Question for the old timers

Clutch is for rookies and starting and stopping. A 2 stick, or set of clubs, we called them, is nothing more than 1 transmission behind another. You probably have a 6 speed main box and a 4 speed auxiliary box behind it. ( or visa versa) They both operate in the same manner, both crash boxes, no synchros. The ratios are so close, many end up skipping half of them. It gets old, trust me. I almost never used the clutch in any truck I drove. Crimeny, after 3 minutes in the video of driving , I was sick of it already, imagine doing that for 12 hours. With those crummy Detroits, you needed all those gears to "keep the needle against the pin". Anybody spent any time in a 2 cycle Detroit knows exactly what I men.

 

I'm in total agreement when talking 8V71's, but I drove four 8V92TA's, one of them from new for nearly 3 years pulling trains and hauling steel every day and I loved it!
It was okay in an average way at first, until it hit the 60k mile mark when they did a top end set up that was an all day job with the Jakes, put a proper tune in it and jacked the the governor to 2500 RPM, then it was a beast, pulled real hard!

Only problem with that engine was, it was in a Freightliner!

 

Clutching and double clutching was optional and dependent on the situation. When shifting in soft footing off-road conditions it was advisable to be ready with the clutch if needed, but once on firm roads not necessary. With few exceptions that came with experience, the one rule to follow when learning to drive a main and brownie set up was to never get both boxes in neutral at the same time as you would lose the ability to match the engine speed to the rear ends.

Now, I have a question relating to the video that you posted for the other fellas that have been around a while.

I have two trucks that have Cats with retarders, and each of them have the second shorter lever attached to the right side of the steering column with which to activate the retarder. The truck in the video also has two levers, but is obviously Detroit powered. Is it likely that this particular 359 was repowered from a Cat to a Detroit, or is there another function for that second lever that I am not aware of?

 

I saw that too, I didn't know Detroits could have a retarder, but didn't they work off the flywheel or something? I suppose a Detroit could have one.

 

The Cats have a different oil pan with which to allow oil used in the retarder to flow to the pan. There is no reason that I am aware that a Cat retarder could not be modified to be used on a Detroit, but it would require some fabrication for the pan at least. To my knowledge Detroit did not produce a retarder, but then again the old TS 14 Detroit powered scrapers may have used retarders and perhaps they were available for use in highway trucks. I'm not sure.

 

I read, the Cat retarder was like a torque converter in a car. It forced oil through vanes in the unit between the crank and the flywheel. It also required extra oil capacity. Detroits have cranks and flywheels, so I suppose. I'd have to think a "retarder" would be detrimental to the operation of a Detroit motor even when off. It needs all the help it can get. I fear we may start another Detroit discussion.

 

Detroit's had Jakes. I don't know what would have been the advantage of using a retarder.

 

That is correct. Never drove a DD with retardation lol. Just stay off the short stick when it's slick.Trans temps need to be monitored when engaging the accessory braking. Driving a long logger with a set of sticks your going to use that 3rd pedal.

 

My dad and uncle shifted with a clutch, and my dad was insistent that I use one too. I missed the shifts in the brownie all the time, so I used the throttle to match speed to go into gear. I'm sure with more practice I would have been able to shift it correctly.

My dad did something none of these videos do, and that was he put both boxes in neutral. We had a Pete with a 4x4, but the brownie wasn't full progressive. It had a tall over and a really short deep under, so we only used 3 gears in the brownie. So it would be first under to second under. Then direct then over. Shift the main to neutral then the brownie, pick up 3rd in the main, which was done with rythm, then match rpms to pick up the brownie. And so on.