How do I prevent the gears from grinding when stopped?

Let's say I'm driving in 6th and come to a stop at a red light. I hit the selector to go down to low range, clutch to neutral, and sometimes when resetting it to 3rd or 4th the gears grind.

Earlier in class after another student drove, and the truck was stopped, in neutral and w/the brakes set, I was still grinding gears when leaving neutral. What am I doing wrong?

 

Range shift? No it doesn't grind when switching from high to low gears, I'm grinding when the truck is stopped, going from neutral and into another gear

 

Depending on the truck and style of clutch (mechanical or Hydraulic) You may not be pushing the clutch all the way down. On some trucks you have to kinda stand on it to get into the clutch brake. Especially trucks routinely driven by student drivers. Don't push it to the floor until you are stopped though, that will burn up the clutch brake. As far as going from 6th to 4th, try to get into the low range before you stop, at least down to 4th, but the lower the better. You want to try to stop in whatever gear you will take off in, and if you can, time it so you don't actually stop at all. (This is assuming a stop LIGHT...don't roll through a sign)

 

If your 100% stopped. Your not pushing clutch pedal far enough to engage clutch brake. Or the clutch brake is miss adjusted.

 

I think it's a mid 2010s Frieghtliner, the master cylinder assembly for the clutch was replaced about a month ago. Maybe it's me but this week it feels different...more loose?

So I come to a stop and then clutch to the floor to engage the clutch brake? Do I leave the clutch brake engaged when I shift or do I bring my foot up a little bit? On the yard truck w/the same Eaton 10 speed, I have to bring my foot off the clutch brake to shift.

As for stopping in whatever gear I want to take off in, I'm still a student and don't want to put too much pressure on myself by downshifting all the way to 4th. They tell us to get down to 6th when coming to a stop and then reset.

 

I'm also having trouble finding 4th at a stop, maybe because the truck has 800K+ miles on it but in 4th I don't feel the shifter click into gear.

 

They REALLY are doing you a disservice if they didn't tell you, but the clutch brake is activated during the bottom part of the pedal travel. During normal shifting, you just push the clutch about halfway, just enough to separate the plates. For every shift. You only push into the clutch brake right as you stop, or while you are waiting at a light. sometimes, the gear sets dont line up just right as you are going into a gear while stopped. In that case keep your foot hard on the pedal, pull the shifter up against the gear you want, and let up just a little, the gears will start to turn and it will fall into gear. As soon as it does, push the clutch back down. If you dont, the clutch plates, and clutch brake will just sit there and wear against their respective other halves.

 

They told us that but no, they haven't done a good job at fully explaining it unless we ask. I'm testing soon and just want to make sure I understand everything completely.

When you say keep your foot hard on the pedal, do you mean the clutch brake?

Pull the shifter up against the gear I want and let up on the clutch, and then once it is in gear go back down to the floor w/the clutch?