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Think You Can Drive A Stick?


Subdeacon Joe

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Years ago my mom’s boyfriend taught me how to drive his rig with that transmission set up. I should say he let me try it out on a secluded stretch of road. I managed but if you put me in one right now I am sure I couldn’t do it. 

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My brother in law drove a dump truck for awhile, he let me drive it for a bit only I believe it was 10 speed. It was fun !!

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I used to like the old two stick transmissions. Much better than the earlier trans with partial air shift

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I drove a 15 speed, deep reduction behind a KTA600 Cummins. It was a COE Peterbuilt with a double sleeper.  I seldom used 1st through 4th unless I was hauling an oversized load out of some deep hole. Otherwise, it was kinda’ like driving a 13 spd.  That was one fine truck.  You mostly used the clutch to take off and to stop or to change direction.

 

 I drove a couple of the R38 Macks that had the tri-plex in ‘em. They were concrete mixers. Those things were fun! You had as many reverses as you did forwards!!  I never used some of the gear combinations!

 

 I hated the nine and ten speed trucks. The gear ratios were usually too far apart to operate smoothly and you used the clutch a lot more.

 

 I probably would be lost as last year’s Easter egg in one of those rigs now! :rolleyes: :lol:

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I hated the electric shift two time rear axles.
More times than one I'd have to stop, crawl under and bang on the shifter box with a wrench.
Two good smacks and it would work, most times.

I thought I was pretty good with a standard.

We had an International with a stretched frame, it went from road tractor to fire department tanker with the addition of a 2000 gallon milk tank.
Not the least trace of synchronizers in that gearbox.

I was one of two men who could run that gearbox and never touch a tooth.

I was also young ... which means it was too easy to get a fine opinion of myself ...

New truck, new guy, took him out on a water delivery, this new chassis was a Chevy with a standard shift.

I told him of being one of only two who could run that old Farmall truck.

He didn't say anything on the way out.

I had him drive on the way back.

I thought I was good with a gearbox.

He made me look like a stumbling drunk.

Once we were backed into the bay, he grinned at me and said he drove truck for the highway department.

Lesson learned, braggart, I learned the hard way never to set myself up as High and Mighty ever again!

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Growing up we had a 2 ton grain truck with dual 4 speed transmissions.  Shifted very similar to the video but you had to use the clutch and had to double clutch a lot specially when down shifting. 

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3 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

In English please? :)

Commercial Trucks don't have synchronized transmissions like POVs

 

So to shift you either double clutch: at the correct RPM range clutch in remove from gear clutch out, clutch in grab next gear clutch out.

 

OR 

 

When the gates of both gears are lined up because the engine is in the sweet spot FOR THAT GEAR SET rpm you just float it over. Works everytime if you know what you are doing. 

 

If it don't work you have a clashing grinding gearbox and you have to either clutch and jam while your gear teeth rattle and break or start hunting through your range and and bouncing the tach til it slips in

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Here is the shift pattern as sequence for the 15 speed Tri-Plex and the 20 Speed Quad-Plex.

 

Notice that the Tri-plex shifting sequence is pretty straight forward.  

 

Now look at the the shifting sequence for the 20 speed Quad-Plex.  Depending on the terrain and load, if you were good you could skip several of the gears in the Quad-Plex. Hauling max loads in the mountains you would use every gear and pity the driver that messed up and grabbed the wrong gear.  I had an uncle that drove a Mack with the  Quad-Plex. Went with him on a day trip when I was a kid. Was amazed at how he steered with his arm stuck through the steering wheel and manipulated both shift levers at the same time. 

 

1241153941_mactruck.thumb.jpg.eebefd794bec15ed0b254f66f1b01a15.jpg

 

I'm pretty sure Mack produced the Quad-Plex at the request of Satan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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+ Jack Spade.  My Dad worked with a neighbor who had an old two transmission straight grain truck which I had to drive to the elevator in town.  A real experience.  Glad I learned stick shift driving on the 1949 Dodge pickup with a non-synchronized four speed.  

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26 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Here is the shift pattern as sequence for the 15 speed Tri-Plex and the 20 Speed Quad-Plex.

 

Notice that the Tri-plex shifting sequence is pretty straight forward.  

 

Now look at the the shifting sequence for the 20 speed Quad-Plex.  Depending on the terrain and load, if you were good you could skip several of the gears in the Quad-Plex. Hauling max loads in the mountains you would use every gear and pity the driver that messed up and grabbed the wrong gear.  I had an uncle that drove a Mack with the  Quad-Plex. Went with him on a day trip when I was a kid. Was amazed at how he steered with his arm stuck through the steering wheel and manipulated both shift levers at the same time. 

 

1241153941_mactruck.thumb.jpg.eebefd794bec15ed0b254f66f1b01a15.jpg

 

I'm pretty sure Mack produced the Quad-Plex at the request of Satan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes the “hand through the wheel” was an experience! When I learned to drive on a two stick machine I was often told to not dally in the wheel. The trucks we had were non-power steering and when moving in a potholed dirt yard with lots of rocks and divots it always seemed your arm was in a bad place and the wheel would accelerate up to about a million rpm (seemed that way!) when the tire twisted and it would crack your wrists or forearm! Usually only one lesson required! When i caught mine my forearm was bruised and sore for about three months. When the RoadRanger types came along at my workplace (I used 10, 13, and 18 versions), thought I had gone to heaven they were so easy!

Regards

:FlagAm:  :FlagAm:  :FlagAm:

Gateway Kid

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As a teenager on the farm, trucks with 6 speed transmissions and electric shift 2 speed axels were pretty common. I did work several summers for a guy that had 2 GMC cab overs. One with a 5 speed transmission and 3 speed electric over air rear axels. Some days it was really frustrating to drive especially when it was really cold as the axel shift would be slow to change gears and mess up your timing. the other had a 10 speed Roadranger. It was great to drive as you only needed the clutch to put it in gear. That is till you missed a gear then it got ugly really fast.

 

He also had a tractor trailer with a 13 speed Roadranger transmission. I never drove the 13 speed as we didn't use it in the fields.

 

10speed.jpg.0f60c56c800d05a5e28c2ff608cfc99e.jpg

 

13speed.jpg.e2e4213c00ef7c4a826f6e5f34bcce7e.jpg

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1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Here is the shift pattern as sequence for the 15 speed Tri-Plex and the 20 Speed Quad-Plex.

 

Notice that the Tri-plex shifting sequence is pretty straight forward.  

 

Now look at the the shifting sequence for the 20 speed Quad-Plex.  Depending on the terrain and load, if you were good you could skip several of the gears in the Quad-Plex. Hauling max loads in the mountains you would use every gear and pity the driver that messed up and grabbed the wrong gear.  I had an uncle that drove a Mack with the  Quad-Plex. Went with him on a day trip when I was a kid. Was amazed at how he steered with his arm stuck through the steering wheel and manipulated both shift levers at the same time. 

 

1241153941_mactruck.thumb.jpg.eebefd794bec15ed0b254f66f1b01a15.jpg

 

I'm pretty sure Mack produced the Quad-Plex at the request of Satan.

 

I wouldn't use absolutely all of them, but I'd love to have some of those options in my pickup.

 

Right now this is what I've got (below). Even just having the 1.18:1 between 4th and 5th and having four different overdrive options would be really cool.  Leaving the quad in "lo" it'd be practically a 5 speed similar to what I have.  I know they'll never make a pickup truck like that but I sure wish they would, and my camper only weighs about 10k pounds.  The deep overdrive for empty driving would be great too.

G56 Transmission Ratios

Application

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

R

2005 - 2007 Ram 2500/3500  

6.29 : 1

  3.48 : 1

   2.10 : 1  

1.38 : 1

   1.00 : 1  

0.79 : 1

   6.29 : 1

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My VW Beetle and my first pick-up were standards. Does that count?

