Driving 8 speeds, when I first learned I started off in 1 and went up through the gears but then you have to change gear very quickly.
Later as I was driving I discovered going 1 - 3 - 5 worked better.
I noticed ratios from 3 - 4 are very close and going 3-4 slows you down unless you change very soon after.
Someone said it’s better to start in 2nd and maybe go 2, 4, 5.
I tried it but it felt I had to let the clutch slip too long starting off in 2nd which can’t be good for it.
I think maybe you can start off in 2nd if you are on a downhill. Definitely wouldn’t do it loaded or on an uphill.
I settled on starting off in 1st most of the time. If the lorry has the tiniest bit of momentum though, like you have almost stopped for a bend or roundabout but I able to keep going then I’d pick 2nd rather than 1st. Also if starting on a downhill would start off in 2nd.
I noticed the clutch biting point was very high on the lorry, probably due to having been started off in 2nd inappropriately too many times.
When I learned to drive trucks I was always told to pull away in 2nd gear.
I now have a new job as a rigid tipper driver and there is a notice in the cab telling drivers to always pull away in 1st gear.
What are your feelings on this?
Do other drivers do this? or is it just my firm.
I’m very new to driving trucks so would like to hear your opinions.
Thanks
The idea of pulling away in first gear is because it’s reckoned to be less harmful to the clutch and plenty of firms ask drivers to do this.
Sounds like we need a truck mechanic to tell us whether this is correct or not
I should make it clear that the opinion above is simply based on the notices I’ve seen posted at various firms I’ve driven for, I’m not a mechanic and would not claim any personal skill in that direction, but quite a few firms seem to have the same idea and I’m not in a position to argue with them
I agree though that it would be interesting to hear opinions from people who are knowledgeable enough to express a point of view.
Sceptic:
When I learned to drive trucks I was always told to pull away in 2nd gear.
I now have a new job as a rigid tipper driver and there is a notice in the cab telling drivers to always pull away in 1st gear.
Thanks
Have you been blessed with a Scania as a new rigid tiipper?
If so, that is the answer. The official line from Scania is to save clutch wear, but in reality they havent got enough power to pull a hen off its eggs
hehehe
There is a long thread on here about this. I will try to dig it out, but it probably answers the question.
Modern trucks are fitted with small ceramic clutches and god forbid tippers with automatic boxes. Some of the more elderly gentlemen on this site will remember crawler gears and rickets.
It all depends on what truck what engine what gearbox what diff ratio what weight you have and what gradient you are trying to pull away on. Unfortunately there are many steering wheel attendants out there who love slipping the clutch, too bone idle to change gears etc, that have probably caused this first gear lark to show its ugly head.
If you have to slip the clutch, its the wrong gear, simple.
Sceptic:
When I learned to drive trucks I was always told to pull away in 2nd gear.
I now have a new job as a rigid tipper driver and there is a notice in the cab telling drivers to always pull away in 1st gear.
I was always told to pull away in the most appropriate gear.
Amongst other things, “appropriate” would depend on :
Engine Power
Overall gearing
Loading
Gradient
Surface conditions
Most of the learning stuff was either 2nd (or 3rd downhill), but that was in an empty lorry. On a steep downhill you were as well doing a 4th gear start and going up into 6th.
That big red Scania sticker is there to remind you not to smoke the clutch.
If so, that is the answer. The official line from Scania is to save clutch wear, but in reality they havent got enough power to pull a hen off its eggs
The clutch in the rigid MAN I’m currently driving went on me on the M1 southbound yesterday morning. I was on the inside lane, crawling along in traffic when it happened. It was stuck there for twenty-five minutes until the Highways Agency turned up and towed me onto the hard shoulder.
At work today, I was asked what gear I pull off in. I told them that it depends on a lot, like gradient, load and so on, but usually, on the level/down hill I set off in second. I was told that I must always use first, no matter what.
I felt like a right pudding stood there in the rain for that amount of time while the HA arrived. After that I sat in the passenger seat until the recovery wagon turned up half an hour later.
As said before it depends on all the above. If you happen to have a rigid with 6 ? gears and 200 hp then you’re options are limited compared with 16 gears and 430 hp (more to do with torque than power though) - for example
Did you slip the clutch pulling away would be a more appropriate question IMHO.
I can’t see how the wear on the clutch would be much more if you pull away in 2nd in a reasonably powered truck with 12 or 16 gears as long as it’s got the power to pull off quickly in that gear without you needing to slip the clutch out slowly, if you need to slip the clutch it’s struggling and you’re going to wear the plates out. Same goes if you labour the truck up hills, ie sit in too high a gear because you can’t be arsed to shift down a gear or so. I see loads of truckers holding their trucks on hills and at junctions using the clutch, that’s what kills them. I pull off in 2nd unless im heavy or on an incline, or im in very slow traffic, then it’s 1st.
For a 17tonne 6 speed rigid I’d say always pull away in 1st. Maybee 2nd if your empty & pointing downhill.
I find if I pull away in 3rd like they teach you to do on your test, I always find the engine bogging down & find the need to slip the clutch quit a bit to get the truck moving. I’d say if your fully loaded then your clutch wont last long if your pulling away in 3rd gear all the time.
With gearboxes with more ratios & higher power engines, then it’s a case of using your loaf & driving experience.
Ultimately though no harm with come if you pull away in too lower a gear. It just means you have to change up a bit more often, but it just might save your clutch.
Eh ? Are you admitting to guilt QQ ?