[Double R]

...............trucks

Anyone who drives them, give me the pros and cons.

So far one pro I see is city delivers(which we do all day).

[Malaki86]

I've been in an autoshift for the past 3 years, except for a few months. Both of the auto's I've been in are older trucks (a 2002 Volvo and a 2005 Freightliner). They're MUCH easier to drive - they take away the constant need to pay attention to the RPM's/gear. It makes it a lot better in the hills and backroads, which we drive quite a bit.

On the interstate, I'll get up to top speed, set the cruise and let the truck do it's thing. When I come to a pull, the truck downshifts itself as needed with the cruise control maintaining the power. Once I top the hill, I'll let it start upshifting on it's own. If it's a steep downgrade, I'll kick it into manual mode in 9th gear and kick off the cruise. Hit the bottom of the grade, switch back to auto and hit Resume.

The trucks also get a bit better fuel mileage. The Volvo averaged 6.5mpg, and that's with pulling 45k loads on a daily basis across Maryland and West Virginia.

I've had a total of 3 problems with the autoshift in a total of 6 years. The first time the clutch went out. The second was the X-Y shifter (that's the part that actually changes the gears). The last was the output shaft speed sensor - with that out, the computer has no idea what the truck is doing. Other than that, not a single hiccup.

In traffic, they're great. I prefer the auto's with the clutch pedal as they give more control in the winter. If you start sliding, you can hit the clutch to let it freewheel. The clutchless don't have this luxury.

Before anyone starts bashing me, yes - I can drive a stick. I can jump in a truck with a straight 10, super 10, 13, 15 or 18 speed and be going down the road in minutes. I just prefer the auto's - work smarter, not harder.

[Jackrabbit379]

I've actually driven one. We have one. It's a day cab Pro Star. I didn't like it myself. I didn't know what to do when I came up to a stop light. I was reaching for the stick. :hellno:
I have to say that it was kinda neat. Never had to take it off cruise. It did all the shifting by itself.
Do yall remember Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies movie when he drove Mr Drysdale's Rolls Royce? That was me in that automatic Pro Star.

[Malaki86]

I haven't driven anything newer than an '05 autoshift, but from what I've heard, some of the new ones don't have "set" shift points. The computer will adjust the shift points according to the grade, the weight of the load and just how hard you're hitting the throttle. The will even skip gears when running empty or botail.

[Jumbo]

Almost all of our trucks are autoshifts, except the quad axles. This is the first auto I have ever had in 17 years of driving and I love it. I had one x-y shifter problem and that was fixed quickly under warranty.

[golfhobo]

Bunch of friggin' WUSSES! :lol2:

EVERY post on this thread included at least ONE "drawback" to the autoshift, but said.... I can "overlook it" or "get around it." :roll:

How about driving a REAL truck with a transmission that requires YOU to do the work and "be responsibile?"

"I" don't have to make excuses for my truck! I am in control of the shifting. If there is a problem.... it is with ME!

I've driven a couple of autoshifts. The first one left me stranded in an intersection with traffic bearing down on me, while I WAITED for it to figure out what gear it should be in, and to MOVE! "I" could have done so in HALF the time! :hellno:

I dug an Averitt driver out of a snowbank today. HE had "autoshift" and said it was CRAP! He spoke with a "wistfull" voice about the OLD days when he was a REAL "truck driver!"

I have absolutely NO IDEA what an "autoshift" would have allowed me to do last night when I had to BURN my way up a hill, at times relaxing to a higher gear and lower torque.... and then, when needed, downshifting and burning rubber into the pavement to gain traction. All I know is that I didn't spend the night stuck in a snowbank for lack of OPPORTUNITY!

[Malaki86]

Autoshifts have a manual mode that you can use for situations like that. I've had to burn my way up hills exactly the way you described.

[Kranky]

I don't like automatics.

They're against my religion.

.

[GMAN]

If you drive in heavy stop and go traffic on a regular basis an auto shift can be nice. I don't like the way they shift on mountains. I put about 77,000 on a new Volvo that had an auto shift some years ago. I felt that it waited too long to down shift going up mountains and you had to manually down shift going down steep grades or you would be in trouble. If the transmission fails it is much more expensive to repair than a manual.

[Malaki86]

The Columbia I'm in now could definitely benefit by having the shift points changed just a tad. Even if they changed the lower-end of the RPM range by 50 RPM, it would make a huge difference. But, my shop doesn't have the required software to adjust the transmission computer. The shop foreman said the software alone was over $5,000 just to get into it. They can also purchase additional shift profiles, but they, too, are extremely expensive.

When I feel that the truck should shift (but isn't on it's own), I flip to manual mode and do it myself. In manual mode, the RPM range opens up quite a bit. In full auto, it downshifts @ 1200RPM. In manual mode, I can downshift all the way up to 1600RPM. The only time it won't downshift in manual mode is if the RPM would be over 2000RPM in the gear you're trying to go to.

Also, even if the autoshift is in manual or low mode, if the RPM's get so high that it could cause engine problems, they WILL upshift on their own to save the engine/transmission.

Mechanically, an autoshift transmission is the same as a manual. The only difference added to an autoshift (with a clutch pedal) is the X-Y shifter is added to the top of the transmission in place of the manual shift lever and the computer is added. Other than that, they're mechanically identical.