Bad hopping when backing up, is it me or a problem with the truck?

Howdy aussiejosh,

I am retired, got nothing better to do with my money then burn diesel fuel, someone has to prevent the planet from freezing and going into the next ice age.

I towed a smaller trailer for years with a hopped up Dodge One ton dually, NEVER got more then 6.5mpg and was constantly burning up transmissions and tires not to mention it wasn't comfortable to drive. On my last trip with the Pete I averaged 7.9mpg and had to slow down for the curves going up Cabbage Hill yet topped the grade at 75mph, sounds like a very good combination to me.

The Pete, has the same axle ratio as my Freigthshaker had, 3.55:1, its not the gear ratio its a completely different feel to the clutch. Reverse is lower in the Pete's 18 speed then it was in the 10 speed the Shaker had, its not the gear ratio, again in my opinion its the feel of the clutch there is very little slippage its either in or out, the Shaker clutch was very easy to modulate I don't think the clutch inthe Shaker was rated as high as the one in the Pete, the Shaker had 430 HP the Pete has 550 so I am thinking the Pete has a much stronger clutch. I think a lot of it may be the way the clutch linkage in the Pete goes through the floor and operates through a bunch of bell-cranks.

Dave

 

Howdy lilili..............,

I never thought of that, you may be right. I used to use a ceramic disk in the car I raced on the drag strip MANY years ago, the hotter that disk got the better it gripped and like you said no slippage.

Dave

 

Howdy Oldironfan,

Thanks, it is a sweet ride, needs some more chicken lights and chrome but that will come later I just finished building the Smart Car, deck. This truck has a 6NZ engine so its truly one of the last good Cat's to be built before they ###### them up with all the pollution crap. I am working on easing that clutch out but its a lot stronger then the one in the Shaker so getting used to is may take a while.

Dave

 

Howdy wore out,

I checked the engine mounts, the transmission mount, u-joints, and axle pivot points all is well. I thought maybe the clutch disks were contaminated, dropped the inspection cover and looked inside, no oil leaks, no visible sign of anything wrong, it could be broken dampner springs in the clutch disks but I doubt it. There is no shudder during shifts or slippage when pulling grades, just a very narrow band where the clutch can be slipped when first starting out but mainly when just starting to back up, once your moving backwards with the clutch completely out, no problem.

Dave