matt4500:
Up hill start at T junction turning right
Manual Scania R480 hauling timber full load. I build up the revs in first gear, get a clutch bite and release hand brake and she either stalls or the revs just die. I manage to get out eventually but its a struggle (after some bouncing). what am I doing wrong? What can I do to improve?
Even tho I passed my test in a manual the trailer was empty and I’ve only driven auto’s since then.
There must be a way to do it smoothly… or smoother
Cheers for any replies, I’m tucking in for the night 
You are driving it like a car, look at the clutch of a lorry as more of an on-off switch, especially loaded, don’t slip it, especially in a Scania. Get the revs up but only slightly, release the clutch, don’t hesitate and don’t hold it in partially, and of you go. If she stalls or bogs down (revs decreasing) you are in too high a gear. Fully loaded, even on a steep hill a 480 should have no trouble in either 1 lo or hi.
You are running a 480hp 11+ litre inline 6 Diesel, that is a bucket full of torque, the clutch wasn’t designed to hold that amount of torque without it slipping and then burning. Slipping a clutch will only keep the power from going to the drive axle and all that torque will stay in your clutch plate.
It is a fine balance, you want to get that clutch up smoothly and at just the right moment, if you only hold it slightly and your revs are too high, she will start bouncing, that is the computer reducing the revs to prevent the clutch from burning out.
Next time you are loaded, find a quiet place with a bit of an incline and practise. Then when pulling away from a standing start, just disengage the clutch, she won’t stall, then add the power. Exagerating it by doing one at a time will show and teach you the limits of your lorry and show you how the computer kicks in to prevent you from stalling it.
She will only stall if you let the clutch go too quickly, doing it smootly and apply power smootly just when the clutch is almost entirely dis-engaged will give you the smoothest start, the steeper the hill, the earlier the power needs to come in, if she starts bouncing, then you added the power too soon or have too much clutch engaged, so let go of the clutch and power and then add power again once the clutch is fully disengaged and the bouncing has stopped, on a Scania it may take half a second or so before the power comes back in, it may seem at first that the throttle is not responding, just hold it and let the computer catch up.
In any lorry, you can’t have the revs too much above idle with any of the clutch engaged without it burning out. Another good practise is to put left foot flat on the floor as soon as she rolls and only put it back on the clutch if you intend to change gears, once changed, get your foot of. Do this for a few days and you will see a change in driving habits that suit a truck more.
A scania 480 will develop most torque just above idle, so revving the crap out of it is counter productive, keeping the revs low and change up quickly without it dropping too far will give you the most torque. Torque gets you moving, not HP. Depending on your gearing, you want to keep the revs between 1100-1300 while pulling away , if you let it drop too far the computer will kick in trying to keep you from stalling it, revving it too high will reduce the torque and just add noise. Even at idle with the clutch disengaged you will get 80-90% of your torque available, she is not going to stall on you.
(max torque is 2500Nm @1000RPM, it drops from 1300RPM down to only 1700Nm @1800RPM [these numbers are E5, the RPM is the same on E6, just less torque] the engine develops 470hp @1300RPM and reaches max HP @1500RPM)
You can always spot the newbies in an RDC or anywhere else requiring slow sharp turns, you can’t miss the whiff of their clutches when they have to maneuvre at slow speeds, especially if they are heavy, they still drive it like a car.
