Is coasting in neutral bad

What @MACK E-6 said... because small vehicle transmissions DO have gear synchronizers and big truck transmissions DO NOT, is precisely why you should not float the small ones and can float the big ones. European truck transmissions, on the other hand, do have gear synchros and can be shifted like car transmissions. HOWEVER, you should never float gears unless you are skilled at it because you can damage the transmission.

I learned to double-clutch and drove that way for many, many years. I started practising floating on the highway at constant speeds to get the feel of the transmission without all the drive-line stress adding to the difficulty. My driving style now incorporates both because sometimes you can't float gears (or at least, it is extremely difficult with much greater risk), especially when loaded heavy and in soft-ground conditions.

My comment about driving schools and mentors is less a dig at @PROPANE than it is at a system that is more concerned about churning out bodies than it is at developing top-quality drivers. It is usually pretty easy to tell, based on a person's comments, the exposure (or lack thereof) they have had to this industry.

 

thank you GOD. please forgive me and let me join you in Heaven. you are a great know it all being, I am just lucky to type underneath your last post. I'll pardon myself from this thread, as being a keyboard warrior for the day has mentally drained me.

 

Not being able to rev over 1400 in neutral makes no sense. I've never seen a manual truck transmission with a switch that would indicate the truck is in neutral. Besides that, a typical truck has a 350-500 RPM step between gears. That means you'd have to bring your RPM's down to 900 or less for every downshift. More than likely the engine ECM is probably detecting whether or not the park brake is set in order to enable the RPM limiter.

 

Spoken like someone who knows what the hell he's doing. A good driver will float or use the clutch based on the current driving conditions, not some myth that floating is the only way to do it. Heck half the time I clutch it out of gear and float it in. Just seems to work better for me.

 

What?? Are you kidding me??!? Are you actually saying there is more than one way to do something??

Unpossible.....


Ed

 

Yeah, I was once shamed at the lunch counter for admitting I used my middle finger to flip the turn signal. I didn't know you had to use the index finger!

It took months for me to regain my confidence.

 

It's called E-coast. once truck speed gets above set cruise-control it shifts into neutral. But it waits until truck speed is below cruise set speed before it engages so you start climbing every hill with no momentum. At least the Volvo version adds power AT set speed.

 

Everytime I hear or think of Mexican overdrive, I start sing "I'm in Mexican overdrive" to this song.