13 speed fuller 9 speed range change and the best of em all eaton twin splitter
Most of the latest boxes should be extinct, manual or auto…Volvo and Renault autos excepted, as is ZF’s Ecosplit…synchro in most cases has no place in a truck manual box, not direct or fast enough.
Favourite extinct boxes, well for me first place is shared between the Eaton Twin Split and the seemingly hated backwards ZF splitter as found in DAF 2600 and 2800DKTD, third place goes to Fodens 12 speed.
Also liked the Spicer Splitter as fitted to Roadtrains, and Fullers Roadranger and 13 speeder, especially enjoyable in MAN with column change once mastered.
Eaton TS i found at its best in F90 MANs, the free revving engines that dropped revs instantly when needed made for lightning quick changes.
David Browns usually found linked to a non turbo Gardner so i ended up hating them for association with painfully slow progress, so maybe unjustly detested them.
Often wonder if the job would be better these days if we still had real gearboxes, would there be quite so many numpties behind the wheel?
Scammel gate change…for men 
That bloody Foden 12 speed (I never did master that), a 2 stick AEC (from way back), Thornycrofts own box (you needed a long arm to throw it into overdrive).
One I remember fondly was a ZF air assisted change (easy to use, and then the 9 speed Fuller, I liked those.
I allways liked the Foden 12 Speed Box. I recall once waiting to get tipped on a big building site & being called to the front to assist in pulling a fully loaded artic that was bogged down, my old S 20 Foden in crawler grear got it back onto the hard roadway no problem, a gear for every hill with plenty to spare. Regards Larry.
I drove a truck in 1980 with a 10speed Fuller gearbox, i now drive a 2010 truck with a 10 speed Fuller gearbox, we love 'em over here 
Maybe we’ll get that new fangold gearbox soon, what do you call it, a ‘constant mesh box’ 
What will they think of next 
Charles
this handyman my dad owned had a semi automatic 5 speed plus splitter (clutchless) , i think it was ex watney-mann. worked ok until the splitter switch on the joystick packed up and the fitter strapped an eaton button to the back of the column, made half gears a bit awkward to say the least, as you couldn’t change gear and split at the same time.
favourite box for me, either a twin splitter or eaton 13 speed. Worst , well i’m not overly fond of the 12 speed scania manual, no wonder most of them seem to be auto .
Just having a tidy up in the garage, and we’ve come across a gearstick and the electronic gubbins for a Mercedes EPS! Gonna be thrown unless someone can make use of it?
Speaking to my father in law today he says it was only earlier this year that Reg knowles passed away my mrs s uncle still has a Reg Knowles 8 speeds on the stick box and 2 two stroke engines in the cellar ,so windrush if I ever happen to end up with them i will buy a s21 and you can do the swap with me ?
Dan Punchard:
Speaking to my father in law today he says it was only earlier this year that Reg knowles passed away my mrs s uncle still has a Reg Knowles 8 speeds on the stick box and 2 two stroke engines in the cellar ,so windrush if I ever happen to end up with them i will buy a s21 and you can do the swap with me ?
Reg had a good innings then Dan. Got an inkling that I know where those gearbox/engines may reside, not too keen on the S21 idea though haha!
Pete.
If the twin splitter was ended due to noise regulations ( not the drivers finding the gears ) then how do they justify the noise of today’s double drive hub reductions because they seam extremely noisy to me ?
Dan Punchard:
If the twin splitter was ended due to noise regulations
I never knew that, Dan! I was working for Stamps when they first came out and a couple of us were sent to Eatons to learn how to drive 'em proper, like, and then go back to the depots and show the others how to do it!
LOVED the twinsplitter, but I found that while some could master them easily, others could NEVER manage it.
Now - if you want gear levers, look in the cab of a 1970’s Belaz - perm any two from four, pull the one you first thought of, cross your fingers, close your eyes and let the clutch out!
Steve
Fuller 9s & twin splitters were my favourite boxes but I had to disagree with my hero Pat Kennet about the 16-speed Volvo in the F88290. I found it a joy to use, but you had to take your time and remember to wait for the synchromesh to do it’s thing. Same thing applied to the ZF in the Daf I had- superb if you handled it properly.
But some of us will remember the Moss and the ENV gearboxes, won’t we? 
10 speed spicer is the worse ive driven in a fina sed atkinson strato
europleb:
10 speed spicer is the worse ive driven in a fina sed atkinson strato
Were’nt much better in roadtrains or constructors either!!
Hi, All
Like a lot more on this thread I’ve served my time on the TwinSplitter and like NMM remember the articles in Truck magazine about the American version --the “Snapper” and thinking at the time that this was the way forward.
But one gearbox ( it’s not actually the box ) not yet mentioned and I don’t know if it is extinct or not is MAN’s ComfortShift box, I thought it was the next best thing to the Twinsplitter and Fuller boxes.
Cheers Bassman
Bassman:
Hi, AllLike a lot more on this thread I’ve served my time on the TwinSplitter and like NMM remember the articles in Truck magazine about the American version --the “Snapper” and thinking at the time that this was the way forward.
But one gearbox ( it’s not actually the box ) not yet mentioned and I don’t know if it is extinct or not is MAN’s ComfortShift box, I thought it was the next best thing to the Twinsplitter and Fuller boxes.Cheers Bassman
I drove some ERF ECTs with ‘Comfort shift’ in. I hated it! Not only was it synchronised, but it had a stupid bleeper to remind you that you were not using it!! AAGH. Give me a 9-speed Fuller every time. Robert
I had a MAN demonstrator for a week with that Comfort Shift thing in it. The dash display kept telling me to “Press the clutch” after I’d changed gear and was well on the way to the next ratio!
We’re talking gearboxes here and the young fellas have no idea what we are on about. Mastering a gearbox back in the day was an art, a skill that needed a bit of thought and practice, but once you’d got it, you were a skilled man. For me, the 9 speed Fuller was top of the pile…AND…a Scammell gate change I thought was ■■■■ good.
over the years i think i’ve experienced most gearboxes , scammed gate change , fullers 9 & 13 speed , spicers ( crap )david brown , foden 12 speed etc , but the cream of the crop for me will always be the twin splitter . in the erf ec with the short gearstick it was unbeatable . cheers , dave .
rigsby:
over the years i think i’ve experienced most gearboxes , scammed gate change , fullers 9 & 13 speed , spicers ( crap )david brown , foden 12 speed etc , but the cream of the crop for me will always be the twin splitter . in the erf ec with the short gearstick it was unbeatable . cheers , dave .
Iam not as keen on the short stick Dave,I prefer the longer E series stick my self.