Stll having big problems downshifting

Ive taught a couple people how to shift and here is what I find works.
I think your problem as you said it yourself, is your doing things in the wrong order. Your body hasnt trained itself to make the motions without thinking about it. Your ok with upshifting right? Try this..
Take your truck out at night or on a long straight road with very few obstacles, Start upshifting through your gears.. if you have lets say a 10 speed get going to you in lets say 7th gear, rev up the engine to where you feel like you would normally shift..Once your at the RPM you'd normally shift... stop.. look at your speed, look at your rpms.. just for numbers sake, (Won't be right just picking two numbers off top of my head) your going 60, and your rpms are at 1500rpms(wherever your used to shifting).. now upshift...... now your in 8th, and your still going 60.. bring it up to 62 or 63 because you will be a little delayed in your movements. holding the gear shifter (your foot still on the gas), Give the shifter a bit of preasure as your trying to take it out of gear. Take your foot off the gas suddenly (it will come right out of gear), then remember that 1500rpms? push the cluch in, rev it up to 1500 rpms (you need to do it with finese... dont try to overshoot your Rpms, and dont be to scared either, then push your shifter back into 7th, and take your foot off the clutch youve just downshifted... slow down the truck a bit, then accelerate back up to your 60rpm, and repeat the whole process again, and again, and again, and again look at your tach and listen to your engine, you'll get to the point where it would be easier and easier, your feet/hands eyes will get used to the motions and it should come easier, you'll get used to on a flat surface anyways how much fuel to give it. once your really getting it, stop pressing in the clutch before you've rev'd up your engine.. then youve just shifted downshifted with no clutch.. HOPEFULLY you'll get used to your truck and you'll be shifting without thinking about it soon.

 

Hi!!! I haven't read the other replies, but, I will tell you what helped me in school.

I drove an Eaton 10 speed all-manual with T-bar switch. At first, the following method seemed like information overload to me (probably because each instructor had their own trick). ... But eventually I found this to be so good, that when I took the road test I didn't grind one gear.

*Let's start downshifting from 10th gear. Put your foot on the break until your truck slows down to near 45 MPH. ..... Clutch to Neutral, rev the engine a little, clutch, shift to 9th.

The pattern you'll follow (MPH = Gear) is quick first grade math: 45=9th ... 35=8th ... 25=7th ... 15=6th ... And so on (lower than 5th is under 10). Slow the truck to your target speed.

You don't need to stare at the speedometer, just glance. After a while you will get a feel for when you need to do downshift, and you won't have to glance.

*Please keep in mind that you will NOT stall the truck if you need to slow it down from say, 50 to 35 by simply applying the brake. You do not need to go back down through every single gear. This was one of my fears and getting past that helped tremendously. You can even stop in 9th say, as long as when you start to feel the truck lugging, you put the clutch in (and it still won't require much coast).


Coordinating downshifting action is: 1) Clutch to Neutral. 2) Rev the engine but not too much. 3) Clutch to Gear.

In the end, you will find a method that works for YOU. My boss used RPMs as his target. I preferred the MPH method.

 

It was a question not a statement. It just seems that when you open your comment with "I haven't read the other posts" you run the risk of making a redundant statement which could otherwise have been avoided had the previous posts been read.

At any rate, I meant no offense by my comment and in hindsight I would erase it if given the option.....many apologies.

 

Sorry. Due to the truncated format I did not realize it as such.

What is the risk of being redundant? Agreeing with another person?

I agree with you there. Not that I think you need to erase that comment. I was not offended, no apologies needed. But I sure have a few posts that I would like to redact, but the time limit in which to has expired.

Mikeeee

 

I float the gears as much as possible. I really only use the clutch to start and stop, otherwise, it's on an "as needed" basis. When I want to down shift (or up shift for that matter) I am on the throttle, soon as I let off the throttle, I pull the stick out of gear. If the truck wants to give me some trouble, I'll use the clutch. When down shifting, after the truck is out of gear, I'll bump the throttle up 4-6 hundred rpms (each trucks "sweet spot" is a little different, you have to learn THAT truck) Then put it in the hole. I don't grind gears, I do what has been mentioned before. Put just a little bit of pressure on the hole, feel the vibrations, and use throttle control to get all the speeds lined up and just pop it in when the vibration in the stick slows down/stops. Works fine for me, have never torn anything up, and have never had a company tell me to do it any different. Good Luck

 

KANSAS TRANSIT - I sure appreciate the offer, but I don't have my own tractor yet. I won't get one until I get done with training. I sure wish I could borrow one for a couple of days. I think bob-tailing around town for 6 or 8 hours with very little pressure would be a huge help.

 

I've thought about trying this, but it just seems like it would confuse me even further. On top of everything else, I don't want to have to think about how to brake.

 

I was taught this too, and have started trying to use MPH as my indicator when downshifting. So far, it seems like it's easiest if I'm about 5 MPH or more under these targeted speeds.
I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but it seems like the slower I'm going the fewer RPM's I need to roll back in. I was taught that the shift points were 1,100 and 1,500. But for instance if I try to grab 7th at 20 MPH, it'll drop in just fine at about 1,000 RPM.

 

A newbie perspective.
I started my driving career about 8 weeks ago and drove a tractor for the first time. Since then I've learned what others here have said and it works for me.
First give yourself more time to slow down so you don't feel panicked. My brother told me if you feel panicked, your not giving yourself enough time.
Second float the gears, i tried to double clutch with no luck, i may figure it out later but I don't see a need for it. I only use the clutch when stopped.
I've also picked up using my left foot on the brake, but I mainly use the heel toe method on the brake and throttle.
Good luck and like others have said, try not to think about it to much.

 

IMHO, if you're "left foot braking" in a shifting situation (or not for that matter), you are doing something grossly wrong. Same thing in a car with an automatic, left foot braking is heavily frowned upon by any respectable driving instructor.