auto tranny for the handi-capped

I am re-building a 97 pete 378 dump (engine/hood caught fire) that came w/ allison hd 4560 six speed. the previos owner says all his drivers fought to drive this truck, only auto in his fleet of 29 trucks. he said he'd put any of his employees in it that had recent knee injury/surgery, etc. & one that lost his left leg in accident. this particular trany however is limited to 1450 ft lbs torque. allison dealer here can do some upgrades to raise torque cap. to 2050 ft lbs for around $6 grand. this one also has a simple electronic control pad. hope this is helpful

 

My Volvo has an auto trans which i love. I have had three surgeries on my left, and two surgeries on my right knee. Which doesn't include the numerous arthroscopic surgeries I have had done multiple times on both knees. Any time I would do rush hour stop-go traffic it would just absolutely kill my knees with a stick, so the auto is a blessing.

There is pretty much nothing I cant do with the auto as I could do with a manual. The braking effect with multiple downshifts in an emergency brake event is much MUCH better with the auto.

I can hold gears on a hill, I can skip gears, and start in a higher gear with the push of a button. I would definitely check out a 12sp over a 10. I do wish (at times) I had one or two more gears when the going gets tough. Not that the 10sp has holes in its gearbox range, its that I have always been lucky enough to run around with 13's so i have been spoiled that way. I would say the same thing x2 about a 9 manual.

I have only had this truck for 7 or 8 month so I cant speak about the longevity of the auto trans, it does have 550K on the clock. But, so far (knock wood) I have had no problems with it.

 

If he is going OTR I would suggest a truck with an Eaton Fuller Ultra Shift. It has a centrifugal clutch. No clutch pedal. If he is getting a brand new truck I would suggest the Eaton Fuller Ultra Shift Plus. You get the acceleration that you would get with a normal manual shift transmission. Real smooth shifts and real smooth take offs. If he is doing more local routes I would say to get the allision automatic.