Shifting by engine sound!!

You should be looking at the gauges every minute or less. So no it doesn't make anybody a better driver. yes u learn your truck after a while but looking at the gauges is a must to make sure everything is normal

 

When shifting, I consider the weight of the load im pulling. I dont need to run it out before I shift when im light, but I usually use a combo of the tach and engine noise.

 

depends what engine is in the volvo. first determine that and then find that engines operating range, use the tach untill you learn the sound and before you know it shifting becomes natural and you just do it without looking at the tach all the time..............happy trails

ps . as far as grinding you need to learn the rpm split between gears after that learn to adjust for the load variances [uphill, downhill etc...] and you will do fine it just takes practice

 

IMHO if you are hearing the "roaring" sound, then you are a tad late with your shift. I like to shift in advance of that sound for a smoother shift and acceleration.

When I shift will depend on whether I'm bobtail, deadhead, light, or heavy... and will also depend on whether I'm pulling a grade, flat, or going downhill. Generally the range of shifting is from 1600 to 1100 rpm, but if I'm pulling a grade with a heavy load it might go to 1800 to 1300 rpm, and if I'm light and going downhill it can be from 1500 to 1000 rpm.

The trick is to be light on the throttle and really learn where you need to be on the throttle to hit your rpm. Best to practice out of gear, parked, and see what kind of throttle you need for each rpm you are trying to "stick". A few minutes of that will really help with your shifting, whether upshifting or downshifting.

 

shifting by the sound of the engine?

it takes some skill and you should first learn what the spread of the gears are based on driving it by the tach first. Most large engines (12 to 15 liters) make the the most torque around 1200 while the smaller ones move that up 1400 (9 to 11 liters). Generally this is near the sweet spot of the engine which will give you the best fuel mileage. There are setups in the ECM that will lower the speed of the engine to gain more efficiency for large engines, Cummins is one with their Smart Torque setups in ISX15.

The thing that many don't learn is how to read the tach without looking directly at it or more importantly learn how to use the engine's torque under a load with some progressive shifting to take advantage of the torque.