Floating gears i just suck

Every truck has a little different sweet spot..rpm is the key.

 

This thread was so chock full of driving instruction I am not sure if the initial question was ever answered. Did the truck do some kind of weird reset being double clutched, or was it just driver error on the OP? Cause this was the weirdest thing Ive ever heard of.

 

Seriously man? You are a truck owner and you can’t figure this out? Starting to think you’re playing some folks

 

I'm guessing you weren't trained properly.

Floating well takes a lot of practice, but if you aren't taught the proper fundamentals, you won't ever do it well.

Rev up, put pressure on the stick, level off the RPM (which breaks torque), the stick should slide out like butter, then let the RPM's drop and find the next hole. The RPM gap between gears will vary depending on transmission ratios, and the speed at which they drop will depend on motor type (CAT's drop much slower than Cummins for instance).

Practice practice practice.

 

So....let’s start again.....what trans do you have? And don’t say 18 speed. 18 speed what? When you figure that out you get the operator manual for said trans and find out what the steps are between the gears and that’s how much your tach moves between gear meshes. Same thing as shifting any other truck best of luck

 

Well just a couple things.

I don't know what engine is in the Freightliner but the mack most likely is a low torque low RPM engine.

You can't shift that the same as the Freightliner. It will definitely feel different to you.

My guess is that when you're empty you don't have to wind it up all the way. Just wind the engine up enough that it will drop down to an RPM that the truck will shift and pull. When you are empty you should be able to shift very easily and leisurely. Just take your time.

Remember, when you are loaded you need to get the most out of the engine and split your gears.

When you are empty you just need to be able to shift into a gear that the truck will pull until you can get the RPMs to a point you can shift again and the truck will pull.

So when you're loaded you split your gears to get the most out of your pulling power. When you are empty you really only need to get enough RPMs to get into the next gear or even skip a gear and let the truck pull you.

It sounds like you need to become accustomed to the different way the Mack pulls and where you need to shift.

And when you are empty do not over shift. That's a real thing sometimes Younger drivers do. You don't have to upshift all of your gears and you don't have to downshift all of your gears when you are empty.

Try to find the owners manual to that Mack or Google the engine and it will tell you what the RPM range is and where it is supposed to pull.

And the last thing I leave you with is that I have been told, it has not been my first-hand experience, but I have been told that certain Mack Trucks have a delay when you hit the accelerator.

I don't know if it was a certain model engine or years of trucks- maybe some of the guys on the Forum might know that.

But it had something to do with the electronics ( again with the electronics!) recognizing the value from the foot pedal or some other kind of nonsense like that.

Maybe you're even having some kind of problem like that and you don't know it.