How to shift 18 speed? When And how do you Drive it as A 18 speed, 13 speed and 9 speed

I know how to drive a 10 speed but I got a job where I’ll be driving a 18 speed in The mountains of west virginia, I told the guy that I only know how to drive a 10 speed but he still hired me and said he won’t train me because I already know how to drive manual and will get the hang of the 18 speed in no time, I would really appreciate any tips. When do you split all gears? Or when do you split only the high range? And when do you drive it as a 9 speed? Also at what Rpm do you upshift and downshift?

 

Go look on YouTube. They got videos on how to shift an 18 speed.

 

I never had an 18 speed, but a 13 speed is easier then a 10 speed!

 

RPM will depend on engine, load, and terrain. I've never had a need to split the bottom side on normal paved roads at 80,000 max. Most of the time I shift like a 13 when loaded and a 9 when empty. You'll figure out what works best for you, your truck, and your situation rather quickly.

 

How can you tell when you need to shift a 10 speed? By looking at the rpms? Or by the feel of the truck? You run all manual transmissions the same way.

Do this: When you get your truck, split the top side of the transmission, all the gears. Every time until you get comfortable with an 18. It shouldn't take an hour for you to figure it out.

 

Totally incorrect to say "shift an 18 like a 10"

It has more commonality with a 9 speed. 5 gears in low range, 4 gears (H-pattern) on the high side.

Empty just run it like a 9. No reason to use the low gear empty unless you're taking off on a crazy steep grade or in soft ground. Just run the 8 gears in the H-pattern and then hit OD on the splitter in top gear until you're comfortable.

Downshifting I tend to just use the main box, especially when downshifting on a grade under load. You spend way too much time dicking around with splits that you'll lose a lot of momentum.

Honestly just run it as a 9 speed and play with the splits until you feel comfortable with it. Its really not that difficult once you make a few shifts with it.

 

So a 13 speed and a 18 speed are the same essentially in that they both a “H pattern”
You got 1234, range selector up, 5678.
The difference being 18 speed you can split gears 1234, and 5678 while in a 13 speed you can only split 5678.
If you can drive a 10 it’ll on take a a drive or 2 to get the concept down.
If you’re empty/really light you can go 1234,5678. You can judge by how the truck is pulling. I drive gas tankers that get up to 145k and I have yet to have to split the low end.

Now to split up(let’s say you’re in 5th for example) while you’re driving you push the splitter forward, let off the gas (as the rpms are dropping they stop when they’ve reach the gear approx 200 rpms) then you get back on the gas and your in 5th high. From fifth high to get to sixth you go through 5 high push the splitter back let off the gas shift to sixth low. Repeat the process...
Say your in 5th high and just a tad low on rpms not enough for a complete gear change. To get back to low simply flip the splitter back let off the gas then back on it.
If you drive it 1234-5678 the gears are further apart about 400 rpms
If you split and drive it 1234-5 5h 6 6h 7 7h 8 8h gears are much closer so you have to shift it a tad quicker.
Till you get comfortable in how the truck drives look to downshift at these speeds
7th 45mph
6th 35mph
5th 25mph
4th 15mph
3rd 8-10 mph
2nd 4-6 mph
1st ....really

 

9,13,and18 are the same family. 13’s are just 9’s that have gears to split in 1/2 in high range. 18’s are 13’s with same 1/2 gear splits but 2 od top gears instead of 1 and 4 basement gears you can mostly ignore.
10 is different animal.
Once you learn the 18 you will probably like it more than a 10. It is much more versitile. You will be able shift a 9 and 13 with ease.

 

@meechyaboy is on it.