shifting uphill from a stop with heavy load

That motors probably governed at 2100 rpm. you got at least 900 rpm to lose before grabbing 1st and still remaining in the peak torque zone of the power band. I've never needed more than 1700 or so myself, but hey it'll get the job done.

If you can start it in 1st instead of LO then all you have to do is pull straight back from 1st around 1700 rpm and it'll drop the speed so fast it'll most likely slide straight into 2nd with nothing more than a little teething on the way in. Again not ideal but your just trying to get er done for now. You can work on smoothing out the edges later.

 

Sometimes you're better off leaving it in low and crawling to the top...sure beats trying to jam it into the next gear as the truck stalls out on the hill and twisting the drive shaft up like a pretzel when you get back on the throttle. Only slightly better than that is successfully grabbing that next gear only to realize you don't quite have enough motor to pull the hill in THAT gear from the RPM's you are at when you get it into gear, so there you are at a dead stop again starting from scratch again...hero to zero either way.

 

Some of these companies restrict rpm in every gear... Crazy if you ask me.

 

I ran a castrated 2012 DEF 450 ISX on Low pro 22.5s and 3.55 rears with a straight 10. It pulled 79k up/down a 10% grade 5 miles straight with switch backs all the way up and then didn't have to touch the brakes coming down. Held 20mph up an down it.

If my castrated company rig could do that I'm pretty sure your rig can do whatever hill your trying to pull here. Just a matter of getting the technique down.

 

The 2012 ISX had a load management System on it where it would give you a certain amt of power based on the load you were pulling. Empty or DH it was gutless and wouldn't go past 1500 rpm often.

Fully loaded making a hard pull i could easily get it up to the governor though not that there is many good reasons to.

 

I have the 13 speed too. I recommend start off in Lo build up RPMs to 1500-1600 then quickly smoothly shift to 1st and repeat. If climbing a steep onramp to a freeway often you can't get past 4th gear til the road flattens out a little. If climbing a steep mountain wait til you get to the top before you pull over unless it is overheating.

Starting off in 2nd gear all the time especially on a hill will burn up the clutch. Skipping gears and running a 13 like a 9 is a poor practice too. Use every gear, they are there for a reason.

 

Simple: shift solely by Tach. try using a drop of 2.75 RPMS in gears (adjust by .25 RPM's +/-)

 

You'd be better off using your ears to listen to the engine and keeping your eyes on the road.

 

Myself, i just want the guy to win in littlest amount of time as possible.

 

Best thing that happened to me during my training was the ECU malfunctioned in the trainer's truck. Drove it from OKC back to HQ using the Qualcomm for a speedometer and nothing on the dash working. In school, they teach to drive by the tach, and you get so caught up in trying to remember shift points and what RPM for what gear at what speed that it is easy to forget you are supposed to be driving. I'd always driven stick shifts and none of them ever had a tach...so to just drive the truck and acquire a feel for it without worrying about watching that silly little gauge for a day improved my shifting more than another 6 weeks watching the tach would have.