Downshifting Before A Turn...

[Hawkjr]

I'm with a company now and i still have a little problem with downshifting before i make a turn.. To be more specific right before i might the turn i lose a gear and i end up coasting through the turn and i have to find the gear when i get on to the street i just turned on!! and i've had this probably all through school and somedays i would have it on down pack and some days that problem would come to hunt me!!!

if i skipped from 10th to 8th then to 6th would that help?? also i'll add that the truck stays mostly empty? not alot of weight!!

[Drew10]

I suspecting its just an issue of multitasking. You say its before a turn. Setting the truck up for the turn is taking alot of attention and your shifting is not yet perfected.
You are not going through anything any other drivers hasnt gone through. Practice and time will "perfect" the multitasking.
I dont necessarily recommend you "skip" gears as you downshift...yet. Progressive shifting is what you should stick with until you have mastered shifting.
Try and be in the gear you will need for the turn before you start to setup the turn. This will probably be different for each turn and will also be different depending on how much weight you have in the trailer

[GMAN]

I agree with Drew. You just need more practice. Keep working with it and you will get it down. Perhaps you are not starting your downshifting early enough.

[Orangetxguy]

I'm with a company now and i still have a little problem with downshifting before i make a turn.. To be more specific right before i might the turn i lose a gear and i end up coasting through the turn and i have to find the gear when i get on to the street i just turned on!! and i've had this probably all through school and somedays i would have it on down pack and some days that problem would come to hunt me!!!

if i skipped from 10th to 8th then to 6th would that help?? also i'll add that the truck stays mostly empty? not alot of weight!!

Now..I have pulled tanks exclusively since 1987..so I don't have a lot of cornering experience with vans and flatbeds...some but not much.

If your still in 6th gear when your turning a corner, on a city street...it would seem to me that you are traveling way to fast, period. Seems to me that you need to be crawling around that corner in 2nd or 3rd, allowing for a safety margin for pedestrians and wayward 4-wheelers.

If I am in 3rd when I turn a corner, I'm usually feeling uncomfortable.

[Roadhog]

For however long you drive, I think you still have to check yourself up, and focus on what you are doing. I'll loose a gear, but it's not scary for me, as I know my "go to" gears.

I also sometimes get amped up, and need to settle myself down. Whenever I am relaxed and allowing the transmission to do the work, I'm shifting more often, and cleaner, and as mentioned, putting the truck in the right range ahead of time. When I get in too big of a hurry, I'll have to consciously hunt for the right rpm per gear. When I settle down, it seems to work naturally.

Every time I find myself out of sync with the truck...I'm not relaxed.

[Rawlco]

When I had that problem I was not using the brakes enough. You realy need to be slowing down using the brakes enough so it slips into the lower gear.

Next time you are upshifting remember where your tachometer reads. I am guessing that at 15 mph you are maxing out the rpm's in 4th gear and beginning to shift to 5th. So you need to turn that around to downshift. To downshift from 5th to 4th you need to use the brakes to slow down to under 15 mph before downshifting.

I take turns in 3rd gear loaded, and usually 4th when empty. That's 10 mph for 3rd and 15 mph for 4th.

It could also be that you think you are running out of time. You get to concentrating on the corner and you realize you should have slowed down earlier, but now you are too nervous to shift right. Just get in the habit of going slower than you think you need to be for at least one truck length before the turn. If you hold up traffic for an extra 5 seconds they won't get any more pissed off than they already are.

[Kranky]

Practice braking & downshifting simultaneously by putting your right foot half on the brake & half on the throttle.

Using this method you can brake and also raise your RPMs for a downshift in one smooth flowing motion (once you get the hang of it).

No clutch required, just slide the stick into the next lower gear as you brake & adjust the RPMs to match the road speed.

It can be done so smoothly it'll sound just like an automatic downshifting, none of that "stab & grab" nonsense.

[Mackman]

Practice braking & downshifting simultaneously by putting your right foot half on the brake & half on the throttle.

Using this method you can brake and also raise your RPMs for a downshift in one smooth flowing motion (once you get the hang of it).

No clutch required, just slide the stick into the next lower gear as you brake & adjust the RPMs to match the road speed.

It can be done so smoothly it'll sound just like an automatic downshifting, none of that "stab & grab" nonsense.

An oldtimer told me that. It works great. I put the fronet of my foot on the brake and us my heel for the gas.

[heavyhaulerss]

An oldtimer told me that. It works great. I put the fronet of my foot on the brake and us my heel for the gas.

DITTO.

[GTR SILVER]

what if the speedometer is broke...????

[bigtimba]

OTG nailed it . . you're going too fast into the turn. The best way to learn is to go too slow, then build your skills with experience.

[Soladad]

I agree with Drew and Gman. It is all in the multitasking that is going on and practice. I remember the first time it all came together and I made a corner and did it in the right gear and was able to shift after making the corner. It was like a former teacher at my CDL school use to say "There ain't nothing to this truck driving!" Start your downshifting way before the corner. I practiced my down shifting sometimes a gear at a time or 2 gears at a time till I could set up at the right speed and gear for the corner. Don't ever be in a hurry to make a corner. All those cars will just have to wait their turn. You are responsible for making a proper turn. They will get over it. Let us know when that moment where it all comes together for you.

