Automatic Transmissions

as with any auto they are run by a computer the ultra is slower because they have two computers one for the moter and one for the tranny and they are slower to respond because of that. the volvo i shift has one computer but needs to boot up all programs every time you cycle the key. if the ishift does not shift properly it either needs a tranny reboot [software update] or needs the air system looked at.

 

i think the earlier autos were not that great and left a bad taste for alot of drivers that gave the auto a bad reputation the newer autos addressed alot of the complaints that you see in thease forums


i have never had any control issues with the ishift in any driving condition and it always does what i ask of it. i feel the auto is best for the job i do. if i had a differant job maybe a manual would be better or maybe it wont. but i feel that all real drivers should be able to operate any truck they are in and challenge themselves to master it.


will the auto ever replace the manual tran?

i highly doubt it , each truck out there is porposely built for the job it has to do and the driver that has to do it. and that my freinds is a endless argument about what works best for a certain people,places,preferances and the job they have to do


happy trails

 

controlling an automatic is no different
you just need to know how to operate what your driving
in 1975 drivers said they were against power steering
that you couldnt feel the road....seems a little silly today doesnt it

 

Yes power steering , air ride seat and air ride suspension and some had no feeling at all and quite a few accidents as a result.

Automatics have been used in the BIGGEST trucks for mining / forestry for years in places that some so called truck drivers never dreamed about.

 

I recall running with a hand one day going across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona that had an automatic transmission. I fell in love with his transmission. OH, no, I did not ever drive his truck! I just like his transmission because he had a four hundred & something horses in front of that automatic transmission while I had only an old 350 & I could out pull him on all the hills.

Of course some of the new ones may be much better than than that one in the late 70's, yet I was really thinking quite highly of my old conventional KW with a 350 & a set of boxes during that trip to the west coast.

And once when we stopped he had me raise the hood on that old KW for he wanted to see my engine. I believe he though I was lying to him, that I had a big horse under it instead of a little 350. He seemed very disappointed when he realized I was being truthful to him. Imagine that, disappointed that I wasn't lying to him!

All I remember about his he was from North Carolina & he was driving a brand new cab over Freightliner. Seems he drove for some poultry outfit saying that was their 1st one & they were trying it out seeing how it would do.

 

One thing to remember, they have improved the feel of power steering through the years. Plus back in the early days with power steering you had no feel for the road. The 1st trailer truck I was put on was a convention White, it had air steering. Plus I was hauling chicken feed. It was much better for backing up around chicken houses that were not built for a trailer tuck to come even close to them. yet when I would turn it enough for the air steering to kick in, it made a terrible racket, & the chickens in the house would scatter scared to death. That was the only fault I found in air steering.

One plus for for power steering is when you have a blow out on a front tire, its sure is easier to hold in the road. I had one on an old KW on a two lane highway once & I sure was glad I was not meeting anyone, having the whole road I was able to keep it between the ditches. And when I got stopped my 1st thought was, wow, power steering sure would have been nice.

I recall driving one conventional KW that had after market steering helper on it, don't know what they call them, that made it easier to hold the truck in the road if you had a blow out, while driving it. But the driver that got it when I moved up had two blow outs on the steering tires in one trip to the west coast & back, he said that steering thing saved his day. The tires were brand new Goodyears, & the boss had bought several of them, but he sent the rest of them back.

 

Trucks that operate in mining/forest industries typically operate under conditions where shifting gears would not be a good idea anyway. Coming up out of strip pits etc. For the most part of thier daily operation,they just lock in one gear and go. Quite different than highway driving coast to coast where conditions are apt to change frquently in a short period.

 

Of course it is, but on here we are not talking about mining/forest, yet we are talking about driving trucks down the highway & byways of this country, & of course in my post I stated I was referring to yesterday years, not today.

No doubt, though the years, especially since the late 70's, they have improved. For instants that truck of yesterday year with the big plus 400 HP with an automatic, that would not out pull that old 350 Cummings with a set of boxes, with one of today's automatics it may pull the hills so good it would make the 350 look as if its a show turtle.

I might add, I recall very well comparing our weight tickets, we both weighted our trucks on the same set of scales because he thought I was pulling less weight, our weight was less than 2,000 pounds different, with me being the heaviest.

 

i think the earlier autos were like a beefed up car tranny with more gears. todays autos are direct drive with computer assisted mechanical shifting unit