How to start a truck from a stop on a hill

depends on your transmission cause my first gear isnt my lowest gear... second stalls on flat land!

Did you see my post where i slid sideways off the road and into a ditch and it took a wrecker to pull me out and rip my bumper off to get out...?

 

Yeah, saw that post. I can only imagine that it would suck being in that position. I also said in my response to your question that I can ONLY ASSUME about what to do because I have yet to be in that position. I'm sure it will be a learning experience, to say the least. I'm a fairly quick learner and adapt to situations quickly. Fortunately for me, I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and I currently live in Ohio so I'm not totally void of winter driving experiences.

 

dodgeram i agree with you on on dumping the clutch on a car, i dont people should do it either.. it is funny to watch though.. s but i never knew you could break a u joint by doin that in a car.. guess it's a good thing i got rid of my s10.. i use to do one will burning outs in that thing like there was no tomorrow..

 

I do believe that I know how to do this. What I still don't understand, however, is the purpose behind your post addressed to me. Should you care to read through this entire thread from the very beginning, you wouldn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that I'm not the original poster, the guy / gal who raised this whole topic in the first place. My personal ability to go up a hill with a tractor and a 2-trailer combination loaded at 138,000 lbs approx, isn't in question here. I live and work not too far from the mountains in western Canada.

 

Calm down now children, it's not worth a fight. Looking back at this, I have to interpret phroziac's response as a response to two parties. The first comment, obviously was directed towards Graymist as he named you personnally. The second comment appears to me as being directed at the original poster and everyone else reading as being his opinion that starting up a hill is the same in a truck as it is in a car. Nothing more than that.

Now, let's shake hands and make up, sit down, have some egg nog, and have a wonderful holiday.

 

Mitch, I'm not saying that that will happen all the time, it's just something that can happen. Being a hot rodder and musclecar enthusiast myself, I have partaken in many smokie burnouts in the past (and present ). The point is that dumping the clutch, especially at high rpms, is a tremendous shock to the system and the weakest link will be the first to give. With luck, the weakest link is the traction between the tires and ground. No traction means burnouts, Good traction means broken parts.

 

It seems that there are drivers out there that have no clue on how to get a loaded truck off a steep grade. We have had this happen and the truck ended up in the bay loaded with gasoline. Plus we hire experienced drivers. We are always loaded up to the max and some side streets are very steep. Picture yourself going to a gas station in San Francisco and using the side streets and when you get to the top there's a stop sign. So it's not as easy as everyone makes it out to be in all cases.

I've always used the hand brake and like most have said you feel the engine start to apply torque then release with power. To the poster that said drivers that start out in 4th or 5th I hope I read that wrong because if you're taking about moving the truck on level ground then you have no clue on how to drive. You always select the gear to move the truck with no throttle unless you're on a grade.

 

Nope, you read correct. I've roadtested guys who said you always start out on the high side while empty, thats the right way to do it. Usually I would end the roadtest right there but sometimes they would get one over revving shaking start before I noticed. We've also had guys that made it pass the roadtest but on their first load they'd break an axle trying to pull away from a boggy pile in 3rd. One thing I've noticed riding with drivers is most slip the hell out of the clutch and most don't know what a clutch break is.

 

Clutch break....when you hear a loud.....sproinggggggg

Aw just do it the easy way....rev the engine to about 2400 rpm and dump the clutch...but keep your right leg out of the way of that gear shift thingy exploding out of its bolts!

 

No offense taken - This truck had no ba***. Tried the lowest gear at idle - Engine died. Tried some throttle (ouch-I hate that) - You could slip the clutch all you wanted, but the hill pulled the engine down to a stop every time. I've pulled full loads to grocery stores in San Francisco (see Gas Hauler's comments), and started on steep hills with heavy (max (80K)) loads, but this one just wasn't going to happen. You must agree that some trucks simply can not start on some hills with some loads.