Damned dangerous, these autos!

Got given the worst puddle jumper i’ve ever had today. DAF 150 auto.
A lot of JL 7.5t been defected this last couple of weeks so we’ve had to hire some in.

I thought it was strange when I looked at the bay and the tail lift was up high and dropped across for loading. Normally, as you all know, tail lift is dropped and vertical, to keep out of the way.
I found out later that this is because the tail lift won’t go all the way down to the ground, it jams about a foot off the floor.
No biggie, can deal with that.

No, the problem I had with this ■■■■■■■ was the auto box! Ok, yes, it’s 5 gears. A proper cruiser. But the problem is the delay in setting off.
Holding on the foot brake for a couple of seconds at a roundabout, spot a gap, off the brake onto the accelerator and …nothing…for about 2-3 seconds Late entry to roundabout, cars braking and beeping, effin thing.
Not only a delay in acceleration but also it rolled backwards while waiting to accelerate.
Luckily, today we were in the 'burbs, no major dramas going on, nice 'burb roads etc.
By the end of the day I was in full control but I do not want to have to take that ■■■■ into central London, ever.
SO I defected it on return to base, for the tail lift. The other drivers can thank me tomorrow

Hold it on the handbrake mate and get some revs up before you set off

Advice given me for the MAN auto’s and it makes sense that it’d apply to most auto’s…

Apply the park brake even if it’s just for a second as that tells the gearbox computer that it needs to make ready for pulling away and is 9 times out of 10 ready in the right gear for you to set off from a standstill, no idea if this applies to a 5 speed auto but its worth trying it to find out.

A tiny touch on the throttle just coming to a halt will normally engage the correct gear. Any “auto” will roll back on a hill as they are not actually auto. It’s a manual box with a bag of tricks screwed to it to change gear without the driver getting involved. As a manual, it will roll back.

Biggest mistake is to think that these newer trucks are “auto” and so they will do it all for you. The driver needs to learn how to work with it and the outcome is a smooth drive with no dramas.

You could, of course, of got a rogue truck. They certainly exist.

Pete

Thanks for all the advice, troops.
I get the hill start thing, and the gear selection, my problem was when coming up to a give way, needed to come to ALMOST a stop, then accelerating out of the junction. Both me and my porter counted 2 and a half seconds before getting a response. And that is damned dangerous.
Just not used to them yet, I suppose. Still a noob [emoji16]

Sent from my Wieppo S6 using Tapatalk

You didn’t write your request to the truck 2 weeks before you wanted to pull out did you ?

my problem was when coming up to a give way, needed to come to ALMOST a stop

Try a gentle touch on the throttle as you’re very slow. It should then engage the correct gear and respond to a bootfull of gas.

Pete

Ok, just back from work.
My mate Danny was in the auto today and we both arrived back at the same time ish. I asked him how his day had been, he kicked the side under run bars
So, I asked if I could borrow the wagon for 5 minutes, did the “tap accelerator when nearly stopped” then tried pulling away, still at least a 2 second delay.
Yes, the hill start mode, from the handbrake, even on the level, works fine, but not what I want to do.

ooh, I know what I meant to say this afternoon, but got a bit busy and forgot…
Yesterday, in the auto, we had to park up and swap out some washing machines to another crew. The space I had was a bit short so I had to get right in, nose first, close to another car bonnet.
Press accelerator gently…nothing…bit more…nothing…a TAD more… JUMP forward 2 feet!!

If I get that truck again I will see if I can defect it before we have to go out

I hate DAFs with a passion for one of many reasons and this is one of the reasons, my depot has two brand new DAF rigids, 210 bhp 4.5 litre engine apparently, they’re so slow in speed and gear changes it drives me mad! I’ll take our Merc Antos all day any day, the gearbox is mostly seamless and acceleration is sweet.

steviespain:
Yes, the hill start mode, from the handbrake, even on the level, works fine, but not what I want to do.

With no hold assist, you HAVE to hold it on the handbrake mate every time you come to a stop, unless you fancy a bit of left foot braking which is not advisable.

blue estate:
You didn’t write your request to the truck 2 weeks before you wanted to pull out did you ?

"Dear auto DAF
In many respects you are an excellent machine, let me list just a few of them here:
.furious thinking
.starts to type…stops
.starts again…stops again

ok, your cab was clean and you had a spare printer roll lurking behind the seat…

But you let yourself down with your miserable, slow, un-intuitive, gearbox.

To help prevent further damaging erosion to your otherwise excellent reputation I would like to book, in advance, a series of timely accelerations.
Starting on the 12th Dec 2018 and continuing on every day (except Sundays)
Roll off the bay 11:00
Hit traffic 11:05
Every 10 seconds, at varying intervals, in the time in between.
return to Depot 21:30
Please accelerate as and when asked, not 3 seconds later.

If you can do this I feel that your well deserved reputation will be enhanced even further and we shall get on better than we did last time.
Yours sincerely
Noob"

Right, that should do the trick.

Pete, i hear ya, and I did try that, it just didn’t work.

Ghiabox, not just me then?

idrive, I see what you mean, and I agree, but that’s not what I want to do. I want to roll up to a junction, time my joining the traffic, press the accelerator and get an instant response. Not happening. 2-3 second delay which, as you know, is a lifetime on a busy road junction. There are many such junctions during my miserable, multi dropping, London, day. Each one having varying degrees of shock, fear, and embarrassment while in the auto DAF.

I LOVE the new DAFs they have, lovely manual 6 gear, snazzy livery, proud to drive one, tbh.
And I didn’t always drive puddle jumpers, y’know?

This sounds just like my Iveco Stralis! The thing I hate most is that the delay is not consistent, I’ve managed to count to 6 waiting for the truck to start moving after putting my foot to the floor! Bloody frustrating and according to the guys that do my 8 weekly PMI’s, there’s no fault… So I guess I’ve just had to get really good at judging upcoming gaps… Or just looking really apologetic while my truck slowly pulls out towards the end of that gap in front of oncoming traffic!