Suppose you had the choice of two Volvo FH12s, 480 bhp, 08 reg, both with 450,000km on them and identical spec, and one was a manual and one an I-shift, which would you choose and why?
i-shift every time,clutch plate will be barely marked and the manual shift is a horrible cable job,hope this helps
I shift. As said manual is a horrible change. Get a real bad one and your shoulder will be shot by day 2. Clutch will be due anytime on an i shift with that mileage, but that will be the only one you ever do unless you keep the motor over 6 years
I Shift, ask Caledonian Dream & others if they have had many problems with their fleet. Different driver every week, full cap loads in tankers which must be the hardest thing on a gearbox and clutch, novice drivers, certainly to semi automatic boxes.
I took a manual FH from Tielt to Amsterdam and it felt like it had done over a million miles when it had done only half that distance & in Kilometres.
I am a convert as you may guess.
If you’re driving it yourself - manual. Set off in 1st every time though. Mine was replaced at about 920k.
If you’re putting a driver on it - I shift. I don’t give a ■■■■ who they are, unless you’re in the cab with them, they won’t set off in 1st every time. Then you’ll get a tidy clutch bill. Case in point, a firm i do a bit of groupage for had an '02 FH12 that had gone through 8 clutches before they sent it to Tilbury on a flat rack.
manual every time!.. stick a pair of the newer type gear cables on and the gear change will be sweet as a nut!
from an o/d point of veiw a manual box is far better/simpler if owt goes wrong…ie what would you do if you lost your air due to dodgy air valve or an air dryer problem?..well with i shift you will more than likely end up with the thing stuck in gear, which will mean you cant start the engine!..this may well seem a small problem but when down the road can mean an expensive call out charge! for a problem you could sort yourself.
i shift can be v good in regards of fuel returns as part of a fleet of vehicles but in my veiw it wont beat a good driver who is driving the truck whilst also buying the diesel themselves
moose
Harry Monk:
Suppose you had the choice of two Volvo FH12s, 480 bhp, 08 reg, both with 450,000km on them and identical spec, and one was a manual and one an I-shift, which would you choose and why?
I operate both each have their good and bad points
Manual as already said cable set up not the greatest idea Volvo came up with and clutch life can be compromised by starting to high up the box
I for one would have stuck with the version 1 set up and the old twin plate clutches !!!
I Shift Clutch life has been very good but I am concerned with replacement part prices for any of the control units.Breakdowns also concern me.Urban driving is a dream thou
On the subject of fuel consumption there is nothing much to pick between them
Harry,
on balance would opt for manual.
Had a 54 plate manual from new, did 850,000ks and had the box off twice for collapsed release bearing, but both times just dropped trailer, disconnected interlock on g/box, and bump started it to drive home.
Latest motor is an 07 plate I-shift with 470,000ks,had it since november and had gear selection problems twice, am now minus one arm and one leg 
(yes thats right, had to call volvo action service both times, ouch).
personally the I-shift makes me feel redundant. 
OVLOV JAY:
I shift. As said manual is a horrible change. Get a real bad one and your shoulder will be shot by day 2. Clutch will be due anytime on an i shift with that mileage, but that will be the only one you ever do unless you keep the motor over 6 years
unlikely an i-shift clutch will need attention at 450 000k,i sold mine on with 980 000k and it did a further 200 000k with new owner before it needed a new clutch,always leave it in neutral when parked up/engine ticking over,dont hold the wagon on hills/junctions with the throttle, as for the air going down with a dodgy air dryer,when it loses all its air it aint going anywhere whether its i-shift or manual
Davyboy:
OVLOV JAY:
I shift. As said manual is a horrible change. Get a real bad one and your shoulder will be shot by day 2. Clutch will be due anytime on an i shift with that mileage, but that will be the only one you ever do unless you keep the motor over 6 yearsunlikely an i-shift clutch will need attention at 450 000k,i sold mine on with 980 000k and it did a further 200 000k with new owner before it needed a new clutch,always leave it in neutral when parked up/engine ticking over,dont hold the wagon on hills/junctions with the throttle, as for the air going down with a dodgy air dryer,when it loses all its air it aint going anywhere whether its i-shift or manual
When I was on Coltons the clutches started going around the half mil mark. Was yours on R&M? I’m not doubting your figures, but I have known our Volvo dealers (barking) to change clutches and the driver never knew. Fair play if you owned it and know all the history though
We have I-shift on most vehicles, many of them are double shifted. So a different driver every 12 hrs.
