Clutch

A lot depends on how the truck is geared as well.... we had two identical trucks and one you could start out just fine in 3rd gear... it had 3.70s in the axles.

The other you had to start out in 2nd... it had 3.25s

 

I floated gears as well. As long as it's done right, it was good.

I learned that too. Actually had a good instructor at my school. The only time we were told to rev it at all between gears was with down-shifting. Shouldn't need to rev when going up through the gears.

 

OF COURSE YOU USE FUEL....WTF

 

The guy you learned from didn't teach you that? And it's fuel not gas.

 

I've been driving a clutch since I was 14 (uh....yea, 37 years) and my problem is going too deep on the clutch. In my Tacoma, if I get lazy and miss a gear, I immediately push the clutch deep for the recovery. I've got three weeks left in school. Been in the trucks for about 3 days, and out on the road if I miss a gear - boom, clutch goes to the floor and I'm screwed. That's been the biggest hurdle for me.

 

DING DING DING DING!!!!!!

This the most appropriate answer to all your questions in this thread. No one here can tell you what gear you should be starting out in because no one here is in your particular truck. In addition, you cannot listen to anyone here or anywhere else who tells you that they always start out in this gear or that and therefore you should to. What gear they use applies only to their particular truck. In your truck, things might be different.

If you can let the clutch out and get the truck rolling without touching the fuel pedal, you're in an acceptable starting gear. If you have to apply fuel pedal while releasing the clutch in order to avoid stalling, then you're starting in the wrong gear for that particular truck in those particular conditions. Period. Experience has nothing to do with it. Its all in how the truck is geared.

 

Your not the only one that has happened to. Here is what helped me........grab a toilet plunger, wet it slightly stick on the floor by a kitchen height chair. Pactice shifting and your foot movement.........be very conscious not to go real deep with your foot....almost a tap. A few days / hours your muscle memory should kick in and you will have a new habit. It's natural when your new and a little nervous to jam it to the floor, you just need to establish a new habit.