Clutchless Shifting

It is about the same steps. When you need to shift up take your foot off the pedal and use a soft touch to take it out of gear and then go to the next gear with the same soft touch and the gears will feed it's self into the higher gear. Down shift foot off the pedal take out of gear with soft touch then rev rpm's and put into gear soft touch again and the gears will feed it's self into the lower gear.

Never force when floating and when out of whack use clutch.

 

The reason manufacturers and schools say double clutch rather than float is many drivers don't know how to float properly. If you're doing it right, you won't hear anything as you pull it from one gear and push it to the next. Big truck transmissions have gears with square teeth and no synchronizer. Cars have rounded teeth and synchronizers. It's your job to be the synchronizer for your truck by lining up the RPM of the motor with the speed of the transmission. You do this by use of the throttle or by allowing the RPM to fall to the right place depending on whether you are down- or up-shifting. If you match the RPM just right, you do not need the clutch.

Problem is, too many drivers can't do this and don't take the time to learn it right. So when these knuckleheads float their gears you can hear them grinding the corners off the gear teeth from four blocks away. This causes metal flakes to free flow through the transmission acting like sand paper on the moving parts. The clutch takes the pressure off the gear and makes it easier to shift. The reason for double clutch is to help with timing.

As for people who s*** at double clutching...they don't understand how the clutch brake works or when to use it. The clutch brake stops gear movement altogether inside the transmission, making it possible to place it in gear while at a dead stop. To access clutch brake, press the clutch all the way to the floor for a second. Some drivers can't even figure this out, so they g-r-r-r-i-i-nd the transmission from a dead stop. I hear it all the time. If you are already moving, you don't want to stop transmission movement, so you don't want to press the clutch all the way to the floor. Most new drivers make this mistake because they are used to driving cars, which are way more forgiving than trucks.

Me? I very rarely double clutch and otherwise float my gears about 75% of the time.

 

If you leave your jake brake on it is easier to shift with the clutch. Either flip it off when climbing a grade or use the clutch.

 

When it's time to shift, pull it out of gear, maintain light pressure on the shifter and when the shaft speeds synchronize, it'll drop right into gear. Easy peezy. Just don't force it. It almost sucks it out of your hand.

 

I used to do this before I learned that you have to kick it out of gear the fraction of a second before you let off the foot feed. If you let off the gas first, forget it, you will need a little bit of clutch to get it out of gear.

 

Jake shifting is the sure sign of a "rookie" that doesn't know how to operate the equipment...If I hired a driver and heard him or her "jake shift" I'd fire them in a hot second!

 

Not sure what you mean by Jake shifting?


Depressing the clutch disengages the Jake Brake and allows a smooth shift. If you float your gears you will have to constantly be activating and de-activating the jake. You can drive with the Jake on all the time but need to use the clutch upshifting and down shifting while climbing a grade.

I know you know this, just trying to figure out your terminology.

 

I had to go back and re-read your previous post....My bad!

I thought that you were suggesting that he use the jake to bring the RPM down between shifts which is a bad way to drive!
Upon re-reading your post I found that I misunderstood what you were saying at first.

Carry on...

 

I used to double clutch constantly when I started out in '78. Hated tool booths with a passion. Picked on floating em in a hurry.

 

I learned to float gears before I even got my Class A...its fairly easy to pickup once you get a feel for the truck, the tranny, and shifting as a whole, its a very easy method to learn. Now once I got my license, I had to re-learn how to do it in high range, lol.