[COLT]

Listen to the truck, do what the truck wants, This is how to drive, do what the truck wants... USE THE FORCE LUKE :lol: If you want to learn, listen to the truck... If you can "feel" the truck... Now your a driver... Anyone can be taught to drive a truck, But to be a "truck driver" you must "drive" the truck. Your the boss.

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by Douglas

So you're not supposed to let off the clutch as you apply the accelerator? :?:

Fozzy wrote:

"e clutch use is totally different and the things that can screw you up (going too deep in the clutch, single clutching, starting off while applying accelerator)"

Not in a truck (with an ECM of course). The ECM will provide enough power to keep the engine running while you come off the clutch. Even on very steep grades you need only worry about releasing the clutch and getting the truck moving, once it is moving, you can start to shift using the accelerator.

[JoeyB]

Originally Posted by COLT

If you can "feel" the truck... Now your a driver... Anyone can be taught to drive a truck, But to be a "truck driver" you must "drive" the truck. Your the boss.

I think it's important to have an understanding of why you need to double clutch and what double clutching actually does. You'll have far less trouble doing something if you actually understand what it is you need to accomplish.

The out-loud thing really helps some guys. If I had a student that was struggling, I would have him use "in-out-in-out", spoken at normal cadence; that was usually just about the right rhythm and it really did the trick for some guys. By the way, do you know how I learned about that little teaching aid? From a student!

Colt is right about feeling the truck. But he is in error when he says feeling the truck makes you a "truck driver". Feeling the truck makes you a "trucker". That's 2 notches above "truck driver". Unfortunately, it's very often the same pay grade...

[golfhobo]

Douglas: I know you don't want to hear this but, I disagree with what you've read. I think knowing how to shift an automobile HELPS. But, that does NOT mean you can't LEARN to double clutch.

I don't mean to be harsh (only honest,) but if you can't "hear" the transmission in your vehicle, and are having trouble clutching that, you will have trouble with a truck. However... if you LEARN the matching RPM's and ROAD speeds, you may overcome your problem.

Listen carefully to what Fozzy said. TAP is the key word. If your left knee straightens out, and your butt comes off the seat.... you are going too DEEP on the clutch and invoking the clutch BRAKE.

When you are "under power," either accelerating UP the gears, or decelerating DOWN the gears... the tranny is under a strain. Think how much weight you are pulling/controlling. The key is to RELIEVE this strain on the tranny.

The fact that many of us "float" the gears, is a testament to the fact that the gears will slip easily IF the tranny is "floating." It is RPM's that will float the tranny!

Many newbies try to EASE out onto the road, afraid to GO ANYWHERE. This causes a "leveling out" of RPM's in whatever gear you are in, and then the weight takes over... either UP or DOWN a grade. The tranny is then either PULLING or BRAKING the load.

The trick is SIMPLE. Going UP the gears.... accelerate quickly and decisively! REV the engine up high so that when you TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF THE FUEL , you have PROPELLED the weight of the truck forward with the RPM's climbing. AT THAT SAME MOMENT, you TAP the clutch, and the tranny "releases" your stick shift!

Now, before the RPM's get below about 1300, you TAP the clutch again WHILE "slipping" the shifter into the next gear. It WILL NOT go in if you let the RPM's get too low.... but reving the engine usually gets them TOO HIGH. [You cannot "speed shift" a truck like you can a car.]

Know where you are going with the shifter, then TAP, click, TAP, click. This should NOT take you a "lunch hour" to do. Your foot does NOT go back on the accelerator until you are IN GEAR.

Downshifting, you let off the fuel (which puts the tranny in a bind but slows the truck which is necessary) then TAP, click and you're in neutral and free floating. Now.... quickly OR slowly bring the RPM's back up to their TOP end (which is usually around 2000 RPM's) and then TAP, click into the next lower gear.

The faster you are going (higher gears) the higher the RPM required to downshift. If you are going slow (say in traffic) and downshifting in the LOWER range, you may only need about 1000 to 1500 RPM's.

It all comes back to "listening" to the truck and giving it what it needs. Baby it at lower speeds and tell it what you want at higher speeds.

Now one more thought in the equation. 80k pounds at 70 mph, has INERTIA! It will stay where you put it more or less. But, the same weight at 20 mph, will drag your truck to a halt in a heartbeat! THAT is why you cannot "baby" your way out of a parking lot, or away from a stoplight! You've got to get that weight moving and KEEP it there to take the weight/strain off the tranny. However, if you're "cruising" through a truckstop parking lot at 35 mph, the weight is allready MOVING, and you can "baby" your way into a lower or higher gear.