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2 hours ago, Zeb Gray, #36839 said:

+ Jack Spade.  My Dad worked with a neighbor who had an old two transmission straight grain truck which I had to drive to the elevator in town.  A real experience.  Glad I learned stick shift driving on the 1949 Dodge pickup with a non-synchronized four speed.  

We learned on nearly the same, I learned on a 1950 ford pickup. 

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Howdy,

New mustangs on the game shows have 5 liter engine with

ten speed automatic trans.

I might just have to try that.....

Been drivin stick started with three on da tree and near ran into one.

Better to kill the engine than hit a tree with it.

Best trans was still the factory 4 on the Z/28. 1969 ,,,,,

Ive tried a lot of others too.

Best'

CR

 

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2 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

Drive a stick?  This is the first thing that came to mind when I read the thread title.

 

164886280_HBP_Harry_Playing_Quidditch.thumb.png.7a9c19dd878bf287c009c822815476b8.png

We once had a monthly Halloween Match stage where for the start-line you had to hold up a broom and say, " Of course I can drive a stick!"

Lots of laughs.

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On 1/3/2023 at 12:16 PM, Cypress Sun said:

 

I'd love to see the same guys that grinded reverse and second on the old three on the tree try that one.

I always enjoyed the look of complete bewilderment on folks' faces when they slide behind the wheel, realize there's 3 peddles- but no floor shifter.:o:huh::lol:

 

Three on a tree kept friends from trying to borrow my 1st truck.  Most of them couldn't drive a stick in the first place, so a 3 speed on the column was far beyond their capabilities.

 

I never have liked the tranmissions with multiple sticks.  Gimme splitter buttons on one stick and I'm fine.

 

If'n I was to win the lott'ry and decide to get a big RV, I would get a hold of the outfit over in Texas that builds them using big rigs as the base (seen a few with Pete or KW cabs). 

 

If that notion took me, I do believe that I'd get a Super 10 Top 2 transmission instead of a 13 speed or (shudder!) an automatic.  Odd gears are stick shifts, even are splitter shifts, so you only move the stick 5 times between 1st and 10th (the 'Top 2' part means it'll upshift and down shift automatically between 9th and 10th).  The RV ain't going to be hauling a massive load and it won't weigh anywhere close to 80,000 pounds, so a 10 speed and a decent motor (from your preferred manufacturer-  I'm happy with a 60 Series Detroit)  will haul itself anywhere it'll fit.

 

There's just enough work to drive it to make me feel like I'm doing something- but not as much as there was when I was driving over the road.

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Mmmm yeah. That'd big a big negatory there, Rubber Duck....I ever see a 10 speed or thirteen speed split shift truck again it'd be too soon. See the outfit I worked for was cheap. Got a truck with no sticker like some a youse guys put up and the knob was a bit worn... well, the shift pattern's are usually the same, right? First is upper left, straight down for 2, up-right for 3 and so on. Oh, wasn't long that first time I hadda holler for Charlie our mechanic to show me. Once you got the hang of it, wasn't too bad really but have a brain fart and skip a gear is but one way to see if your load is properly tied down.

That part wasn't fun.

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5 hours ago, Dubious Don #56333 said:

Mmmm yeah. That'd big a big negatory there, Rubber Duck....I ever see a 10 speed or thirteen speed split shift truck again it'd be too soon. See the outfit I worked for was cheap. Got a truck with no sticker like some a youse guys put up and the knob was a bit worn... well, the shift pattern's are usually the same, right? First is upper left, straight down for 2, up-right for 3 and so on. Oh, wasn't long that first time I hadda holler for Charlie our mechanic to show me. Once you got the hang of it, wasn't too bad really but have a brain fart and skip a gear is but one way to see if your load is properly tied down.

That part wasn't fun.

I drove a wore out KW for a while that had a shifter so loose that a passenger had to move their left leg when I shifted into high gear and second was almost touching my seat.

 

A buddy of mine was running dump trucks and one of the old ones had 8th and 9th reversed.  He said it took him most of a day to remember how it worked.

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