Recovering a missed gear (with video explanation)

Pretty much floating it into gear.

 

That video really is super-helpful! There's a very short and very gentle downgrade that our instructors take us around to practice on, and it scared the living daylights outta me the first time out when I couldn't shift 3rd-4th on it. (Newbie lesson #78653: gravity and momentum don't always mix well with gears... know how to recover.)
The instructors at school have been saying the exact same thing as this video, but it's a good reinforcement to see and hear the recovery information repeated when not behind the wheel. Thanks for sharing!

 

If I have to down shift on a hill (to save my butt) I was taught to bring the RPMS down to 900 then down shift do yall agree

 

If I'm in a downgrade and have to downshift to maintain control of speed I'll brake to bring rpm's down to the 700-800 range, then make the shift with a "tap out" on the clutch (to get it out of gear) and then float into the higher gear as I smoothly bring the rpm's up. By bringing the rpm's that low you have an easier time of dropping into gear around 1300-1400 and let the governor take over from there. I disengage the governor for this shift, then reengage after the shift. Trying this shift starting in the 900-1000 range means you may not engage the lower gear and as you gain speed you would then need to brake again to bring it to a speed where you can make the downshift. Better to have rpm's a tad lower to give you a longer opportunity to engage that gear... calmly.

 

By "tap out" I mean quickly engaging the clutch an inch or two as you are gently pushing the gear shift out of gear, just enough to help get it out of gear. Just a quick "tap" on the clutch and then concentrate on feathering up the rpm's on the accelerator as you gently push the shifter to the next gear. Done right it should drop into the next gear easily, then ease off on the throttle and engage the jake. If the jake can't hold that gear then repeat the process and downshift another gear. Find the combination of jake setting (low, medium, or high) and gear that will bring you down the grade without using the service brakes or with very minimal use of the service brakes.

 

If you tap the accelerator immediately after you tap the clutch it will jump the RPM up enough to float it into the next gear when down shifting. I usually tap the accelerator down about half way. You tap the clutch and then the accelerator in under a second. Its a pretty quick motion.

Or you can do version #2 where you slow down to where the truck is about to start bogging down and tap the accelerator and as you push down on it, shift the gear at the exact same time. That's how I usually do it. I only touch my clutch when I'm leaving a red light. After that, I forget that pedal is even there.