So... the "song" to the "dance" is: RRRRUUUUMMMMM! tap, click, tap, click......... RRRUUUUMMMMM! tap, click, tap, click! .........

If the TRUCK is singing... HHHMMMMUUUUURRRRR!! you are "overtached" and in a bind!! You need to reduce your road speed to take the weight/strain off the tranny.

I don't know if any of that made sense.... but it is how I teach my trainees. Think of a roller coaster, or your car at the top of a hill... At the apex, the cars are "floating." That is where you need to get your truck/tranny to make the shift go smoothly!

Hobo

[syl77dar]

ty

[golfhobo]

Originally Posted by syl77dar

ty hobo that is great to know how long have you been driving? and how long training?

Been driving since I was 15! :lol: Oh.... you mean a TRUCk?? :shock:

I'm very new to this myself. I've only been driving for about 14 months. Been training since this last summer.

Not great "credentials" I KNOW! But... I'm one of those who was "born" driving. REALLY!! I'm not ashamed to say it... but I KNOW that many would say one can't be BORN to drive. Not true. I apologize if some might think I'm a bit brash.

I first drove a 3 speed on the column at about 11 yrs. I got my permit and learned to "drive" on the L.A. freeways. I never had anyone 'teach' me to drive a stick shift... I just knew how it worked. (I've owned several myself, and drove the HECK out of the Colorado mountains in them!) [and feel this was GREAT practice for my new profession!]

I drove a SEMI one time when I was in the service, with NO experience in one, into downtown D.C. and backed down an alley and into a dock with only one pull-up.... because I wasn't "afraid" to do it.

When I started with my company, I had 3 trainers in 4 weeks. I "out-backed" the first one, "out-logged" the second one, and "out-shifted" the third one (in their OWN words.)

I KNOW it's not the same for everyone... and I am trying NOT to sound bragadocious! But, this stuff comes EASY to me. In my first 4 weeks, I "whittled" that 53' trailer and rig down from a truck to a station wagon to a family car to a sports car! (In my mind.) I ALWAYS know where the back of my trailer is... without looking. I can just "feel it."

Please don't think I'm a "jerk" just because I'm talented. I've ALSO trained scores of people in several different occupations. I think I have a talent for "understanding" what the "hangups" are... and explaining things in a way that someone else will understand.

I LOVE trucking... and I only HOPE that I can be of some HELP to others!

I've been a bit hard on "wimps" in here before. I apologize... but not really! This job is NOT for the TIMID! ANYONE can be a "steeringwheelholder."

IMHO.... 80% of this job is ATTITUDE and CONFIDENCE. If you don't HAVE it... you need to GET it! If you can't GET it... you don't need to be driving a truck. Period.

And you NEED that confidence WHEN YOU ARE IN SCHOOL! If you don't BELIEVE you can drive this truck.... you just probably CAN'T.

This is NOT rocket science! You look in the mirror and ask the guy/girl... do YOU drive the truck? Or does the truck drive YOU???

I am honored by your last post. You must have thought I was an "old salt." Sorry, if I've disappointed you. I hope what I said REALLY helped you. There are MANY on here with WAY more years of driving than I. But... I hope what I say can be usefull to some newbie [LIKE MYSELF!] who is trying to make a "go" of this new career.

Hobo

[thebaldeagle655]

Originally Posted by golfhobo

Been driving since I was 15! :lol:

Hobo

The first time I was ever stopped I was 13, driving a 68 KW crossing the desert in Arizona. By the time I got it pulled over and to the side my dad was out of the sleeper and sitting in the driver's seat and I was in the sleeper. The cop's 1st question was "is there anyone else in the truck with you?" Couldn't prove anything so let us go with a stern warning.

[golfhobo]

Originally Posted by thebaldeagle655

The first time I was ever stopped I was 13, driving a 68 KW crossing the desert in Arizona. By the time I got it pulled over and to the side my dad was out of the sleeper and sitting in the driver's seat and I was in the sleeper. The cop's 1st question was "is there anyone else in the truck with you?" Couldn't prove anything so let us go with a stern warning.

:shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well.... ya GOT me there, Baldy! I never had the opportunity to drive a big rig that young! But... you help make my point!

Driving is driving! Many of "us" learned to drive rigs on the farm at an early age. (I didn't.) But.... I've always felt that if it had wheels and an engine, I COULD DRIVE IT!

Did your dad PAY you for "using your logbook?" :lol: :lol: