Automatic vs manual transmissions

Really? We're now somehow relating autos in class 8's to "big brother"?

 

Those Eaton auto shifts suck. Detroit D12 have GPS and hill info in the transmission. So it know when your pulling a hill and not shift. The transmission can see the egine RPM as stuff. So it not just shift at radomr times. The emgeng and transmission work together as one. That solves all the crazy stuff Eaton has going.

I believe the Volvo I Shift does the same thing.

 

Im in a volvo w ishift now and push buttons on dash. Never driven one until yesterday. Takes some getting used to, runs well, and its nice in backups. Had 43k steel on wagon and did well pulling and running through traffic. Im still reaching and moving left leg. Started new flatbed job and knew what type of equipment they provided so it wasn't forced on me. Id just say give it a few weeks to learn how it runs, feels and performs if your resisting the technology. They probably aren't for everyone especially if your ego drives you down the road... Like being seen with a fat chick on a moped during bike week. All in all it's a keeper imo for what I do and where we go. Don't think id like it in a chemical tanker though.

 

Well I never thought I would find myself in this situation. I've pretty much come full circle on the auto versus manual transmission debate.

At the CDL school I trained for what about two and a half weeks in a manual and just was barely starting even pretend to get the hang of it at the end of that time.

I drove an automatic for Swift for 9 months OTR dry van.

Then I drove manuals, hauling dry bulk, sawmill chips locally and regionally for a local outfit. 15 and 18 speeds.

And then I've been driving manual straight trucks for about a month roughly.

I'm going to new company pulling flatbeds next next week and I told my recruiter I really would prefer to have a manual if possible and to my delight he said well actually just now transitioning to automaticsee, but don't expect to get one.

Now for the record I had no trouble at all with the DT 12 automatic I was driving for Swift in that Freightliner. I drove it in pretty much every weather condition you can drive in in the continental United States, everything from dry to snow packed and icy to black ice to the heaviest rain I've ever seen. I mean that I've pretty much I drove it in just about everything and had no troubles at all, however I am really looking forward to having a stick in my right hand and a pedal under my left foot.

I've been getting a kick out of this for geez ever since last spring when I came off the road out of that automatic.

A member here on the forum posted that using a manual transmission was "about being a man".

While I disagree wholeheartedly with that philosophy, I do really enjoy driving a stick and I'm really looking forward to it.

 

Good job. So you see it’s really no effort at all and the pros outweigh the cons. Well done

 

I think I'm finally learning how to double clutch correctly. Over the years I've had at least 5 different people try to teach me how to double clutch and none of them taught it, explained it even, in a way that made it that helped me understand what I was trying to do by double clutching.

Basically what I'm doing right now it's just floating and throwing a little bit of clutching in there and it sounds crazy but it's working and it's working really well and it does take a tremendous amount of strain off the drivetrain.

 

Make sure your automatic has a manual mode either by a paddle shifter attached to your steering column or a selectable M (Manual mode) button so you can stay in a selected gear upgrade or down if you like all day long.

That auto is going to make you look like a newbie all over again trying to back. Do you recall the classic suspension hop that makes the tractor sink down both it's ### end and the nose at the same time. The whole thing becomes a sort of a bounce house on it's frame sinking to the pavement as you sit there trying to nurse the wheels to start moving backwards. Bounce bounce bounce bounce.

You will learn to back those in one move. Set up as you like it exactly, then get out of that clutch into reverse asap, get off that and get moving at idle or just above. You should be able to pop that thing into the dock in one smooth move nice and straight. No bounce house allowed.

Winter is here. Find yourself a good icy parking lot with at least 4 acres of room and nothing to hit. Drive a circle with that automatic and then drive a figure 8. Repeat until you are absolute master of your truck on that slippery surface. Just like breaking a horse to your will and control. Once you have that experience, you can know generally what to expect if either the tractor or trailer gets away from you in this winter weather.

A GOOD automatic will be shifting just when you are reaching yourself to shift with your hand. It will take you weeks to break that habit.

A crappy automatic will shift badly at the wrong time. Some companies nueter or casterate a automatic to shift horribly badly so you don't over rev the engine or some stupid premise. THAT fault lies with the numbnut in your company office that failed to program that automatic properly tuned to shift with the engine's work.

 

I went down an 8% grade in PA today. Only needing the engine brake and my automatic transmission with 42,000 lbs in the trailer. I set it up for 32mph and let the computers do all the work. On the Detroit transmission you can lock it into any speed above 30mph and it will hold that speed. I have a lightweight truck and trailer setup. The CAT scale gross was 73,820 lbs. So it can hold that back at 8% downgrade.

IMG_20170714_130400964_HDR by Brandt posted Nov 13, 2018 at 11:32 PM

 

Yep you've got it. All you're doing by clutching is breaking the torque that keeps the gears meshed. Apply a little pressure to the shifter until you feel resistance then just bump the clutch just a hair and it pops out of gear. That's all you need.

 

I'm pretty sure I went down that very same Hill today.