Good God --- I have called automatics "slush boxes" since I learned to drive back in the damn 50's.

Yes I have driven an auto --- one trip of about 1500 miles return while my unit was in the shop and I was happy to get back in a real truck with an 18 speed.

You can call them what ever you wish and you can drive what ever you wish, that is why there is more than one kind of truck, engine, transmission and rear end.

I will stick to my 18 speed thank you.

Gunfighter

Amen!!!!!!:thumbsup:

While we're on this subject, here's a shift pattern diagram for the transmissions we had back when I started out:

http://www.macktrucks.com/dealers/as...ages//8_66.jpg
Once you got used to shifting one of these it was possible to shift it just as smoothly as any automatic.

2 hand shifts were required to keep the engines of that time in the proper RPM range of 1500 to 2100 RPM (yes, you put your left arm through the steering wheel and shifted the compound with your left hand while shifting the main with your right hand, without using the clutch of course).

Sounds very well thought out by the engineers ,as I can't see anything wrong with needing both hands off the wheel to shift ...

I just bought an '01 Freightliner Condo and had my doubts about the auto...but this one has the clutch and I drove it from Greensboro to Roanoke for the company inspection and man I'll tell you....I flat love it.

Opinion is subject to change in the future, but that tranny is slicker than blowing your nose between 2 cubes of ice :)

really have gotten to love my auto, only time i miss it is offroad jobsites and in the winter. but if you use your brake to control wheel spin when the trans engages you can keep your drives from digging in.

Something that cracks me up about people who don't like autoshifts because "they don't have control over the transmission" arguement - when was the last diesel engine built that was purely mechanical? Everything on today's engine is controlled by a computer. The driver can work the throttle all they want, but if the computer decides to set the max rpm to 700, the driver has no choice. If the engine changes the torque curve, the driver has no choice. If the engine changes when/if the turbo wastegate opens, the driver has no choice.