Double Clutching advice no manual experience..

I take my new drivers out to a rural road somewhere without traffic, and run them up and down the pattern for about 2 hrs straight. Clutch,neutral, rev, clutch shift. It's just building muscle memory. Once that is rote memory, the unexpected slowdowns and the "guess which gear to grab" game gets played. That usually takes an hour or so, but some drivers take several hours before it comes natural.

 

Moving to fast is a big problem for fng's if you miss a gear while up shifting chances are you going to lose road speed. Dont keep trying for a higher gear, go back to the last gear you were in. I.e. going from 8 to 9 and you miss, unless you get it right after the miss, just go back to 8 and try again

 

Drive your truck the same way you would drive this car.

 

My driving instructor was really good. He never BS'd or sugar coated anything. If you screwed up, he'd tell you straight up and then explain why it was a mistake. He'd often give lots of useful advice. First time in the truck we just made laps in the industrial park nearby. Very little traffic so it was a good way to be eased into driving.

 

I hated trainers that wouldn't explain or tell the what and why. I'll grasp whatever you're telling me so much faster versus being a pansy about it.

My driving suck? Great, be honest about it! Tell me why! Lol

Sugar coated dog #### is still #### when you bite into it.

 

The instructor sounds like he doesn't know how to "instruct." EVERYBODY has some trouble learning to shift. Virtually everybody has more trouble downshifting than upshifting.

You need to learn
1. proper speed of clutching and releasing the clutch (most move pedal too fast).
2. depth of clutch pedal movement (most people clutch too deep).
3. required RPM rise/fall to move into next gear
4. road speed (speedometer) for each gear on level ground.

#1 can be learned by watching and copying experienced driver.
#2 NEVER push clutch more than 1/2 of travel except when stopped. Depending on clutch wear and adjustment you shouldn't press the clutch more than about 1/3 of full-travel. Unlike a car, where clutch is full-down or full-up, the truck requires just enough clutch to get into or out of gear.
#3 Consider low-range gears (my experience is in 9 & 10 speeds). If you were to hold a steady "road speed" (speedometer) and engine RPMs (tachometer) were steady at the top of the green range

 

continued post from above

#3 Consider low-range gears (my experience is in 9 & 10 speeds). If you were to hold a steady "road speed" (speedometer) and engine RPMs (tachometer) were steady at the top of the green range on Tach you could maintain that same speedo speed by shifting to next higher gear (still in low-range) about 300 RPMs lower than top of green range. Likewise, in high-range each gear will be a few hundred RPMs lower than the same road speed in the gear just below it.

How to find that low-range and high-range RPM difference:
Maintain your speed (speedo) which puts the Tach needle at the top of the green range. In low-range the truck may lurch a bit as you clumsily raise and lower the throttle to eventually settle on a constant speed (speedo) and constant RPM (Tach). Now shift into the next higher gear and concentrate on making the speedo EXACTLY the same as it was while in the lower gear. Once you do that, how many RPMs are you reading on Tach? That difference on the Tach is consistent from gear to gear while in low-range. In high-range it's is consistent from gear to gear but that RPM difference is not the same as the low-range RPM difference.
Repeat this process to find your high-range RPM drop/rise between high-range gears. The high-range RPM change has always been almost double the low-range RPM change in the trucks I drive.

When shifting gears your goal is to use the clutch to get into neutral while lifting off throttle allowing RPMs to drop, then simultaneously clutch and add throttle to get RPMs back where they were before clutching MINUS the RPM drop for high- or low-range. Add a little more than the exact RPM difference and hold gear shift toward next gear and expect some grinding. As the RPMs drop gear lever will slip right in and grinding will stop. Release clutch and slowly add throttle to accelerate toward next gear change.

#4 Each gear will be appropriate for certain speeds, while staying withing the green range on the Tach. I've had some trucks that conveniently shifted (high-range) 15, 25, 35, 45, 55mph. And some trucks that conveniently shifted at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50mph. You need to memorize those speedo landmarks for each gear. There will be some pattern you can discover by noting the RPMs and the speedo speed where you get into each gear.

So you have to teach your left leg to consistently push clutch the same depth each time you clutch while moving. Quickly you will do this without having to concentrate on your left leg. You will need to teach your right foot to press the throttle just enough to raise RPMs by the magic low-range or high-range RPM rise/fall. This takes a little longer and it's common to over-rev and under-rev until "goosing the throttle" to reach the desired RPM change is second-nature. It may take you a couple or three attempts at getting the RPMs where you want them. Just keep the clutch down about 1/3 and try again on the throttle while lightly holding gear lever pushed toward next gear (grinding will be heard). If your road speed (speedo) drops out of the range for that next gear you will need to try shifting back into the gear you just came out of.

The worst thing you can do is get discouraged. It's normal to have problems. The school isn't going to throw you out if you need extra practice. Once it comes to you, you get so much practice that in a week you go from "just barely able" to "almost always does it". Don't be overly-critical and self-defeating. Ask for more practice or even a different "instructor." It's their job to teach you.

 

I hope you are not paying a lot for this school. I have taught a lot of people how to drive down through the years. I would take them out as far from traffic as possible. Find a good relatively flat stretch of road, have the run up and down the gears as many times as possible. Stop the truck turn it around for them, have them run through the gears again and again until they could shift. I have found that by having them stop the truck when they are struggling and only work on the first four of five gears up and down would make it easier for them to do. After they got those down we would then flip to the high side and work on the rest. Usually most people I have done this with were shifting the truck properly within two days. We then went onto the next level of training. I does no good to learn how to back if you can't move the truck down the road forward. Most of your money is made going in a forward motion, not a backward one. I have seen some of the best operators absolutely suck at backing but they could sure shift that truck without tearing anything up. The instructor should only be yelling when he absolutely needs to get your attention. I think if when it is your turn, try to concentrate on just the first four or five gears, get good at that first, then work on the high side after you get comfortable with that. Yes you will be driving slow in the low side, but you will be getting the basics down and not be jerking the truck around. Calm down, don't be nervous, and it will all fall into place.

Yes the instructors most likely have an attitude, imagine if you were getting beat around each day by new drivers like yourself, after a while it takes a toll on the nerves. Each of us went through similar situations, at least wise your were not thrown the keys to a 68 Jimmy with duel sticks, and told take that load of corn to the elevator at 14.

You want to talk about a herky, jerky ride. But the farmer knew that I could not tear up that old beast, by the end of summer I was jamming that 4 and 2 pretty good. So hang in there and be thankful that somebody invented the air splitter.