[Douglas]

I've been told that when you shift without the clutch, you have to "listen" to the engine to tell when to put it into the next gear. What do you 'listen' for?

(They say in the low boy I might be driving, you really don't have time to double-clutch, because if you don't hurry up and shift, it will slow down so that you're either stopped or going to slow to shift into the next gear)

[DaveP]

Originally Posted by Douglas

I've been told that when you shift without the clutch, you have to "listen" to the engine to tell when to put it into the next gear. What do you 'listen' for?

I "listen" for "Hey you, you gonna shift, or what?""

[Rev.Vassago]

The "listen" that they are referring to is the RPM's of the engine.

[ColtsFan]

Originally Posted by DaveP

I "listen" for "Hey you, you gonna shift, or what?""

LOL Must be a new feature on the 07 models. :P

[got mud?]

Originally Posted by Douglas

I've been told that when you shift without the clutch, you have to "listen" to the engine to tell when to put it into the next gear. What do you 'listen' for?

(They say in the low boy I might be driving, you really don't have time to double-clutch, because if you don't hurry up and shift, it will slow down so that you're either stopped or going to slow to shift into the next gear)

if you hear a god awful grinding noise stop trying to put it in gear!

[Aligator]

Douglas, you kind of want the engine to go uuuudn....uuuuuuudn......uuuuuuuuuudn.....uuuuuuuu uuudn....uuuuuuuuuuuudn...and so forth.

That help? :lol:

[Kranky]

I've been told that when you shift without the clutch, you have to "listen" to the engine to tell when to put it into the next gear. What do you 'listen' for?

Like Rev. said, you have to listen to the sound of the engine, to estimate when the RPM's are correct for the gear you are shifting into.

Bottom line: Engine RPM's must match the road speed of the gear you're shifting into.

In other words the engine has to be at the RPM that it would be at if you were already in that gear.

If it isnt at the right RPM, it will not go in gear.

Never try to "jam" the stick in gear if you make a mistake!

Adjust your engine RPM and try it again, it's really very simple, but it's kinda like a 6th sense that you have to develop.

[Gorrillasnot]

you listen for the same sounds or use the same rpm range as you would when double clutching. For instance if the particular truck you'll be driving likes to be double clutched at 1500rpm then it will like to float at that rpm as well.

My personal preference is if I need a quick shift with low risk of missing the gear I'll double clutch. If I'm tooling around town or on the big flat roads I'll float.

good luck

[silvan]

I don't think you have to "listen" to anything to drive either way. You can shift with the tach, pull it out at such and such, and put it in at such and such (with or without the clutch.) You can. I've done that. I can't do it anymore though. I can't double clutch anymore either. I try to do that, and I look like a dumba$$ who can't drive a truck. I do listen, mind you, but that's because I can't shift with a tach anymore, not because I use the clutch.

Shifting without the clutch isn't as hard as it sounds. The trick is to pre-load the stick before you break torque by letting up on the fuel. You're approaching the top RPM for the gear you're in, call it 1200. At the point where you would clutch it out, instead, you pre-load the stick just a little, and when you let up on the juice, it will come right out of gear in the split second of "zero gravity" while the gears are neither being driven by the engine nor the drivetrain. When you're in neutral, you wait for the RPMs to come down to the point where you would clutch it back in, but instead, you just slide it smoothly into the hole, again, at that split second of "zero gravity."

If you miss it, you'll grind the hell out of the gears, which is why you don't just JAM the stick as hard as you can. It's a feel thing, and has a lot to do with timing (and the timing is the hardest thing about switching to a different truck, or changing from loaded to empty to bobtail.) If you miss, you feel a little gear contact (or a horrible grinding if you jammed the stick, idiot!), so you release the pressure, and then tweak the engine back up a trifle to get another "zero gravity" window in which to put the stick in the hole.

If you miss twice, just use the clutch to get back in, but pay attention to your road speed. If you were going from 9th to 10th and you screwed around too long getting into 10th, you might have to fall back into 9th and try again, or vice versa downshifting. (Be careful not to get stuck in Georgia overdrive going down a hill! Best to play with this new trick on easy hills or flat ground.)

This is all a lot harder to explain with words than it is to do. You might get somebody to help you hands on. Then all you have to do is practice a little, and you'll be shifting like a lazy bastard in no time, and can leave your left foot on the dash board like a real supertrucker.

[Douglas]

I didn't realize you shift it using the RPMs just like you would if you were double-clutching. A co-worker had only told me just to listen to the motor, and nothing else.
Maybe I'll be able to drive that bad boy...