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The Dying Art of Driving a Stick Shift

seabreeze said:
Sorry I didn't tell you guys.
I lost my 94 yr, old aunt, been in Charl a few days
I don't like using a cell phone, lazy I guess.
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Im sorry to learn this.

Losing people are pretty tough.

Im steeling myself for whats coming should one of my relatives finally pass at mid 90's He was instrumental in my life as I have it these last 50 plus years. Got a update with photo on him and frankly the staff should just stop with pushing therapies that will only annoy him. Hes tired. A certain type of tired towards end of life when the body just has had enough.
 
My very time first in a semi was a Fuller-Eaton 13 speed Roadranger.
Running the flatlands in the USA is too much transmission. Run the hills or mountains? You will wish you had one. Pulling a steep grade loaded to the max makes it much easier to split each gear. Empty, I never split the gear, just skip shifted. I literally learned how to shift a semi with this 13 speed transmission. But I hear it weighs 400 lbs more than a 10 speed. von.
 
vongrimmenstein said:
My very time first in a semi was a Fuller-Eaton 13 speed Roadranger.
Running the flatlands in the USA is too much transmission. Run the hills or mountains? You will wish you had one. Pulling a steep grade loaded to the max makes it much easier to split each gear. Empty, I never split the gear, just skip shifted. I literally learned how to shift a semi with this 13 speed transmission. But I hear it weighs 400 lbs more than a 10 speed. von.
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Many years ago I worked with an Eaton factory rep when he made visits to the shop. He said the 13 would not hold up with high torque engines. The only 13 speeds ABF had was in tractors that came with companies we bought. (Navajo had several). He encouraged customers to buy 10 speeds. 13 speeds are now outdated. There was a shift, (No pun intended), from 10 speeds to 9 speeds & 7 speeds. Pre electronic fuel systems were calibrated to run over a broad RPM range that required less shifting & that reduced shock on the drive train. That has all changed with the auto shift transmissions & electronic engines. We are now seeing 12-16 speed auto shifts that keep the engine in the 'Sweet Spot' for better torque & fuel mileage. Engines years ago were set at 2300 RPM's, & were downshifted at 2000 or so. Now 1200 RPM's is cruising speed. The lower RPM's are one of the reasons engines now run over a million miles compared to half that in years gone by.
 
DCM_Doc said:
Many years ago I worked with an Eaton factory rep when he made visits to the shop. He said the 13 would not hold up with high torque engines. The only 13 speeds ABF had was in tractors that came with companies we bought. (Navajo had several). He encouraged customers to buy 10 speeds. 13 speeds are now outdated. There was a shift, (No pun intended), from 10 speeds to 9 speeds & 7 speeds. Pre electronic fuel systems were calibrated to run over a broad RPM range that required less shifting & that reduced shock on the drive train. That has all changed with the auto shift transmissions & electronic engines. We are now seeing 12-16 speed auto shifts that keep the engine in the 'Sweet Spot' for better torque & fuel mileage. Engines years ago were set at 2300 RPM's, & were downshifted at 2000 or so. Now 1200 RPM's is cruising speed. The lower RPM's are one of the reasons engines now run over a million miles compared to half that in years gone by.
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Are you saying today's transmission will shift better on a 7 % grade than a 13 speed when maxed out @ 80,000? von.
 
You do not need a 13 speed running the mid west. But driving the mountians I would hope 9 or 10 speeds could match the performance of the 13. The three sisters in Wyoming come to mind for a big hill. von.
 
vongrimmenstein said:
Are you saying today's transmission will shift better on a 7 % grade than a 13 speed when maxed out @ 80,000? von.
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Yes, & the auto shifts do it smoother. I was a skeptic when auto shifts were being developed years ago. They shift at the precise engine RPM for maximum torque. Being an old gearhead I don't always welcome change. When the truck/engine manufacturers started marketing the auto shifts, tests were done that proved the auto shifts actually accelerated faster from a standing still start than the manual transmissions. I still have difficulty seeing tractors without a clutch pedal.
Clutches last much longer with the auto shifts also. If there is a quota for life time twin disc clutch changes, I have long surpassed that number of notches on my belt.
 
