Why 10 speed transmissions?!

Is this a driver question or mechanic question?

 

Entirely agree! I believe its weight and cost that keeps large fleets away.

 

down in that low of a gear 5-6th shift shouldent make a difference if it was a 9 speed 10 or 13. now if you said the same thing about shifting to 10th to only have to drop right back to 9th id agree with you.

as far as why have a 10 speed. there easier for rookies to learn to drive and a little harder to break. a 10 speed will get the job done although a 13 is much nicer a 10 still gets the job done just fine iv done over 100k with a 10 speed. ill take a 13 or a 18 over a 10 any day but 10s get the job done.

i accualy prefer a 9 over a 10 as you get a lower 1st gear. on a 10 speed every gear is too low except for first..lol

 

How the 10 works is also dependent on rear ratios. Those spreads between gears can really start to be problematic when the rear end ratios get taller and taller with the current climate that has folks wanting to run engines lower and lower rpm. With the ratios we were all familiar with in the past like 3.55, 3.73, 3.90, etc, the 10 was not that big of a deal. Typical company trucks were not spec'd with high torque numbers and the 10 was pretty bullet proof. But the equation has changed. With the OEM's wanting engines to cruise at 1200 rpm, the old spec's don't work as well.

I drove 9 speeds in several class 8 trucks earlier in my driving career and never really saw any real negative to them. A few 10's thrown in and was basically the same thing. The only time I ran into a situation that I thought the 10 wouldn't cut it anymore, was when the carrier decided to spec 3.42 instead of 3.55. And once the rear ratios started getting taller, the 10 started becoming less effective.

 

Things like this happen when the guy who spec's the truck isn't the guy who drives the truck.

 

10? Many big fleets still have 7 speeds. A 7 speed is pretty much bullet proof, so when you hire low paid drivers that don't respect equipment, they last a long time. I worked at an LTL fleet for 9 years, our shop serviced over 600 trucks and I can remember only two 7 speed transmission failures. Only 7 or 8 of those trucks had 10 speeds and I recall at least 3 transmission failures. They got in 13 speed trucks in 2007-2008 and the transmission failures were over 5 times more than the 7 speeds. They were only 350-425 hp engines too.

Now I work for a company that hires good drivers and they don't slip seat. We have 13-18 speeds with 475-550 hp engines and we have very few transmission problems. Drivers make all the difference.

 

not sure, i would not drive these things if they offered me a small farm in texas.
not a driver , am still a pretty fair wrench, for fleet-work but getting to old for all this fun! see ya gray/c

 

Actually a 10 in first is a lower ratio than a 9 in low. 9s have a low ratio of 12.32 while a 10 is 12.69 up to 1650 torque. The 1750s and 1850s are 12.94. A 10 is also lower in first than a 13 in low. The 13s low is 12.31.