Mountain Driving/Inclines And Shifting
Topic 9249 | Page 1
Sorry for the typos. Tired. I'd appreciate any advice.
My advice is to write down everything you experienced with your truck, then hand it in by the service desk. The mechanics will try their best to maintain it to OTR ready.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
If your truck keeps on getting stuck in gears, you may have issues with the synchronizers inside your transmission.
Blake wrote:
If your truck keeps on getting stuck in gears, you may have issues with the synchronizers inside your transmission.
Sorry Blake, that's an unlikely cause of shifting issues in a big truck. Heavy-duty, manual transmissions in class 7-8 trucks (like the ones we drive) are non-synchronized and do not have "cone and collar" synchronizers found in lighter weight vehicles. Proper combination of RPM and speed is what smoothly matches/meshes the gears.
If what you are saying we're true, student drivers would have a much easier time learning how-to shift in school/training because the need for double-clutching at the correct RPM is totally unnecessary with a synchronized transmission.
Dumb question from a total newbie:
If you push the clutch pedal too far and start to get into the brake, will that prevent you from shifting into neutral?
Taxman asked:
Dumb question from a total newbie:
If you push the clutch pedal too far and start to get into the brake, will that prevent you from shifting into neutral?
Not dumb at all.
Pushing the clutch pedal in too far will engage the clutch brake. While the truck is moving, push the clutch in too far, you'll get it out of gear and into neutral, but will have a difficult time selecting the next gear if you again depress the clutch too far.
1-2" max is all you need to push in when double-clutching.
New Reply:
New! Check out our help videos for a better understanding of our forum features
Preview:
Why Join Trucking Truth?
- The High Road Training Program
- The High Road Article Series
- The Friendliest Trucker's Forum Ever!
- Email Updates When New Articles Are Posted
Apply For Paid CDL Training Through TruckingTruth
Did you know you can fill out one quick form here on TruckingTruth and apply to several companies at once for paid CDL training? Seriously! The application only takes one minute. You will speak with recruiters today. There is no obligation whatsoever. Learn more and apply here:
TT On Facebook
Hi,
I'm on my first solo week after training and it's been a case of Murphy's law. I woke up to a flat trailer tire my second day and I blew a trailer tire today (probably because of the heat) and now my load is going to be late and I'm paranoid that I'm going to be in trouble even though i know im not at fault....ok I'm rambling.
That asid, my biggest concern is with my truck. It's a 2012 volvo 9 speed. Saturday was all mountain driving and my truck kept getting stuck in gears. I'd be accelerating a hill in 7th, when the RPM's drop to about 12 I try to clutch to neutral (double clutch) but the dang shifter won't come out of gear. This has been happening today too on small inclines though not as bad as Saturday. The truck overheated at one point going down a hill in 7th while the RPM's dripped and speed dropped. Odd. During the last part of my drive today, I'd be in 7th going up a small incline, but when the incline flattened out, my truck would shake at 1500 rpms and I couldn't shift to 8th.
I know I'm new, but is there possibly something wrong with my truck?
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.