No mayor problems, but you can break them with an idiot behind the steering wheel.
Had 2 boxes gone, both driver error, but in general very reliable, need to calibrate the clutch once a year and get more mileage out the clutch.
I drove myself the first series FH manual, didn’t dislike it, but with current traffic wouldn’t choose anything else as a I - shift.
Gotta be i-shift of over i-stiff anyday
OVLOV JAY:
Davyboy:
OVLOV JAY:
I shift. As said manual is a horrible change. Get a real bad one and your shoulder will be shot by day 2. Clutch will be due anytime on an i shift with that mileage, but that will be the only one you ever do unless you keep the motor over 6 yearsunlikely an i-shift clutch will need attention at 450 000k,i sold mine on with 980 000k and it did a further 200 000k with new owner before it needed a new clutch,always leave it in neutral when parked up/engine ticking over,dont hold the wagon on hills/junctions with the throttle, as for the air going down with a dodgy air dryer,when it loses all its air it aint going anywhere whether its i-shift or manual
When I was on Coltons the clutches started going around the half mil mark. Was yours on R&M? I’m not doubting your figures, but I have known our Volvo dealers (barking) to change clutches and the driver never knew. Fair play if you owned it and know all the history though
Like Davyboy says a million Kms on a clutch should be attainable with an auto, but as caledoniandream says they’re not idiot proof.
Had one of those so called ‘‘proffesional know all the driving hours/WTD regs dicks’’ driving for me in my Auto Actros, I was with him one day when we were stopped on a hill at some lights. After nearly a minute the dashboard lit up and the siren started wailing, 
‘‘CLUTCH TEMPERATURE CRITICAL’’, turned out the nob end had been holding it on the accelerator just enough to ride the clutch and hold it on the hill, ■■■■■■ 
That’s just it, if treated right. How many drivers knock into neutral in traffic etc. Was only going by the fact my old firm had 13 i shifts all with similar miles, and when I was in mc truck at maidstone in 2006 while having a brake problem sorted. The fitter said they had just started doing 02 and 52 reg clutches
I think the i shift is the way to go,it’s what Volvo are all about now the same way Scania have the V8 thing going for them.I heard the booster is an expensive job to do on them though and the joystick can fail aswell.Both job’s are €1000 to repair . Beware of an auto with a pto this is where the booster can prematurely ware out,i learnt the hardway
Any other make of vehicle and i’d have said manual every time.
Not with Volvo’s auto, the only auto i’ve driven where the box is up to job of doing some work, all others are fine on the open road, but ask 'em to do a bit of work no chance…the Volvo box will be in the correct gear every single time, almost never needing to override the auto function.
I’ve driven hundreds of thousands of miles with them various models going right back to an L plate FL10 Geartronic, all have been totally reliable, though other similar vehicles have suffered problems mine never did.
Another reason though, Volvo’s manual isn’t a good box to use in any way, constant baulking and the change too slow and ■■■■■■■■■■ like all synchro boxes.
harry ive got 2 fm12s one on an 05 one on an 07 both i shift, the 05 on a 1st generation box, the 07 2nd generation, they are both 8 wheel muck away tippers never touched either of them, the 05 done over 500k around london on very hard work loaded to the bollox every day, ive also got 6 manuals and for me it would be i shift every time no question they rare the dogs swingers!!!
I’m with German geezer I’m driving a fm muck tipper with I shift and it’s great even off road it’s ok. My firm has an 08 fm artic on landfill work and it’s got I shift and has had no problems.
Purely from a drivers point of view it’s gotta be the I-shift. It’s the dogs’ dangly bits!