Manual or automatics?

When I made a stink about the new auto in my issued tractor at 16 miles on clock, with FFE. I was told to put up or shut up. Thats not for me. It's for my spouse coming through orientation. Push D and drive off.

That changed alot of my future training with her as it tossed out quite a bit of manual stuff that would have been needed for her to learn. I taught her that later when hauling medicines in a manual truck after we left FFE.

Ive been carefully thinking about that wunderbar 10 mpg truck. Decided all that active suspension hooey needs to go. One of the hall marks of trucking when I started off is simplicity. If you had a engine that would keep turning at 1600F upgrade with another 40 minutes to the top because there isnt anything on it that will fail (YET....) then alls well.

Today's computer engines are getting too cold and algae loaded that will gel above freezing if you let it. Its not good engineering.

The more they overengineer rigs the eaiser it is to throw them away at 100K miles and replace them to continue that 10 mpg holy grail. When you realize the enormity of the shop work needed to keep them up.

 

Maybe I gripe so much that I should be outlawed.

Or implanted with a downloaded brain that does nothing except display sunshine in all things.

I don't mind new and wonderful things in trucking etc. But frankly I am very hard to please. And that is the root problem of all. If you can make me happy....

 

Not really these autos move a lot slower than you would think and a lot slower than an experienced driver who can .....float

 

Floating is a skill I understand. If i was on the cross Bronx in traffic I will float. Or something else that is timely right then, I don't make a habit of it. I could but if my knee is any testimony its proper shifting the hard way with double clutching. I don't even think about it.

A bad auto will be too slow in reacting to a driver. That I would find useless.

The auto we had with rockwell meritor in the 2000 model year turned out to be able to understand when we had that one jackknife on ice and followed us down and had a gear for us when we got traction back with a small adjustment of the wheel. If she didnt, we might have slid into the canyon by gravity upgrade. Just a fortunate moment when we really wanted power to be at the drives that instant and it was. Not much but enough to climb out.

That transmission was a big lesson to me in whats possible. But also a lesson to me in NEVER to accept over engineered so called modern crap that has so much crap in it it does not know what to do. In the old days computers sometimes had trouble with timing and turned into jittermonsters that was not able to be timely. I would hate for something like that to set up in trans today.

I am a difficult driver. A 8 year old sorta. I want my gear and I want it now. Right now. Right here. No waiting. If it was good then its ok. Otherwise I'll go back to manual and do it myself.

 

i can't heel toe rev match downshift a manual while flipping the jake off and on each shift while maintaining constant brake pressure...the paddle does it for me with 1 finger. Will never grind gears, it won't even let yo lug it even in manual mode (can't screw up while tired in west virginia and punch a hole in the block with a rod). Can't do situps on the floor with a stick in the way either...

 

Sounds like you had a pretty impressive transmission for an auto. I'm currently having to put up with a DD12 (company got rid of the last manual 3 months ago) and it's slow and if the batteries start to fade it's even slower. Downshifting uphill 32,000 lbs it'll lose about 10mph. Way too slow

 

Learn to drive with both feet. I can't argue the sit up deal, but that was never something I thought of when looking for a truck. lol