I currently contribute as an editor to several online and print automotive publications, and I also write and consult for the pharmaceutical and medical device industry. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Right Gear for the Right Situation Unlike an automatic transmission, in which a valve body or computer makes all the shifting decisions for you, a manual requires you to decide what gear the car needs.
Categories Know How Tags clutch , driving stick tips , flywheel , how to drive a manual , how to drive a stick shift , learning manual transmission , manual transmission , stick shift tips.
This will put you into your first low gear of the high range. Step 9: You then just go through steps 1 - 6 again until you reach your final gear. What could be any easier? So I've gone through the basics of how a semi shifts and how we get all those gears. Now I thought I would cover how to figure out a specific gear pattern. There's a couple of different ways you can go about this depending on whether you are adept at reading a shift schematic or not. If you can't read a shift schematic, fear not, I'll go into that as well.
If you can't or don't want to mess with a schematic or can't find one for your specific transmission you can always just play with the truck and figure out the pattern. How to read a gear schematic So I thought I would begin with how to read a gear schematic. In the later sections on each transmission I will include a schematic that you can peruse to your hearts content. However, it helps if you can read the darn things right?
For an example I will start by showing you the Eaton Fuller 18 speed schematic and then explain it's contents. Ok so let's have a closer look at what's being displayed here. First off, each box shows the position on the H-shifter so the upper-left box is the upper-left shifter position. Everything that you see displayed in purple will be a gear that's in the low range. Everything that is shown in white will be what's in the high range.
The letters you see displayed next to the numbers or the "R" in the case of reverse is denoting whether there is a high or low split for that gear. So let's look at our upper-left box and see what information we can glean from it.
First we notice that there are 4 reverse gears on it. We have a "R" in both our low and high range and then beside each of those "R"s we can then see nomenclature for R1L and R1H in the purple box and then for R2L and R2H in the white box. We can then look at the other gear positions and see, in the same manner, what gears are in that position.
So let's say I don't really like this whole schematic thing. Who wants to have to look at a bunch of boxes and numbers? I just want to drive the darn truck! Well, my friend, there is another way to figure out a gear pattern. You can just sit in your dealership with the clutch in and start throwing that stick in holes.
After a few times of flipping your range and hitting your splitter you'll eventually let's hope anyway figure out what goes where. It's kinda like your first time, well I thought I would go through what these options allow you to do since a lot of people are unsure what they do.
Simple: The simple setting does pretty much what you expect it to do. It simplifies the shifting of the truck. You won't grind gears shifting at all and can pretty much shift as fast as you want and whenever you want.
If you try to initiate a shift too fast, like you would a car, the gears will grind on you. You can still initiate a shift at whatever RPM you choose unlike a real truck, but you will grind gears if you try to just slam through gears very fast. Advanced: The Advanced setting does a couple of different things. It's still unlike a real truck in that you don't have to RPM match but if you try to go through gears too fast you will grind them.
Depending on how you set this up you can do what's called fast splitting your gears. A fast split is where you can select your gear splits ahead of time and then do one of the previously mentioned options to split your gears from low to high or high to low. European trucks use a different setup then U. Trucks which I'll explain below. Never: The name says it all. You will never be able to do a shift fast split. Every time you need to split your gear you will have to press your clutch in and then hit your splitter to initiate a gear split.
Clutch Press: This is the system that European trucks use. Let's say I'm in 4th gear and I'm close to ready to splitting my gear into 4 high. I can go ahead and hit my splitter beforehand and it won't split the gear until I clutch in to split the gear.
Throttle Release: This is sort of the system that U. Trucks use although the last option is more accurate to U. With the Throttle Release option you can select your gear splits ahead of time, just like as in clutch press, but it won't initiate the shift until you let up off the gas. You don't have to use the clutch at all to split your gears.
It should be the upper-left position, and there should be some kind of visual layout of the gear pattern on top of the gearstick. You may want to practice shifting through the various gears with the engine switched off and the clutch engaged. Slowly lift your foot up from the clutch pedal.
Continue until you hear the engine speed begin to drop, then push it back in. Repeat this several times until you can instantly recognize the sound. This is the friction point. Let up on the clutch while pushing down on the accelerator.
In order to get moving, lift your left foot up from the clutch pedal until the RPMs drop slightly. At the same instant, apply light pressure to the accelerator with your right foot. Balance the light downward pressure on the accelerator with slowly releasing pressure on the clutch pedal. You will probably have to do this several times to find the right combination of up and down pressure.
At this point the car will start to move. It is best to have the engine rev just enough to prevent stalling as the clutch pedal is let up. This process may be a little difficult at first because you are new to the extra pedal in a manual car.
Release the clutch fully that is, slowly remove your foot from the pedal once you start moving forward under control in first gear. If you release the clutch too quickly the engine will stall. If the engine sounds like it is going to stall, hold the clutch where it is or push down a bit further. If you do stall, depress the clutch fully, apply the handbrake, put the car in neutral, switch the engine off and restart the car as normal. This is called riding the clutch and should be avoided.
