"Don't push in the clutch all the way"

What is the purpose of double clutching? It's hard on the truck, the student, and the body in general after awhile, so why do we still have to learn to do it compared to floating gears which is easier and most students end up doing on accident anyway.

 

Actually there is EVERY purpose to double clutching.

Give me a sec to take you to transmission School. My style.

1- Drive a basic car with manual. Engineers call that Synchronized Transmission. Car knows most people are too stupid to shift properly so it is made to equalize the speed between engine and transmission gearing WHERE POSSIBLE within LIMITS. So the stupids can stir the transmission any old way.

2- Drive a 18 wheeler or special vehicle heavy loaded to the nuts and on a transmission that is NON SYNCHRONIZED.

You do NOT get to put the gear shift any old way. You have to put the power onto it when the transmission speed has been matched (Synchronized) BY YOU the professional driver to do it.

If your trucking school did not take a hour of class on your first day before touching a big rig to teach this, they are not a school.

 

Clutch?? whats that

 

Heavy gave you the technical answer....it is not hard on the truck, it is new drivers that are hard on the truck.

It took me a lot longer to learn how to float gears than to double clutch....I didnt learn how to float by accident.

But in order to pass the cdl driving test, you have to be able to double clutch. That is why your instructors teach you that method. The DOT cdl manual specifies you will double clutch....you should be able to find that language in the cdl manual.

You will be a good driver when you can shift using all three methods: double clutch, single clutch, and no clutch or floating. You will teach yourself how to single clutch, used mostly for pulling out of a gear when you are trying to float into a gear. If your employer wants you to float the gears, you will teach yourself how to do that.

If your employer wants you to double shift, then that is how you will shift.

If you drive an automatic, then you will be a shiftless driver (pun intended).

 

My truck only has two pedals, a go pedal and a stop pedal. Right foot goes, left foot stops. My last truck was a 10 speed.....my other truck was an 18 speed.....my other other truck was an auto 12 speed.

 

This is why I would NEVER EVER be a trainer as an owner operator. New drivers are hard on the drive train. If I ever decided to go back and be a trainer, it would be in a company truck.

By this point in my career I have been blessed (?) to drive hundreds of different trucks, driving trucks for our customers. Many of our customers provide entry level CDL jobs in the oil industry. The best truck in the fleet is like a CDL school training truck. Some absolutely require double clutching, some require floating, some just won't let me get that next gear without loving words and a ##### slap.

For new drivers: be patient. It will come. Practice using the throttle with the parking brake set. Maintain 1500 rpm's, then drop to 1100 rpm's. Hold each position and memorize how LITTLE you need to move the throttle. Most rookies give way too much or way too little throttle.

After this drill, then next time you go for a shift, HOLD THE SHIFTER SOFTLY IN YOUR FINGERTIPS, then clutch to get out of gear and GENTLY push the shifter toward the next gear WITHOUT pushing in the clutch. Work the throttle until you ALMOST feel it match up and THEN push in the clutch about 1/4 to 1/2 way so it drops right in WITHOUT moving your accelerator position so much as a gnats ###.

That should do it.

Just don't drive MY truck, okay?

 

If you ever drive an 18 speed truck, you will need to have someone teach you how to shift it. As each gear is split, you will have an extra button on the shift handle, like the range selector button. The button will be on the drivers side of the gear shift lever.

When you shift the split, you dont use the clutch. You move the split button, and then let off the throttle and the tranny will shift to the next higher gear or lower gear, depending on whether you are going up or down the gears.

With more gears, the 18 speed gear ratio is closer together than a 10 speed, so your rpms stay in the best power range of the engine.

But you end up shifting 9 speeds with the clutch, and 9 speeds without the clutch....alternating using the clutch on every other shift....and using the throttle to shift on the alternate every other shift.

When you go from 6th high to 7th low, you move both the range selector button and the split shift button before you make the shift using the clutch.

It is not hard to learn, but does take some practice to get comfortable with it.

 

Easy enough to drive it as a 9 speed.

And a note on floating. Even if youryosuper smooth you're still doing more damage to the dogs than if you clutched it.

 

Zero proof of floating doesn anything to transmission. It’s smoother than double clutches. Owner operators always get a lifetime out of their transmissions with zero rebuilds. Same can’t be said for double clutchers.
Floating gears is as it’s described. Floating right in to gear. No wear at all if you have mastered your truck and you actually own the truck. If it’s your truck, you get it done right. Company drivers dog their equipment and go through transmissions like crazy. Like I said owner operator floaters easily get lifetime out of trans.

 

Someone asked my driving instructor and he said he would not teach us how to shift incorrectly. Lol