I’m moving to a new place and the truck I’m going to be driving is a Scania with 3 over 3 range change and a splitter, in honesty I’ve never driven a truck with a splitter before so am not entirely sure how it works, I’ve driven Daf and Scania 4 over 4s and am moving from a horrible Daf 12 speed auto!.
Does the splitter only work in high range?, so for example in hi range you then have low and high of each gear?, can you essentially drive it as a normal 3 over 3 or will I need to split the box?, I’m pretty sure it’s a 340.
For pulling away am I better to use 1st loaded and second empty?, on a 4 over 4 I’d use 2nd loaded and 3rd empty unless it was a hill start etc.
Rbp1:
I’m moving to a new place and the truck I’m going to be driving is a Scania with 3 over 3 range change and a splitter, in honesty I’ve never driven a truck with a splitter before so am not entirely sure how it works, I’ve driven Daf and Scania 4 over 4s and am moving from a horrible Daf 12 speed auto!.
Does the splitter only work in high range?, so for example in hi range you then have low and high of each gear?, can you essentially drive it as a normal 3 over 3 or will I need to split the box?, I’m pretty sure it’s a 340.
I can remember we had a one or two of those types in our FL10’s long ago instead of the usual 8 speed range change.I really liked them being much better than the 8 speed.In the Volvo at least the split was on all gears making it a 12 speed.As usual it’s a very simple idea which means what it says.You can split each gear with obviously just a switch movement which then usually goes through with clutch actuation so you can pre select the shift up or down.Give it a day or two and you’ll wonder why they ever bothered with all the aggro of 12 speed autos with that practical solution.
It effectively just doubles the gears you have ie 1st low 1st high, 2nd low and so on. With a 16speed box you would go from 4th high using the range change switch into high range move the splitter into low and the gear lever back into the 1st postion for the next eight gears. However , if empty starting off in 2nd with the splitter kept in high range should be easily possible. Fully loaded with a hill start will most likely seeing you using all 12 gears with the Scania.
Once you have a couple of hours in the truck using the range change and splitter it will come second nature…
Bluey Circles:
sometime 4th (1st in high range) could be a bugger - last one I was in couldn’t select this gear until you had done the first 50 mile of the day.
Funny you should say that. Pain in the arse for the first hour or so. I was in a 420 with the 3 over 3 and 2nd/5th etc always snicked as well no matter what I did. Hopeless box.
Can’t understand why scania seem to think the 3 over 3 layout is a practical option, surely anyone speccing a manual gearbox do so because they often run at max weight and thus need to optimise each gear (as well as clutch control). 4/4 is more instinctive and offers 4 more gears.
Then you get these walking floor/tipper operators who ‘need’ a full manual incase the lorry gets bogged down, failing to realise that in that case you’d only use 1st gear and clutch control, so why not go for 2 pedal opticruise?
I’m pushing like hell for a ‘proper’ gear box when my trucks replaced later this year, I believe. All we do is building site work and these autos make every awkward reverse I complete nightmare and then there’s the getting stuck in mud issue which wouldn’t be a problem for a manual. Luckily the vehicle spec’er is one of the drivers and agrees with me so it’s looking promising for me…we’ll see if he can get the extra cost past the MD. I’ll be one happy mother trucker if I get one. You can keep these totally cr4p so called autos, they boil my wee [emoji35]
Thanks for the help, I got in it and it’s pretty straight forward really, it doesn’t seem to like going into 4th when coming down the box, it’s fine going up.
parkus:
Can’t understand why scania seem to think the 3 over 3 layout is a practical option, surely anyone speccing a manual gearbox do so because they often run at max weight and thus need to optimise each gear (as well as clutch control). 4/4 is more instinctive and offers 4 more gears.
I think you’ve got confused somewhere.It’s 6 speed range change with a splitter on each = 12 so more gears than an 8 speed not less.While 8 speed isn’t 4 more than 6 anyway.
parkus:
Can’t understand why scania seem to think the 3 over 3 layout is a practical option, surely anyone speccing a manual gearbox do so because they often run at max weight and thus need to optimise each gear (as well as clutch control). 4/4 is more instinctive and offers 4 more gears.
Then you get these walking floor/tipper operators who ‘need’ a full manual incase the lorry gets bogged down, failing to realise that in that case you’d only use 1st gear and clutch control, so why not go for 2 pedal opticruise?
Suppose anything is better than the 5 over 5 with a dog leg they had years ago, got an rsi in my shoulder because of than box.
Odd isn’t it, neither of the Swedish makes have ever had a manual gearbox of their own fitted that was what i would call good to use, compared to Fuller/Eaton even Spicer or ZF they were always hard work and baulk constantly.
Juddian:
Odd isn’t it, neither of the Swedish makes have ever had a manual gearbox of their own fitted that was what i would call good to use, compared to Fuller/Eaton even Spicer or ZF they were always hard work and baulk constantly.
To be fair the argument between light slick to use constant mesh v heavy obstructive synchro isn’t the same thing as the best possible shift layout.In which case some like me preferred the ZF 12 speed splitter to either 9 speed or 13 speed Fuller.While others liked the twin splitter which I’m probably happy that I never had to put up with.
The problem then being the ‘drivers’ who can’t manage a simple thing like engine v road speed matching and have to rely on synchros to compensate and then moan about constant mesh gearboxes as part of that.
But generally,like the 12 speed splitter,I found the 3 over 3 splitter arrangement a good compromise regards shift layout.
My favourite gearbox of all was the MAN comfort shift. How they went from that work of art the the P.O.S auto still remains a mystery to me! The scania and Volvo 12 speeds were pretty poor in my opinion compared to the 16 speeders in the DAF and MAN’s. The first auto I ever drove was about 15 years ago, a merc actros that had a drop down clutch pedal for emergency use only and I remember thinking this will never catch on as I laughed out loud and pulled the lever to release the pedal! How wrong was I!?!?!?!
I remember the 5 over 5 in the scanias before they changed to 4 over 4. Never got why they decided 8 was better than 10. The box that gave me rsi in my left elbow was the knock across 4 over 4 in a very early axor. I hated that gearbox!
We have an R480 with this gearbox and it is a crock of crap. Actually, the whole truck is a disappointment in almost every way.
We also have a Volvo with I shift, which I think is rather good, and we work in some seriously hostile territory with them.
However, all modern gearboxes should be melted down and turned into 13 speed Fullers. They were the best I’ve ever driven, you only needed the clutch to get them away from a standstill, and then you could go quickly through all the gears, up and down, including the splitter (which only worked on the high four gears) without ever using the clutch.
nomiS36:
I remember the 5 over 5 in the scanias before they changed to 4 over 4. Never got why they decided 8 was better than 10. The box that gave me rsi in my left elbow was the knock across 4 over 4 in a very early axor. I hated that gearbox!
Think the 5 speed were in 110’s if i remember right, probably the only half decent manual box they had.
nomiS36:
I remember the 5 over 5 in the scanias before they changed to 4 over 4. Never got why they decided 8 was better than 10. The box that gave me rsi in my left elbow was the knock across 4 over 4 in a very early axor. I hated that gearbox!
never knew that there was a 5 over 5 - was it a splitter (in both ranges)?
