Can't float gears..don't worry...use the clutch
 

I've just started driving a different truck with a 9LL tranny. For the last few weeks I've tried shifting without the clutch but I'm not getting any better at it. Guess I'm used to the 10 speed in a more powerful truck and I just can't get into the groove for this truck..the power band is from 1300 to 2000 rpm. Last few days I've started using the clutch for every shift and have become comfortable with it.

Moral of this story...just because you see pros floating the gears...do whatever works for you (and doesn't break equipment)

well eddie as of jan 07 meritor will cease making manual transmissions
and begin to produce only their freedom line leaving this manual market all to eaton fuller. i wonder when they will follow suit and begin producing only autoshifts.

Oh god, never I hope.

Meritor can take their freedomline and stick it up their *ss as far as I'm concerned.

I second that-TERRIBLE

i know the regular meritor are poj but never drove a current freedomline version whats wrong with them?

I could float gears in my roehl truck that had an eaton fuller tranny but no way in he|| in this crete truck which has a meritor... :?:

if you can float an Eaton fuller you can float a meritor
only problem with meritors is that meritors are cheap pieces of crap.
so improper floating will take its toll on a meritor even faster.
they were cheap so carriers put em in. as of Jan if you want a full manual you will have to order an Eaton fuller.
its only a matter of time before Eaton follows suit.
i read somewhere European drivers swear by their zf freedom trannys and referred to Eaton fullers as death boxes.

wierd, im european, and I get pissed at my super10 for shifting when it wants to :lol:

europeans drive cabovers, they can`t be the sharpest tools in the shed.



but if this is all true I better start scrounging for more 18 speeds and spare parts to fill the shop

I don't think anyone here will live to see the day there are no manual transmissions. Meritor will quit making them, but meritors are pieces of sh*t anyway. Eaton Fuller has a market share and will always make them as long as there are buyers. There is also another company that everyone forgets about.http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English/home/home.asp They still build the Spicer line of transmissions - even the auxiliaries.

I thnk it will be a matter of time that the manual tranny will be something that you order, just like in your car. I think it will get to the point that all that companies will be ordering are the auto shifts. From what I understand is that even my company is looking at the autos now and that we are only get 3 manuals with our next line of trucks and that is because they are ready for the trucks and they took what they could get. Now right now that is just a rumor but a couple of people in the higher ups have kind of confirmed it to me.

I think that companies will be switching because someone told them that autos are safer, and give better performance (i.e. smoother shifting, less driveline shock, and better fuel mileage.) So I think it will be a matter of time that manauls will be fewer and father between.

Guys i guess i am new at trucking but after driving 4 months with manuals 13
sp for most of it and then 15 and 18 for about a month i got myself a ZF freedomline auto 12 speed i tell ya it is the best thing since sliced bread....
i just love it ........and yes future is gearing towards autos.

The autoshifts are going to be one the worst things to happen to the industry. They are making it that much easier to put any idiot off the street into a truck and call him a truck driver. Personally, I think we ought to go back to 5x4s, it separates the men from the boys.

["Overloaded" said: ]The autoshifts are going to be one the worst things to happen to the industry. They are making it that much easier to put any idiot off the street into a truck and call him a truck driver. Personally, I think we ought to go back to 5x4s, it separates the men from the boys.





The companies are already putting anyone they can in the trucks. More power to them for putting automatics in. At least the driver won't have to hunt for gears and can keep both hands on the wheel when driving.

I drove for a company part time that was ordering meritor 12 spds as they replaced older trucks. I started out in 1975, so I am an old school type of guy, but I was tickled to death each time I got to use one of the autos.

The company I drive for now tested a new truck for a week with the Eaton auto. I drove it every day for six days, on narrow two lane roads, busy city interstates, and very hilly crooked roads. Just about any type of road you could think of, I was on it pulling a tank.

I loved the transmission. If you understand it, and use the manual shift mode, they will do most anything a standard will do.

The plus was at the end of the day. I felt refreshed instead of worn out from the hundreds of gears I change a day because of hills and the starting and stopping I usually do.

I do like the Meritor better, as it will skip shift, you can progressive shift better with it, and you have closer gear ratios.

If an automatic will keep a driver fresher and less distracted, meaning safer, then I say go for it.

In coast to coast operations the manual will still be king, but in city and mountain driving autos are worth their weight in gold.