Soladad

[heavyhaulerss]

what if the speedometer is broke...????
_________________

if it is broke then you would have more problems cause the engine would not be able to run up the r.p.m's all the way, & would have a miss in the motor at higher r.p.m's.

[Copperhead]

When I was finishing out students after getting them from the truck schools, I would always get them to think about the downshifting before the turn concept that the schools teach them.

First, as you are shifting normally all day long, look at the speed range of each gear and burn it into your brain along with the corresponding RPM's during the speed range in each gear. After a while, you can just look at your roadspeed, know the gear to select, and determine the rpm's to select the gear and get the downshift done.

That being said.... I also taught them to forget the whole downshift crap until they are at the speed for the corner. Instead of them playing with pedals and searching for gears, I would rather they concentrate on braking for the corner and keeping their foot on the brake and just depress the clutch when the rpms get too low. In the event something causes a major braking situation, if you are playing with gears you probably will not get stopped in time as you would if you are concentrating only on the braking and getting your speed down.

After you get down to the speed you need to be at for the corner, take a quick look at the speedometer, choose the right gear, and execute the corner. Very same principle as slowing for a red light, it changes to green, and then you select the proper gear to continue on. The K.I.S.S. principle worked well here. Don't make unecessary work for yourself so you are concentrating on the task at hand.... slowing for the corner! And then if that kid runs out in front of you or the car in front all of a sudden locks up its brakes, you will be able to stop cleanly and trim that reaction time down since you are only concentrating on braking and slowing instead of grabbing gears.

You just never know what the crazy traffic is going to do, so if you keep that foot covering the brake while slowing for a corner instead of constantly moving your feet around (or trying to manipulate two pedals with one foot at the same time) finding and getting gears all the way down, you will probably avoid that accident. It's worked for me over 2 decades without a vehicle accident pulling tanks, flats, vans, doubles, triples, and six solid years driving in Alaska. I had always used this procedure and the concept was confirmed to me when I worked with a safety director that trained the Missouri state DOT personel and had a hand in getting the PTDIA started up in the early 90's

Some things the schools teach are fine for academic purposes, but not always the best method in the real world.

[GTR SILVER]

what if the speedometer is broke...????
_________________

if it is broke then you would have more problems cause the engine would not be able to run up the r.p.m's all the way, & would have a miss in the motor at higher r.p.m's.

i dont' get it......if your speedometer cable is broke......your saying that the engine
would have a "miss" in the motor...??? :? :? :shock: :shock:

[Kranky]

what if the speedometer is broke...????
_________________

if it is broke then you would have more problems cause the engine would not be able to run up the r.p.m's all the way, & would have a miss in the motor at higher r.p.m's.

i dont' get it......if your speedometer cable is broke......your saying that the engine
would have a "miss" in the motor...??? :? :? :shock: :shock:

An older truck with a mechanically governed engine and a cable driven speedometer would suffer no ill effects from an inoperative speedometer.

On newer trucks with electronic engines, if the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) is not sending a vehicle speed signal, the speedometer won't work, and the ECM will not receive a vehicle speed signal either.

When the ECM does not receieve a signal from the VSS, it will not allow the engine to operate at full power. Kind of a "wake up call" that it needs to be fixed.

[GTR SILVER]

what if the speedometer is broke...????
_________________

if it is broke then you would have more problems cause the engine would not be able to run up the r.p.m's all the way, & would have a miss in the motor at higher r.p.m's.

i dont' get it......if your speedometer cable is broke......your saying that the engine
would have a "miss" in the motor...??? :? :? :shock: :shock:

An older truck with a mechanically governed engine and a cable driven speedometer would suffer no ill effects from an inoperative speedometer.

On newer trucks with electronic engines, if the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) is not sending a vehicle speed signal, the speedometer won't work, and the ECM will not receive a vehicle speed signal either.

When the ECM does not receieve a signal from the VSS, it will not allow the engine to operate at full power. Kind of a "wake up call" that it needs to be fixed.

thanks for clearing that up.................!!!!!!!!!!!! :wink: :wink: 8)

the truck in question is a '94 mack...so no worrys...i guess.......... 8)

[Kranky]

what if the speedometer is broke...????
_________________

if it is broke then you would have more problems cause the engine would not be able to run up the r.p.m's all the way, & would have a miss in the motor at higher r.p.m's.

i dont' get it......if your speedometer cable is broke......your saying that the engine
would have a "miss" in the motor...??? :? :? :shock: :shock:

An older truck with a mechanically governed engine and a cable driven speedometer would suffer no ill effects from an inoperative speedometer.

On newer trucks with electronic engines, if the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) is not sending a vehicle speed signal, the speedometer won't work, and the ECM will not receive a vehicle speed signal either.

When the ECM does not receieve a signal from the VSS, it will not allow the engine to operate at full power. Kind of a "wake up call" that it needs to be fixed.

thanks for clearing that up.................!!!!!!!!!!!! :wink: :wink: 8)

the truck in question is a '94 mack...so no worrys...i guess.......... 8)

In 1994 some Macks were electronic, and some were still mechanical.

An easy way to tell without even raising the hood is this:

If it has cruise control, it's electronic.

If it has the "engine stop control" that you pull out to stop the engine, then it's mechanical.