DOWN Shifting

Throw all dem books, and crap an instructor will tell you, away. Get your ### in the truck, and learn by feel. You will learn by sound of your engine, and practice. Feel out your truck, and it will come natural. You dont need to watch the Tach. or speed, Feel out the Engine and Trans together. You`ll get it.

 

Sorry, I don't mean to piss on the experienced drivers. It is true, that one can learn to float the gears with practice, and patience. Does that mean that you should advise new drivers to do so? I don't think so. In the end it's all physics. The power flow from the engine, and the dynamics of the tranny. The clutch allows you to temporarily disconnect the power flow from the engine to the tranny, thus preventing potential damage, that's all.
If you have learned to do this without the clutch, all power to you. It's not a problem, nor should you be offended when I say here that double-clutching is the way to START out. An engine produces tremendeous forces through torque, which can damage the power train, and the engine if not handled properly. I may not have all the experience, but I do understand engneering principles and physics. That's really all I have to say. Peace!

 

Floating for me actually came easy. The problem I see with alot of students is that they hesitate too much when changing gears, which is why schools and companies tell students to double-clutch. You need to be like Jonny Bravo. If you let the RPM's drop too much, you'll end up grinding a kg of coffee with the transmission trying to find a gear.

Schools teach you to downshift at 1000, clutch to neutral, rev to 1500, then clutch to gear. This concept works fine with the older trucks, but not the newer ones. With my truck, throw that bad boy into gear the moment you put it in neutral.

 

Tell dem you want an automatic.

 

Boo... I can out-accelerate automatics all day long. They take too long to shift, especially on a incline.

 

I run an International day cab, and can out shift dem also, but freaking JB Hunt was persistant last week, then he finally backed off. POS, Automatics.

 

I had another post, where we talked about NO CLUTCH, and drove for over 50 miles, in the Suburbs of Chicago. So, shifting, anyone can do, you just have to know your truck.

 

Your more than welcome to discuss anything on this forum. Just because some have more experience than others, does not mean you cant experess your view. Everyone of us still learn.

 

Have a question. 2 identical trucks w/ the same driver in each. Which is faster in say a mile up a hill. One floats his gears the other double clutches his shifts?

 

Most companies don't want you down shifting to slow down either! Brakes are cheaper than transmissions and motors.