We put 210,000 on one of the brand new autos in about 9 months and a couple weeks. Original Clutch, original brakes and so on. The only things we did to it is reinstall software to the auto trans a few times, a few alternators and new suit of tires all around twice for two winters. The old tires still were good to go on trailers or solo trucks.

WHAT the tractor was planned at 210,000 was to be taken away from us and given to a solo. For a lucky solo its brand new. For us its starting to creak, split and make noises on that fiberglass and plastic from wear and tear. It wont last but half a million before being disposed of.

Easily disposed tractors.

When I started I drove trucks twice as old as I was alive. And you can EASILY wash them off, oil them up, juice em with fresh batteries and they will run another 30 years. Millions? Who the hell knows. The odos quit counting long ago. Original Engines, transmissions etc. Not necessarily original clutches, drive shafts, bearings etc.

Grades? HA. Anything beyond 18% into the 20's was a real test to try and break a engine and tractor trailer. Up and over we go.

If it did break trucks then its ::shit:: product. Not the grades.
 
DCM_Doc said:
Yes, & the auto shifts do it smoother. I was a skeptic when auto shifts were being developed years ago. They shift at the precise engine RPM for maximum torque. Being an old gearhead I don't always welcome change. When the truck/engine manufacturers started marketing the auto shifts, tests were done that proved the auto shifts actually accelerated faster from a standing still start than the manual transmissions. I still have difficulty seeing tractors without a clutch pedal.
Clutches last much longer with the auto shifts also. If there is a quota for life time twin disc clutch changes, I have long surpassed that number of notches on my belt.
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Based on what you say I would as an O & O probably choose auto. If it helps lower repair costs and the all important fuel mileage, auto it is. von.
 
DCM_Doc said:
Yes, & the auto shifts do it smoother. I was a skeptic when auto shifts were being developed years ago. They shift at the precise engine RPM for maximum torque. Being an old gearhead I don't always welcome change. When the truck/engine manufacturers started marketing the auto shifts, tests were done that proved the auto shifts actually accelerated faster from a standing still start than the manual transmissions. I still have difficulty seeing tractors without a clutch pedal.
Clutches last much longer with the auto shifts also. If there is a quota for life time twin disc clutch changes, I have long surpassed that number of notches on my belt.
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I've never driven an auto in a big truck except in 1956 our hydramatics were in the infant stages
For a freight truck on the South end, I don't. think you could beat the 9 spd.
 
vongrimmenstein said:
Based on what you say I would as an O & O probably choose auto. If it helps lower repair costs and the all important fuel mileage, auto it is. von.
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One of the selling points of the auto shifts early on was that companies could hire inexperienced drivers. I have seen a few newbies trying to shift a 10 speed & I cringed when I heard chips being ground off the gears not to mention the rough starts that strained engine mounts & driveline components. So yes, auto shifts probably cost less per mile for many fleets.
 
FFE issued us a virgin auto specifically for the wife who was teamed with me as trainer.

God help us all.

But that auto did good by her it took away much of the learning stress on her part early on and it was sufficiently strong for the mountain work we were doing constantly in all weather. She in due time eventually learned to run the mountains and ice and on with that thing.

Fast foward to another company and they handed us a rockwell 9 I think it was. She would had to learn manual all over again while losing power and speed on 40 near the Cumberland Plateau and messing up two lanes worth of solid 18 wheelers impatiently wanting go now. SO they abused her on the radio.

Such as the industry.

When I posted this particular post, the website became broken. Started trying to reload fast at a rapid rate. I was afraid there was 10,000 reposts filling this thread as a result but am happy to see just the one.
 
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There is a extreme budget in my home. I dont need a case of blatz or whatever to make whoopie.

A few shots of schnapps from across state lines now and then is plenty.
 
I’ve always been able to jump the wife stone cold sober, anytime day or nite. She always seems to need 1/2 bottle of wine or couple whiskey’s first. What’s that all about? Is it me? Naw!
 
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