just need advice:(

Which is normal but at some point you should find the gear that the truck can pull the hill without having to stop and start all over. Sounds like you are letting the rpm's drop way to low before down shifting and then you are behind the eight ball get frustrated and miss a gear having to stop.


What rpm's are you shifting at?

 

Ok....

The sweet spot is around 1400 rpm on a big diesel....it can hold power down to 1100 rpms, at that point the power will roll off quickly below 900 rpms. You must master the hill by experience. Note higher rpms can cause the power to roll off too as the engine was not designed to peak above the rated torgue, specification.

Can you tell me what kind of truck, engine size and what kind of transmission, please?

 

The key to not miss the shifts on a hill is to shift EARLY. In my truck, the power drops off a cliff at 1,350 rpms. If i know I'm not going to make it in that gear, I shift BEFORE getting to 1,350. If I shift at 1,400, I can grab the next gear at 1550 or so, since the truck will slow down so much faster going uphill. It helps to shift about 100 to 200 rpms earlier than you would on flat ground. The hill will eat those 100 rpms during the shift, and make the shift feel "normal" to you.

Good luck!

 

A truck and pup only pivots at the hitch, you are driving a "truck and trailer". One cargo container is mounted permanently on the trucks chassis and the trailer is connected via a pintle hitch, the front axle of the trailer is on a turntable and the rear axle is fixed.

This combination backs the exact opposite of a semi, the trailer will copy the truck.

If you want the trailer to back left you turn the steering wheel left while backing, just as you would if you were backing a bobtail with no trailer.

The Geometry seems confusing at first but once you see it work it is just a matter of learning how dramatic a move you can make and still "recover" or "catch" the trailer and bring it back straight.

The longer the drawbar the more forgiving it is to a beginner, tankers also have a large overhang behind the drivers so the hitch is well behind the trucks pivot, this amplifies the action so you can be pretty wrong and still "catch" the trailer.

Don't beat yourself up over struggling with backing a truck and trailer combo, this is a tough skill to master for anyone but even more so for a brand new driver.

I know a guy who has driven for years in a semi who started with us 2 months ago driving a truck and trailer, I saw him last week and he still can't relearn his semi backing habits so he just quit trying! He only makes u turns and his boss parks his truck every night.

Back it like a bobtail and you will see it respond in the mirror, then just work on how severe you can turn the wheel to keep everything from going to far out of shape; once you see it happen by your own hand your mind will click and you'll own it.

Then someday you will climb in a semi and forget to do the opposite, nobody makes fun of a driver struggling to back a truck and trailer but everyone laughs at a semi driver who can't back up

 

There is no reversing a road Train more than about 15 feet. You have trailers and dollies going everywhere. As for a double. Once you work it out 90 degree corners into finger docks is easy. The hard part is when you take the back trailer off.... Im not sure where mine is i think i lost it on 501 in VA the other day....

 

If you miss one gear while downshifting, skip it and the grab the next one quickly, sometimes so I don't miss either, I just skip two right of the at, it's less stressful, but you will be going up slower. But once you pick up speed, you can up shift it and be in the correct gear. Hope this make sense. I don't downshift to often, I have the horses to keep it where I need it, but I usually will downshift just to create less stress on the drivetrain.

 

Yea, always be ready to reach the second or even third gear down. Somewhere down the tree is a gear you will run the whole hill at, no matter how steep. Even 24% or more. (Usually first or granny low.... that is a more dangerous situation I rather not explain here, I don't want to scare you...)

 

Grant it this isnt a backing situation your setup can make or break you, just like in a semi. You have to try to make it as easy as possible when positioning your truck, this way your aren't fighting to get both your trailer tail and turntable where you want. Also when turning into stations you have to remember these t&t setups don't like to be swung wide like a semi. The tighter you pivot the truck the more your pup will bend around a corner/ object. And always, I mean always leave yourself enough room to straighten out you rig if the turntable/dolly gets too bent out of shape. Alot of drivers get stuck because they end up soo twisted up they can't pull forward or back out of a situation.

 

Regarding the downshift issue, there are tricks that will help you until your mind gets used to the process.

Every transmission has a set gear ratio difference between all the gears below the top gear (some top gears are an overdrive with a longer split)

What this means is that the rpm difference between any 2 gears is always the same if road speed is stable.

So if you perform this experiment you can determine the "split". Set your speed at something like 50 in a gear that is keeping the engine at a low rpm, hold that 50 speed steady and look at your tachometer to determine the rpms you're at. Then downshift 1 gear and again set your speed at 50, check the tach again note the difference (probably will be 5 to 600 rpms higher)

Once you know this you can take the guesswork out of downshifting, here is how.

If as an example your transmission has 500 rpm splits between the gears and your engine rpm is governed to max out at 2100 rpm; performing the downshift when your rpms are at 1600 will mean the transmission will fall into the next lower gear at the engines top governed rpm.

So you just watch the tach as you start the pull, when it hits 1600 go for the next lower gear with your foot on the throttle, the engines Governor will keep you from revving past the hole and you will make the shift.

This only works correctly when you don't use the clutch, which is how you should have been taught but who knows what gets taught these days.

The clutch alters the road speed to engine speed ratio slightly so the built in absolutes can vary a little and throw you off.

This "trick" will enable a rookie to run the mountains without getting lost in the transmission and stopping on the hill, it is not a good permanent solution because you will be operating above the engines optimum power band (meaning you will always end up 1 gear lower on a pull than you need to be), but it will help you get your timing down which is the reason you keep getting lost and stopping.

If you find that your rpm has dropped below the shift point you were shooting for (in other words you are late starting the downshift) then just skip the gear you would normally drop to next and go for the one below it, your road speed will be falling due to the grade your on, so the next lower gear will line up pretty quickly and you will not stop.

The most important thing is to realize that the transmission and engine need to be at matching revolutions to catch a gear, if you miss a shift there will never be enough time to correct your error and complete the shift to that gear on a grade, go for the next lower gear.

The tachometer is a rookies best friend, it will take all of guesswork out of shifting as long as you stop trying to use the clutch.

Good luck, if you persist you will get it

 

I am competition minded. You show me that fine truck with it's pretty parking at the fuel area. I want to take the truck and trailer and put up 50 dollars and seeif I can park it faster than you just so.