Need some advice on backing an automatic 17 international pro star

Best advice was get a manual. All automatics are touchy and the ones that have had the settings picked by a big company are simply retarded and will continue making you look like an idiot. I had 6 months in one and I almost quit because of it. Now back in a manual.

 

Easy killer. Don't get your undies in a bunch. No one is attacking you.

 

I had the same issue a few months ago, it gets easier. I threw my tv and dvds on the floor quite a few times. Just like RoadRooster said, you have to have a light foot.

 

I'm in a 2017 Pete and it has a Eaton Advantage super 10 automatic.. I bet you either have that or the 13 speed version. Trust me drivers they ain't there with big truck auto trans technology. The one thing they haven't mastered yet is the art of clutch feathering. They can't quite imitate a human clutch leg attached to a human brain. The human is faster with a better touch. So hand this is the problem. As others have pointed out you will get better, it's all about the foot feed. Don't be afraid of it because you gotta press it some to get the clutch to release. Practice makes perfect. There are other things you won't like. Wait till it throws you in first gear going around a corner with some slight upgrade, or just leaves you hanging in the wind at an intersection while it figures out what's the best gear for torque and fuel savings to be in. On the other hand the thing is great on the big road.

Get to know how to use manual mode, downshift to 9 on hills and did you know that you can skip gears pressing the button twice when tached out. Handy when empty. It'll downshift that way too. Start in 2nd whenever you can just switch it to 2nd while stopped in drive and it will return to it. You run it in the automated mode and you can't beat the fuel mileage. I am yanking an end dump and 80k is a starting place most of the time for me, this truck has a PACCAR MX and looking at my computer right now I have a trip average of 9.2 on the nearly 600 I did today. So you can see why they are buying them

 

Please explain exactly how an automatic is unsafe. I've got right around 600k in 2 different automatics with my current company. One a Volvo and one a Cascadia. I've never come close to hitting anything that I could rightfully blame on the automatic tranny. And there are times they are a little lacking. Like when operating in ice and snow, I'm not really impressed. But they arent worthless by any measure. As harsh an opinion as you have of them, I'd consider it a pretty fair wager that you have not put many miles, if any, in one. I won't even touch your comment about lazy other than to say that's just foolish to even imply. Lazy makes you lazy, and that is all.

 

I got my 1st auto a year ago after 29 years. Still hate it. But, I've had no problems like that. Mine is as smooth as glass.
It won't go when you want it to.. pulling out , etc.. but reverse is no prob.
2016 Cascadia.

I've seen other drivers hopping around backing them up, so you're not alone.
It's almost like the old metallic clutches we older drivers used to deal with years ago.

They'd sit and hop and hop. Then they'd just.... go.

 

Agree 100 %

 

Don't feel bad, I can put a trailer just about anywhere, doesn't matter if it's regular or blindside. I make up to 6 stops a day in old business's that are really tight, and it's easy peasy. However, if you see me in an automatic, you'd swear it was my first time ever backing. It's tough to adjust the setup at the speed it wants to go. I like letting out the clutch and idling back into position with my10 speed.

 

Assigned into new Cascadia with D12 Automatic about 4 months ago.
Knew it would happen at some point, did some studying ahead of time. Hated the thought.
Won't admit to liking the auto, but it does some good things. Love its a new truck, ok.
One main concern I've had is winter driving the auto,
in a sick way I'm now looking forward to seeing for myself how the darn thing operates in the snow and ice.

 

I'll give two examples of how I feel autos can be unsafe:

1 is in the snow and ice. I've had two different trucks with two very different autos that both broke traction on ice when they had a hard shift while moving relatively slowly (think rest stop on or on ramp). A manual would only do that if the driver screwed up, a smooth shift would not have caused that problem.

2 is when they fail to go into gear when you need them to do so. Both the Eaton AutoSh#t and the DetroitTurd12 tend to go into neutral when you are coming to a stop. If you are rolling up to somewhere where you will need to get out into moving traffic, I've had instances with both where I came close to stopping, got my break in traffic, (if I were driving it myself I would have been in gear) and I took my foot off the brake on got on the gas, and they had to start hunting for the right gear. So instead of stopping before rolling in front of moving cars, or getting on the hammer and getting moving into the traffic, I just... slowly roll in front of oncoming traffic while it tries to figure out what to do. These are newer Eatons, several different trucks, and two different brand new DT12s. I find that unsafe.