I know there’s a thread about this somewhere but I can’t seem to find it, so I’ll make another one…
Tomorrow I’m being sent out on the trunk at work, it’s a TG-A artic with auto gearbox. I’ve driven the auto rigids at work and managed fine but can someone explain to me the best way of controlling the slow manouevring speed please. It’s the first time driving an artic since passing and I’d rather not cause any damage to it . I know the D and R settings go forwards and backwards but how useful (or useless) are the Dm and Rm positions. Hopefully that makes sense
Mark,
I had one for about 3 yrs and never felt it needed the dm or rm speeds, they are both very low gears and unless you are reversing or crawling with very heavy loads on steep inclines i doubt you’ll find much use for them. I did find on some steep undulating A roads it was better using the column stalk in manual mode, as with any auto box they haven’t yet fitted one with a pair of eyes that can read the road ahead!
I drove one of these for 11 months, I found the low speed setting useful for coupling up, check the trailer height as they tend to lurch even in the low mode, can be a bit tricky if you have to squeeze under a heavy trailer, I used to keep my left foot over the brake pedal to avoid bashing the 5th wheel. also don’t leave them in gear when stationary as they are a conventional transmission with a dry clutch.
Thanks for the advice it’s quite an easy run I hope, trunk from our depot to the other one, round the corner to the other, back again then return 2 hours up the motorway to my home depot. Hope the bays are easy, only reversing I’ve done is for my test which I passed last week.
When reversing use RM all the time - R is quite fast. Going forward you will only ever use DM if you are manouvering close to someithing. Always use the park brake when you stop - just like you did in your test. Starting off - you need to tickle the revs just enough to get it to engage the gear before you let the brake off (you will feel it clunk in).
Once you are rolling use CC all the time and let the computer make the decisions. The only time it fails is when running heavy on undulating roads and it changes down more than you want it to - trying to keep the speed up.
When you approach a roundabout - force a downchange well before and let the speed drop off (it will change down a couple of gears). As you get to the point of decision then either stop and let the gearbox find 4th ready to set off or; if you can go then you give the throttle a quick blip to force the downchange and away you go. Sounds complicated but it soon becomes second nature.
I have been driving these for 3 years now and think they are even better than the Eaton twin splitter.
I force the down change when approaching an obstacle like a roundabout by using the exhaust brake.Knock it off just as you reach the hazard and you are ready to stop or boot off in best gear.
Santa:
When reversing use RM all the time - R is quite fast.
If only I’d rechecked this thread last night. Im sure I suffered whiplash on my first attempt of reversing I’ll give Rm a go next time I take it for a spin.
Santa:
When reversing use RM all the time - R is quite fast.
If only I’d rechecked this thread last night. Im sure I suffered whiplash on my first attempt of reversing I’ll give Rm a go next time I take it for a spin.
Yeah deffo second the use of RM for reversing, gives you more control and slows you down…
I hpoe it is better than the one i drove the other day.Decided to loose all the gears on the A205 at Lewisham.Switched everything off for 30 seconds, restarted and was away.
Later on kept coming up with memo 27 and 40.
Santa:
When reversing use RM all the time - R is quite fast.
If only I’d rechecked this thread last night. Im sure I suffered whiplash on my first attempt of reversing I’ll give Rm a go next time I take it for a spin.
Yeah deffo second the use of RM for reversing, gives you more control and slows you down…
How did you get on with the reversing?
First one was a blindside from a side bit into the main yard, that was errm interesting. It was a case of “I know where I want my trailer and I know how to get it there” but the bit in the middle went abit crazy . The gearbox didnt exactly help much. Second reverse was blindside into a bay, had a quick shunt to straighten up then straight back. Third and final reverse, again a shunt to straighten and to get equal amount of trailer in the mirrors then straight back with a few slight turns to tweak the back end. Definately went better than what I thought it would.
. I know the D and R settings go forwards and backwards but how useful (or useless) are the Dm and Rm positions. Hopefully that makes sense 
also don’t leave them in gear when stationary as they are a conventional transmission with a dry clutch.
it’s quite an easy run I hope, trunk from our depot to the other one, round the corner to the other, back again then return 2 hours up the motorway to my home depot. Hope the bays are easy, only reversing I’ve done is for my test which I passed last week.