13 speed?
 

Well, it looks like i may have a new driving job with a small mom n pop type outfit, and the man told me all their rigs are Pete's and KW's, 13 speeds.

At first, i was like " Damn..I'm screwed"

But thanks to Eskimo-Sean's youtube videos, I now know that a 13 really isn't a big task to over come, at least up shifting anyway.From what I gather, you shift up to 8th i think? from 7th up, is where you split so you'd have 7, 7.5,8,8.5,9,9.5 and then 10th basically?

I assume you'd float this the same as i would a regular 10, only letting off the go pedal to split, then the actual gear change.

But what about down shifting? Do you split them going down or just up?

You can split downshifting as well as upshifting.
Doing line haul, you really won't find the need too often for the splitter.

The 13 speed is based off a 9 speed that you can split the top gears on. (5 low range and 4 high range)
An 18 speed is a 9 speed you split both the low and high side.

It's not necessary to split gears, if you are on flat ground, or pulling empty or a light load.
The shift pattern is close together, which makes this tranny easy to get use to.
As you get use to your tranny, some guys will float 60-80% of the gears, and do what's called skip shifting.
I skip shift, but rarely float. Main thing is, you want to shift smoothly, and you will want to grab gears as little as possible.
By that I mean, a good driver anticipates what is ahead and what is needed, and makes his decisions as conditions dictate,
whether that be weather, steep grades, traffic, how much you are hauling, etc.
Example; I'll speed up to tackle a hill, if no traffic is impeding me, in order to not have to downshift.

Here is an eaton fuller site, watch the movies on the rightside margin. (helpful advice)
Super 13

So basically, it is a 10 speed? So i can drive and shift just as i would with a regular ole 10? only splitting when needed?

Thanks for the link.

no.. its a 9 speed. insted of going back to low go stright to 6th when you split to the top half.

ah okay. forgive me i'm still trying to figure this out.

I got a 13speed. In my Mack. All i ever drove was 8LLs and 10 speeds. I remeber when i took my truck on a road test before i bought it. I didnt want to use the spliter and look like an azzhole with the salesmen in the truck with me. I was driving it like a straight 9 or 10speed. The salesmen said, you know this si a 13speed right. LOL After about 3 days in it by myself. I was spilting it like crazy. upshifting, downshift. Its a walk in the park. If i ever by another truck it will for sure have a 13 or 18 in it.

13 speeds are a great transmission. You will have it figured out in no time. Just remember that you have 5 gears on the bottom side, and 8 on the top side. Usually you can just shift it like you would a 9 speed if that's what you prefer. :smokin:

I started out with a 13 speed 4 yrs ago in a manure spreader. Since I bought 1995 freightliner with super 10 and my current truck is 2004 Freightliner with straight 10 speed. I wish it was a 13 for sure! Anybody need a driving job? BTW, I have position open towing skateboard in midwest, .30-.35 cmp, loaded or empty, depends on experience.

Hey Pork chop, Were you in Connecticut Thursday night? I heard a guy on the radio saying that he just got into a 13 speed for the first time.

hire me hire me lol