Part 3. When your RPM reaches about to while the car is in motion, it is time to shift to the next gear — for example, second gear if you are currently in first.
The actual RPMs at which shifting is required will vary by the car you are driving, however. Your engine will begin to race and speed up, and you must learn to recognize this noise. Some cars have a "Shift Light" or indications on the tachometer that will tell you when you need to shift, so you don't rev the engine too fast.
Push down on the accelerator very slightly and slowly release the clutch pedal. Shifting gears in motion is the same as shifting into first from a stationary position. Resting your foot on the clutch pedal is a bad habit, as it applies pressure to the clutch mechanism — and the increased pressure will cause the clutch to wear out prematurely.
Shift down into a lower gear as you slow down. To shift down gears while in motion, follow the same process of depressing the clutch and releasing the accelerator, shifting gears say, from third to second , and letting off the clutch while depressing the accelerator.
Come to a complete stop. To come to a stop in a fully controlled manner, shift down gradually until you reach first gear. Press the clutch pedal fully down and move the gearstick into neutral to prevent stalling the car.
Use the brake pedal to stop completely. This should only be done when you need to stop quickly, though, as it puts you in less control of the vehicle. Part 4. Practice on an easy course with an experienced manual driver. Start off in a flat, isolated area like a large and empty car park, then move on to quiet suburban streets. Drive around the same circuit repeatedly until you start to remember the various skills involved. Avoid stopping and starting on steep hills initially. Your timing and coordination in working the gear stick, clutch, brake, and accelerator needs to be fairly sharp in order to avoid drifting backwards when you shift into first gear.
You can use the parking brake to limit backward drifting if necessary, but always remember to disengage it as you start moving forward. Learn parking procedures, especially on hills. But, simply putting the car in neutral opens the possibility of your car rolling freely, especially if parked on an incline or decline. If facing downhill, do the same but shift into reverse. This will prevent the wheels from rolling in the direction of the slope.
On extreme inclines, or simply to be extra cautious, you can also place chocks angled blocks behind your wheels to prevent movement. Stop completely before changing from forward to reverse and vice versa. Making a complete stop when changing directions is an easy way to reduce your likelihood of causing expensive damage to your gearbox.
However, it is possible on most manual transmissions to shift into first or possibly second when the car is moving backwards at a slow speed, but it is not recommended as this can cause excessive wear on the clutch. In some cars, reverse gear has a lock out mechanism to prevent you for engaging it accidentally. Before using the reverse gear, make sure you know about this locking mechanism and how to disengage it before selecting reverse.
As soon as possible. The first gear is really only made for starting to get moving or for driving very slow. Remember the driven gear is locked to the brake drum and therefore turns the brake drum and driven plate remember its bolted to the drum and therefore the driveshaft at the same reduced rate. Click on the handbrake in the animation above, then click on the low speed pedal and see what the gears do. When the driver wishes to move in reverse, the emergency brake must be released.
The emergency brake is released halfway to allow the rear wheels to turn , but still preventing the clutch spring clamping the discs together. The driver pushes and holds the reverse pedal whilst altering the engine speed to suit.
This clamps the reverse drum and gear still and forces the driving motion through the meshed triple gear to the driven gear. In this instance, because the difference in reverse gear teeth and triple gear teeth is 30 teeth on reverse and 24 on the meshed reverse triple gear, the triple gear turns faster 6 extra teeth for each revolution of the flywheel on its own axis.
The triple gear meshed with the driven gear will also do the same and force the driven gear in the opposite direction. Click on the handbrake in the animation above, then click on the reverse pedal and see the changing gear speeds. As the car speed is increased, ready to shift to high gear, the driver momentarily lowers the engine revs and simultaneously releases the low gear pedal and therefore the last resistance holding the clutch spring back , this allows the clutch spring to apply full pressure to the discs, clamping the small discs between the large discs.
Now remember that the small discs are directly fixed to the disc drum and therefore transmission shaft and flywheel, and, the large discs are fixed to the brake drum and therefore driven plate. So the action of clampng the two together, provides a direct link as follows:. Flywheel to transmission shaft, to clutch disc drum to small clutch discs to large clutch discs to brake drum and driven plate to the driveshaft and rear axle.
Click here to return to the animation Transmission Brake. When the driver wishes to stop without stalling the engine , either the emergency brake lever or low speed pedal must be changed, handbrake pulled back or pedal pushed halfway to release the clutch spring pressure off the clutch discs and freeing the direct connection between the engine and rear axle, then or simultaneously apply the brake pedal.
This clamps the brake drum and because of the direct connection with the driven plate, slows the vehicle down to a stop. The brake can be applied to slow the car without altering the handbrake lever, but only to a point before the engine stalls. For the purpose of this explanation, we will disengage the clutch and apply the brake.
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