Is it bad to skip gears while loaded (13 speed)

Yes. Think of it as a 2 position knob. Dir-od. The others were 3 position low-dir-od. The 2 position knobs like yours were actually the more common ones because they were the standard 13 speed knob. Dir position for both low and high and od position for split. My ‘72 White 4000 has that one. It’s the standard Charcoal gray color without the shift pattern on it. Still solid and fun.
The chrome 3’s seem to have been more of a largecar o/o optional spec. All you need is your thumb and the palm of your hand to shift. Dont need to pull up with your other fingers.
Also back than splitter button color meant nothing about how many speeds it is like it does today.
I’ve got a 2 black ones and two white ones and ive seen red, yellow, and grey.

 

Yes. Think of it as a 2 position knob. Dir-od. The others were 3 position low-dir-od. The 2 position knobs like yours were actually the more common ones because they were the standard 13 speed knob. Dir position for both low and high and od position for split. My ‘72 White 4000 has that one. It’s the standard Charcoal gray color without the shift pattern on it. Still solid and fun.
The chrome 3’s seem to have been more of a largecar o/o optional spec. All you need is your thumb and the palm of your hand to shift. Dont need to pull up with your other fingers.
Also back than splitter button color meant nothing about how many speeds it is like it does today.
I’ve got a 2 black ones and two white ones and ive seen red, yellow, and grey.

 

I'm sure y'all know about cheater gear in a 9 speed

 

These were the first generation 3 oosition 13 soeed knobs.

its the same lo position as the 13

 

This is the first generation 3 position 13 speed knob. Notice the worn down old Eaton-Fuller-Towne and Clark globe logo on it. I found this in a box of old parts at a friends truck shop years ago. Don’t know what brand cab it originally came out of. These were cool because you can take out the center screw and put on an old school glitter ball from a twin stick on the top of it. I’d love to use it but you cant get the seal kit for it anymore and it has a plastic “puzzle” piece that fits inside that is cracked. So i just keep in a display case in the living room.

 

We used that low - high gear as well. It did not seem to hurt the truck too much. And that image brought back memories in a hurry. Took me right back to those old times.

 

My guess is that the high range gearbox is only rated for a certain amount of torque. When you put it in Lo Hi, the torque multiplier that you get from Lo gear is probably too much.

I am in no way a mechanic or an engineer or anything, that's just my guess.

 

Seems like a logical explanation. May or may not be true, but if there is a problem using low in high range, this could be it.

 

Theres no glass slipper inside a fuller. If cheater gear was weak so would low and reverse be because theyre the same gears in the front box. Its just a ratio. And it flows into the aux countershafts to be routed to one of 3 gears you choose, the bull, direct, or OD (splitter high).. It doesnt care what gear, its just a machine that does what its told. Now if fuller told you go from 4th to low hole [like a 10speed] and it grinds, you the operator will care.


So between us, come out of 3rd when you want to go to cheater. Or come out of 5th to cheater when you dont wanna drop a range. Btw, the only syncro in the trans is in the range bull gear and IT DOES wear out, requiring a pricey new bull gear. In my RTOO that was NLA and cost me $600 alone. So flipping the button down to low range at highish speed DOES wear something out, the inner conical friction face of the aux low gear. Id rather use cheater than drop the range down when not crawling along slow because its less work on the syncro to slow the intermediate cluster down when youre at low rpm and mph.

Torque is merely a twisting force on a shaft. The torque load going into a shaft is relative to the resistance to that force on the other end of the shaft. So you need a load to create torque. This is why you hear a tone change and see boost/egt jump when the hill steepens. More load accepts more torque. a 2000hp engine doesnt make 2000hp when you peg it in neutral, it makes just enough power to overcome the load which is near zero. Couple it to an infinite load and it will make all of the power that it can. Well actually itll stall but anyhow.

If you think cheater gear is weak, dont lug it, thats all. If youre easing around the corner at 1700rpm and light throttle with good momentum, you have a low resistance because the trailer is coming along with you at a good clip and presenting low load which requires low torque. The engine is not creating high energy without a high load to dissipate it into. So just dont give it the chance. Not tearing up your truck is on you driver.

 

Found old phone to get some pics. Will splain it later

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