Damn that'd be confusing. I had a hard enough time learning a 10 with a splitter let alone trying to use a splitter AND hi/low. I tried to make the point about preselection before the shift but I don't think I typed it in way that was comprehendable. Cudos Rob.

 

Once drove an olde 5-tonne for a friend that had a feed store once in a while ... It had a 5-speed plus an overdrive plus a 2-speed rearend ... That was confuzzling ...

 

Comprehendable!? I dont care how you type it up that sounds confusing. New respect for people who can do that and do it all day. I thought I had my hands full with my five speed! LOL

 

It's a piece of cake....really. The real trick is down shifting.

 

Very easy if you do it a lot. Especially if you've never driven a manual car and just start with a big rig gear box. And yes, I used to have a hard time figuring out what rpms do downshift with. I couldn't figure out how the guy who was training me tried to explain it. You just have to drive it and have a "feel" for it, I guess.

 

I have the following line in my e-mail .sig file:

The Zen Method of Big Rig: Grasshopper, truck will shift itself if you are one with it.

It takes a little practice, but you CAN get to the point where shifting a multi-range transmission is easy. If you think about it, you'll get confused... If you just DO it, all of a sudden, it becomes easy. Rob is right. The key to making one work seamlessly is to PRESELECT the various **** movements.

Also, in a non-synchronized transmission (usually anything with a splitter), use the clutch ONLY for stopping and starting the vehicle. You need the engine to get the shaft speeds inside matched, and breaking torque with the clutch eliminates that torque input. Use the throttle to "break torque" instead of the clutch. You'll save yourself a GREAT DEAL of headache and frustration, as well as your hand and arm from all the now not-missed shifts.

Don't try to strong-arm the shifts. If everything is working properly, the pressure of a single finger is enough to get the shifter to move out of (or into) a gear position when the gears match speed. Unfortunately, you can't slam-shift a non-synchro transmission.

Incidentally, anyone who's currently "fighting" an Eaton Super-10, shift into and out of neutral on EVERY shift, even the ones that aren't supposed to move the shifter -- I was told, way-back-when, to shift it like a 13-speed. (i.e. the 1-2, the 3-4, etc). It makes the transmission much more useable.

-blaine

 

I wish the dude training me would've explained the art of slowly pulling out of say..2nd to neutral to 3rd in one smooth motion. He was yelling at me because I was trying to shift like I did in my little 5 speed Suby(some people shouldn't be trainers). Grind em' and find em' baby!