Heard the phrase "double-clutching" but don't quite know what that means? Being able to change gears smoothly in a non-synchro takes practice and an understanding of what is actually happening.
Well done sir made your point crystal clear in 2 and a half minutes!! Just watched another video that took 13 minutes to describe the same thing and still didn't understand a bloody thing!!!
Just a note of caution, I watched this video and thought I would be right to choose a non synchromesh or 'Crash Box' transmission for a 2 day Heavy Rigid course and assessment in Australia. I could barely shift up and down on a straight back road let alone do the test around town with roundabouts because you also need to make sure you are in the right rev range before the gear will engage. I was in an older Kenworth with a long gear stick shaft coming out of the floor and could barely tell what gear I was in and couldn't get a feel for the gate at all. Luckily I was able to switch to a Volvo with a Synchromesh gearbox for the rest of the course.
I’ve just completed my HR license on a non synchro box. Major head f$&k even though I’m a well versed driver of manual cars for 40 years plus Changing down across high to low with reving between changes and clutch movements… OMG
From what I can tell, the gearbox internally is somewhat like a dogbox (IE: dog gears) so double clutching itself is something I have practiced before. What about for down shifting? Do you need to rev match with the throttle? Or just employ the same double clutch method as shown here? I'm looking to do my HR licence and was thinking to just do the test in a truck like this anyway. Might as well get licenced for everything. Maybe won't use it, but at least I have it if I need it :)
Kane Underwood yeah... fully depressed engages the clutch brake (which you only need for when the truck has stopped and put into neutral) Also you never stop without it in gear and the clutch depressed halfway which really wrecks havoc on your clutch leg if you’re sitting in traffic or stopping at lights
In North America we do not drive synchro transmissions in our heavy trucks. We run double 53 foot trailers with far higher payloads than you run in Britain. Many of our trucks have 18 speed transmissions and they are non synchro transmissions. A few years ago Volvo offered a multispeed transmission that was synchronised for the North American market. They are no longer available. The reason is because you have to use the clutch with these, and with a multispeed transmission that would be a lot of clutching. Most of our veteran drivers shift without the clutch, and they do it effortlessly and smoothly. The synchro transmissions are just too much work. They hated them here. Synchros are for Europe where they pull lighter loads and single drive axles.
Yes, you guys do run heavier loads than us, and far heavier than those Brits. Here we run "rigid" trucks in the city for the most part. Our big super B trains and double 53 foot trains run on 4 lane highways. We run 18 speed crash boxes in many heavy semi trucks here, and most guys would not be double clutching that many gears, so I found it entertaining to watch. Our green drivers do double clutch. The veterans, not so much. I have driven long haul for 44 years and if I double clutched every gear in all those years I would have a lopsided left leg, or I'd be crippled.
Yes, I do teach new guys to double clutch and when they have mastered that I teach them to partial clutch (no clutch out, single clutch in) and then I teach them to shift with no clutch ( floating) and just a light two finger touch. BTW, our guys don't know what a "rigid" truck is. Here they are called "straight jobs" and they are 5 or 10 tons and have synchro 6 or 7 speed transmissions. The new ones are all automatics. Most guys here could not (or would not) drive a manual. They are very rough. If the city haulers want drivers they must give them automatics. The whole industry is being dumbed down.
when down shifting the real non synchronized transmission, u would clutch to neutral then gas and clutch to the gear. has to be right timing. the trick is the gas and timing.
It is called rev matching, and it should be done on all manual transmissions, unless you want to give lots of business to the transmission and clutch industry.
In North America they do not have heavy trucks with synchro because they run much heavier loads than Europe. All the heavy trucks here are double drive axles and many are double 53' and some times even triple trailers. We also prefer them because you can float the gears effortlessly. That does not work in a synchro transmission where you must clutch.
I'm afraid it's either a synchromesh for me, or I get a new Scania R520 with automatic assisted gears. A bit expensive but ease of driving makes for increased safety. No way am I ever getting a truck that I have to double clutch😖😀
automatic trucks are really pain to drive. when on heavy load the imperfections in the automatic system starts to come out, making low speed driving on hills just slower and potentially harming to the engine since the system often tries to go with the higher gear first before switching to lower, when the car has already slowed down and lugged. for some unknown reason they often are also equipped with automatic crouch which cannot even be turned off manually, which just causes unnecessary frustration when driving. the thing is often fast by default requiring control with a brake, but the system also wants to switch itself off when fully depressed the brake, requiring new activation with the accelerator. you can imagine you don't want that when trying to crouch, especially reversing, in a crowded area where you rely heavily on speed control and often have to stop the vehicle. what's the worst though is the reverse gear, which for some unknown reason often comes with too high speed to torque-ratio taking in to count that there's no clutch to further control the speed. it's fucking pain to try to reverse these things in narrow gaps or accurately reverse in to the pier which would be easy to do with any manual box. i've driven maybe 8 different automatic trucks in total from volvo, mercedes and scania, and they all come with the same faults. go with the manual, believe me. you want to be in full control of the vehicle instead of having to compete with the stupidity of the automatic systems in situations where you need to be as accurate and safe as possible.
are u sure thats not a 6109 or 8209 syncro eaton box. there in all the mitsubishi isuzu ect. we used to build them all the time for sorn syncros. driver see the eaton sign on knob and think its a dog box.
My grandpa was a long distance truck driver in BeNeLux, France and Germany. During school holidays I could always come with him and soon enough he allowed me to sit on his lap and hold the wheel or have my hand on the gear lever with his hand on top to work the gears. When I was still small enough for his lap, and too short to reach the pedals, he drove a non-syncro Mercedes and I remember getting tossed up when he double clutched. 😂😂😂 He started working at the age of thirteen delivering milk with a horse cart and started driving a milk truck at sixteen. In the army he got his license for tractor trailer and started hauling at nineteen. And did so, in a Scania, till he was 73, when he was rejected at the annual health assessment for his poor eyesight. He died eight months later, in his sleep. The evening before, my dad had told him over the phone that he had bought an Iveco. Before grandpa put down the phone he said « I hope you ordered a chain and magnet with it, to retrieve the parts that fall off...and buy a thick crossword book for kids, you gonna have to kill a lot of time, you donkey » And to think that later on in high school, the student counsellor really believed I was gonna become an electrician.