Thread: How many of you drive stick?

I have both. Well my wifes Toyota is stick and my jag is auto, and we kinda share them.

The only big truck I ever drove (quite illegally and only on back roads) was an International with a supercharged Cummins and a tranny consisting of a
10 speed Roadranger with a 4 speed spicer. That is a lot of shifting! This truck was used for wireline on oil/gas wells.

Originally Posted by Wullie

I don't drive/use/operate one on a regular basis any more. After 3 MILLION miles of running junk with 4spds, 5spds ( with and w/o a "working 4th & 5th" you're quite welcome to try to figure that mess out on your own), 6spds, and on up through 18spds on a single stick, and virtually every combination of 2 stick transmissions ( the Brown-Lipe trannies in the old Macks are sweet shifting SOB's, but I was always fond of Dana-Spicer's 6X4 with double overdrives and double underdrives) known to man, I don't care if EVER have to shove a clutch in as long as I live.

FYI, 6x4=24 forward gears and 4 reverses.

GREAT sport in stop and go traffic. LOL

GIT SOME!

What the heck was that!?!? Dang... I had no idea!

GIT SOME my @$$!

Originally Posted by earcutter

What the heck was that!?!? Dang... I had no idea!

GIT SOME my @$$!

That my friend is OLD SCHOOL trucking. What it is, is two transmissions. A "main" box and an "auxiliary". There were "married" boxes where the two trannies were physically hooked together as one unit, and un-married trannies that were joined by a short drive shaft. Married boxes were more efficient and a bit easier to shift.

The rig in the vid is typical Mack with the aux shifter nearest the driver, Spicers were the other way around. You can see in the vid that every time he moves the outside, stick, he repositions the stick near his leg and then shifts it a couple of times until it's against the dash board, then he shifts the main and does it all over again.

The reason behind a set up like that is because "back in the day", diesel engines had a very narrow torque band. The torque band or power range was usually only two or three hundred rpm wide. So if an engine made it's best torque between 1800rpm and 2000rpm, everything either side of that was either lugging or just making more noise. Lugging was hard on engines and over revving didn't accomplish much except to go a few mph faster.

Two transmissions if set up correctly would give you 200 to 300 rpm splits between the gears and you were able to get the most out of the beast. Bear in mind that most all of the inline 6cyl engines were governed to not turn more than 2100 to 2200 rpm. V-8's were turning 2500-2600 ( except for the monster 3408 Cat engines which stayed around 2200 rpm and made TONS of torque and HP. We called 'em "never late V-8's).

Nowadays, two stick rigs are obsolete. Reason being is due to great advances in diesel engine technology that have allowed the engines to make peak torque across 800 or 900 rpm, so needing a gear every 250 rpm is pretty much useless.

Originally Posted by rolodave

The only big truck I ever drove (quite illegally and only on back roads) was an International with a supercharged Cummins and a tranny consisting of a
10 speed Roadranger with a 4 speed spicer. That is a lot of shifting! This truck was used for wireline on oil/gas wells.

I ran an old Pete with a set up like that. It was pretty sweet. I'd leave the aux in direct and go through the 10 and then shift the aux to over drive. Only reason the four speed was in that rig was that the boss hated carrier bearings in drive lines.

And here I thought I was gonna see ol Wullie show an old Harley with a tank-shifter!

Originally Posted by Wullie

That my friend is OLD SCHOOL trucking. What it is, is two transmissions. A "main" box and an "auxiliary". There were "married" boxes where the two trannies were physically hooked together as one unit, and un-married trannies that were joined by a short drive shaft. Married boxes were more efficient and a bit easier to shift.

The rig in the vid is typical Mack with the aux shifter nearest the driver, Spicers were the other way around. You can see in the vid that every time he moves the outside, stick, he repositions the stick near his leg and then shifts it a couple of times until it's against the dash board, then he shifts the main and does it all over again.

The reason behind a set up like that is because "back in the day", diesel engines had a very narrow torque band. The torque band or power range was usually only two or three hundred rpm wide. So if an engine made it's best torque between 1800rpm and 2000rpm, everything either side of that was either lugging or just making more noise. Lugging was hard on engines and over revving didn't accomplish much except to go a few mph faster.

Two transmissions if set up correctly would give you 200 to 300 rpm splits between the gears and you were able to get the most out of the beast. Bear in mind that most all of the inline 6cyl engines were governed to not turn more than 2100 to 2200 rpm. V-8's were turning 2500-2600 ( except for the monster 3408 Cat engines which stayed around 2200 rpm and made TONS of torque and HP. We called 'em "never late V-8's).

Nowadays, two stick rigs are obsolete. Reason being is due to great advances in diesel engine technology that have allowed the engines to make peak torque across 800 or 900 rpm, so needing a gear every 250 rpm is pretty much useless.



I ran an old Pete with a set up like that. It was pretty sweet. I'd leave the aux in direct and go through the 10 and then shift the aux to over drive. Only reason the four speed was in that rig was that the boss hated carrier bearings in drive lines.

Dang Wullie... you get a pass brother! That sir, is a narrow band and well, driving in any city would just about see me having a... well, I just couldn't do it. I would never drive stick again either!! Awesome description by the way.

My uncle "back in the day" drove truck. I was too young to know what he was doing, but for a couple of summers he took me out for a haul. He was a long haul guy (so would you be if you were married to his wife lol), and he seemingly knew people all over the country. He never let me sleep - he ensured that by blowing his horn lol - it would scare the life out of me lol.

Oh how I romanticized his life, and still did actually... until I read that description lol! Good gosh man lol. The idea of crossing that bridge between Detroit and Windsor with high winds and rush hour traffic....

Awesome. I'm only licenced up to a Heavy Ridged. No Semi licence, so I won't experience anything like what Wullie has in his video.


Mick

Originally Posted by MickR

Awesome. I'm only licenced up to a Heavy Ridged. No Semi licence, so I won't experience anything like what Wullie has in his video.


Mick

Probably a good thing. Driving those things is a living but it ain't no life.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

And here I thought I was gonna see ol Wullie show an old Harley with a tank-shifter!

Been there and done that. Jockey shifters too.

I learned to drive in an old Chevy truck -- "three on the tree!" First car was a "four on the floor with a fifth under the seat." I went MANY years before I returned to my roots, but I'm glad I did. My wife bought me a 6 speed 911 S2 (heavily modified) and I've not regretted it one bit. Straight razors, manual transmissions, fountain pens -- men should be men!

The wife driving today...





Mick