As I passed my class 2 in a standard 6 speed box I was
wondering what gearbox’s I might come across and do
you have any tips on using them.
trucknetuk.com/phpBB2/search.php?mode=results
click this link and you,ll find gearbox stuff or type in a type of gearbox in the search field which is opposite the lower trucknet banner
the more you think about gearboxes the more chance you have of cocking it up…they all do the same thing just operate slightly different,just drive around the yard and get used to it b4 you hit the road thats wot i do, and i’v never come across a gearbox yet that throws me out to much.good luck 
Where do you start. There are hundreds of different gearboxes out there but many of them operate in a similar way.
The majority of gearboxes out there are of the ‘Range-Change’ variety. Take an 8 or 16 speed box for example. (As found in DAF’s, Volvo’s, Merc’s etc)
With an 8 speed you will have a standard H pattern for the first four gears. You will then either have a switch to select the high range or slap the gear lever through a ‘gate’. Returning the gear lever to the 1st gear position will give you 5th gear. You then carry on up the box to select 6, 7 and 8.
A 16 speed box will have another switch to select high and low in each gear.
This is just one example, but the principle will be the same for the majority of gearboxes.
First time out in Atlas Scania you will find out as I think this has the nine speed box. (An 8 speed with a crawler gear)
If you see a driver parked up anywhere, ask if he/she will explain and show you how one works. My english isn’t good enough to explain properly! 
kitkat:
the more you think about gearboxes the more chance you have of cocking it up…they all do the same thing just operate slightly different,just drive around the yard and get used to it b4 you hit the road thats wot i do, and i’v never come across a gearbox yet that throws me out to much.good luck
The Eaton Twin Splitter might be an exception! If a new driver can manage one of those, then there won’t be any problems driving anything else!
my first ever artic job 10 years ago was for Securicor from Newbury to Manchester on a night trunk in an Iveco with a twin splitter. Talk about into the fire 
smcaul:
my first ever artic job 10 years ago was for Securicor from Newbury to Manchester on a night trunk in an Iveco with a twin splitter. Talk about into the fire
Did you get the hang of it though? Or was it just crunching gears all night?
If there was one thing that worried me sick, it was the fact that I would come across so many different gearboxes that I really didnt have a clue about using, but once you get the genral gist of how they work, as others have said, they are basically all the same. there will be two levers or switches. One for selecting High or Low Range, and one to ‘Split’ each singular gear. so you have, 1st to 4th in the normal manner, following the black, then once you ant the next gear, ie 5th, flick the swith and go back to where 1st it…
1st…3rd
5th…7th
Flick the switch!!
2nd…4th
6th…8th
And the Split works like this…
Your in in 6th and you start to climb a slight hill, you hear the engine revs drop so you flick the switch push the cluth and the gearbox drops one Half of a gear… but you are still in 6th gear…
Easy eh??.. 
Different manufacturers use different ways to do this but they will all do the same thing…
Your explanation on ‘Range-Change’ is easy
enough to follow killsville. I will probably be fine
when I get to drive one and I will do what KitKat
said by driving it around the yard and get used to
it b4 I hit the road. AndyM that does sound easy 
convoy:
Your explanation on ‘Range-Change’ is easy
enough to follow killsville. I will probably be fine
when I get to drive one and I will do what KitKat
said by driving it around the yard and get used to
it b4 I hit the road. AndyM that does sound easy
honestly conor you ain’t got much to worry about.as far as the eaton twin splitter is concerned,i think that most company’s have trucks with gearboxes that are pretty straight forward nowadays.
Convoy like you I used to worry about different gearboxes, but so far I haven’t had to much bother with them.
The first nock box I drove was a hire truck. My TM took me to pick it up and not wanting to look like the idiot I am I didn’t ask any questions. So after a quick brief from the hire man I jumped in managed to get it in third and trundled sedately out of the yard not daring to risk a gear change pretending to sort out paper work as I went. Got out of the Yard and took off up the road found fourth and I was away went for fifth and came to a grinding halt I bet they could hear the crunching back in the yard. Anyway I kept with it and got the hang after a few miles. The truck was an old MAN which was well past it’s best. On the plus side a few days later when I gave it to an expienced driver he had trouble with it as well. Not as much as I had, I got to like driving it in the end.
I am not worried about gearbox’s now as the ‘Range-Change’
and 'Splitter don’t sound to hard to use and will get easier to
use with time and experience.
Thanks
Did you get the hang of it though? Or was it just crunching gears all night?
Yep, I eventually got the hang of it, but I did not stop on either the way up or the way back. After that I got a job with Parcelforce who at that time had 90% of the fleet as twin splits. It was a great box once you got used to it, a real lazy mans box, thats probably why I liked it so much 
smcaul:
Did you get the hang of it though? Or was it just crunching gears all night?
Yep, I eventually got the hang of it, but I did not stop on either the way up or the way back. After that I got a job with Parcelforce who at that time had 90% of the fleet as twin splits. It was a great box once you got used to it, a real lazy mans box, thats probably why I liked it so much
It’s a Love and Hate thing with Twin Splitters.
Almost like driving an automatic once you get the hang of it!
The first time I drove a twin splitter I had no problems, in fact I got to really love it by the end of the day, the second time was more of a love hate thing, but overall I find they make driving a more relaxing experience as you just can’t rush them.
Those evil 3 over 3 Volvo things, now thats a different matter, I use to drive for a company that had a few of them, so would see one of these devil daughters every few months & I just could not adapt to only having 6 gears in this configuration. I hate these things.
daxi:
The first time I drove a twin splitter I had no problems, in fact I got to really love it by the end of the day, the second time was more of a love hate thing, but overall I find they make driving a more relaxing experience as you just can’t rush them.
Those evil 3 over 3 Volvo things, now thats a different matter, I use to drive for a company that had a few of them, so would see one of these devil daughters every few months & I just could not adapt to only having 6 gears in this configuration. I hate these things.
Me too Daxi, on both counts .
Honestly there n’owt to worry about… I was worried before i’d driven one, but all I was told was…
Pre-select the switch…
so, in 4th flick the switch and nothing will happen UNTIL you dip the clutch and drop it back into 1st, which is now 5th… those three and a half words were all I was told about ‘truck’ box’es and it has been enuf to see me thru a few trucks now… (8, 12, and 16sp box’es)…
Must admit I haven’t had one of these infamous ‘Eaton twin splits’ yet… They sound fun…
Luv
Chrisie… 
That’s good advice Chrisie thanks .