Shiftin' Question

All of the manual Eaton transmissions are built the same whether they have a splitter or not. They have one big synchronizer for the range shift and that's all. I don't need to ask a dealer/mechanic I work on my truck myself.

 

never been to a driver school or been told how to drive by a co., except speeding, lol. never drove for the mega co's either though , I stay with the under 100 truck companies. I don't use the clutch except to start or stop or if it needs to be released when under a load , just touch the clutch and it pops out of gear.

My take on driving is this; they tell me where it needs to go and I take care of the rest , even though it's not my truck. I'm hired for my expertise and I expect to utilize it. They want to babysit and backseat drive, I'm gone.

I also tell them this up front, makes for an interesting interview.lol

 

There is a synchro for the low range set, which is why you should never throw that switch when you are going more than however many mph you can do in the top gear of the bottom range, but there is not a synchro for every gear, which is why you have to double clutch.

 

All the european trucks have had synchros since a long time. My truck is one of the last models built with a unsynchred gearbox and is from 1993

 

you have to remember a couple of things. the lower side of the gears will wind up faster due to the gear ratios. you will have to shift a little faster to accomplish the RPM match. when you get on the high side, the RPMS will wind out a little longer so the shifting intervals are a little longer.

the problem with mastering the floating technique is the jake brakes drop the RPMS drastically when you unload the drivetrain with the throttle. you are not touching any pedal for a split second while going from gear to neutral to gear, and that is when the jakes will kick in and drop the RPMS. if you hesitate, the RPMS drop too fast and that is some of the grinding you may be hearing when people are floating. they drop, and then you can either tap the throttle again if you are fast enough to get it in the gear you missed, or it is going to force a downshift (I.E. rolling uphill and you miss a shift).

when i turn my jakes off, it takes me a minute or two to adjust my head to get the timing down because the RPMS dont fall of near as fast. and if i till grind one or two before i remember i need to slow down my shifting. so, i just leave the jakes on, it is a company truck and it is propery midasized. i dont worry about those stupid signs that say no jakes.

the best way for you to practice when you are out there alone is to learn the progressive floating with the jakes off. then you can attempt to master floating with the jakes. some can do it, some can not. it is second nature to me. and once your put there pumping that clutch in traffic, you will find out real fast that the hype with the clutch is just that..................hype.

 

once you get your own truck, you will figure out the timing of things. i have been in the same one for almost 2 years, so i know how it shifts.

i have gotten to the point that when i am climbing a hill, and i am approaching the need to drop a gear, i can leave my foot on the throttle, give the clutch a blip with my foot while maintaining the throttle to RPM match, let off the throttle for a split second then slide the shifter to the next lower gear and it will float right in without missing a beat then get back on the throttle. piece of cake.

you will figure it all out. it just takes time and practice. there isnt a driver on this forum who has not missed a shift and made it grind. it happens.

here is a good indicator that you are close to being a shift master. when going up a long exit ramp, or slowing down in city traffic, instead of downshifting, just come to a stop. press the clutch in and start braking. when your around 15 mph, know what the roadspeed is for each gear. you should be able to look at your speed, and go to the correct gear with just a tap of the throttle and let the jakes do the rest. i hardly ever come to a complete stop in traffic if it can be helped. i leave enough distance so that when i am rolling about 2 or 3 mph, i can slide it in second or first and let it crawl. if i have to stop because the light has not changed, then i will.

there is a chart here on the forums somewhere that shows the road speed vs proper gear selection. im just too lazy to search for that. maybe someone else will chime in and know where that is located.

 

I drove an 18 and never floated it..th clutch didn't bother me that much..

Petey

 

Let's make it simple OP. Learn double-clutching first since that's required. It sounds alot harder than it actually is. Forget the "knees drop off" garbage because that's what it is... garbage. Hell's Bells, I had both kneecaps crushed when I was 21 and my legs do just fine all these years later. "Floating" is a useful skill that can be learned later on.

Stick to basics for now, you're going to have to learn/remember enough as it is.

 

Ok so why would you even consider using a clutch when splitting the gears? This makes no sense whatsoever. Maybe this is why new guys dont like an 18, 13 or super 10 as you are using the clutch for something you dont need it for.

 

You don't use the clutch when splitting..but a trans like a 13 or 18 has to have syncros for the splitter to work
...or at least a main syncro to spin up the gears...

Having driven new trucks and old trucks I can tell you that an old truck that was always double clutched is firmer in shifting..I could always tell transmissions that had been floated..there was slop in the stick and that point you feel when going into a gear thats the feel of the gears meshing was gone..I always had to look down on those trans to make sure it was all the way in gear....I had one the guy drove for four years I was runnin to the dealer from the yard that there was no #### gate left....it would go in between first and third because there was nothing left..I asked him if he double clutched when I got back to the yard..."naw I float em"..dealer's mechanic noticed it and they rejected the truck for trade in..reason "needs new trans"..it became the yard mule instead..six months later the truck I had driven since new hit its retirement..mechanic asked me if the odo was right..I asked why..he goes..must be new trans..I said nope..I just always double cluthed it..

If I were ever a flleet owner and found someone floating one of my trucks..they would be terminated...tansmissions have cluthes for a reason

Petey