number in the RPM for downshift only. And a higher number for upshifting. USUALLY 400 RPM apart. Say... 1250 to 1650ish. You can wind her out to say 1950 and then shift, but don't be surprised if you discover that the RPM falls to 600 faster than you can get to the next gear or hang around 1700 all day while you wait on it. Some trucks like that. Thats where the scratching comes in.

Whatever gear you come out add or subtract 400. Be in there two heartbeats later when that RPM gets to that value more or less. She will just fall right into the new gear with just a finger.

Viola miracles never cease, you just learned to float. Rock and roll.

Some day if you are really blessed you will learn the joys of a good 13 speed double something. Or even a 18.

 

It grinds cuz the hill kills your rpms faster than you are used to when you shift on flat ground...wait till you have 45000 in the box on a hill! Wind it up a little higher than normal before you shift.

 

Or see signs that say 24% grade if you havent eyed the wall of blacktop reaching to heaven just ahead...

A tip.

DOT allows engineers to design and build trucks able to accept a standing restart on a 15% grade. When you exceed that greatly your life and that of others are at risk based on what you decide next. If anything.

 

Shifting smoothly is a rhythm. On an uphill your speed falls off faster than the rpms do. It takes longer to shift, but by the time you do, the rpms are too low. Like @RoadRooster says, you got to wind it up more.

Oh, and to be a language nazi, the paddle shifts the range. Splitter provides 2 gears without moving the stick. 13, 18 and super 10s use them

 

Yes and additionally some older trucks have a button midway down the stick, thats your rear axle high/Lo.

To aggravate you further, some old trucks have TWO sticks. simplified to lo low, low and hi and hi hi. Easy enough until you try it. HA... /gentle tease.

Today's trucks you push one button and off you go. Wonders never cease. Its not for me.

 

When climbing a hill the truck looses speed more than on level ground when you hit neutral to make the shift. This means you have to let the RPMs fall further when climbing a hill than you would in level ground. For the RPMs to fall further takes more time increasing the time required to make a shift. If you are bumping a gear and then it goes in you are likely getting to the hole a tad early, in other words your timing is off just a bit. Hills whether up or down require you to adjust your timing which is also complicated by the steepness of the grade. Many new drivers (And some older drivers) don’t seem to grasp the concept that you always have a pause in neutral before going for the gear and that when shifting on an uphill grade the pause should be longer requiring a driver to adjust his timing and take more time to make a sift than when on level ground.

if you learn to shift on level ground to come out of gear while gaining speed you can actually gain speed while in neutral shortening the time in neutral and seemingly lowering the RPM difference between gears. Then on a grade you will not lose as much speed as you otherwise would and you get the same benefits.

 

2 speed reared? When is the last time you saw one of those?

Yes, I know that some heavy haul off road trucks have them, but your Junkstar little truck of the 60s and 70s are long gone!