Goin thru the gears
 

2 Stick! - A lost art...."A man's truck"..."Separates the truck drivers from the housewives"....It's guys like this who won for us WW2

I get a flutter just listening to it...> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adXl1fASYII&t=337s

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Drove a 1954 Kenworth hauling a cement tanker for years. Had a 250 Cummings & a set of 4 x 4 sticks. The kids would look in the truck, how do you drive that ??

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A MAN'S TRUCK!

I have to admit I've never seen a vehicle that had four (or more) gears to go backwards. Well maybe just one... But that was still super cool.

Here's what the Google says it looks like on the outside.

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suuuuweet ! !
Paul in CT

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That was in the Hemming’s daily post. I’ve driven thirteens, tens, eights and now ther’re all automatics. This guy would get a real kick out of what passes for a truck driver now...Mark

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My father used to say when you drive a big truck you need to know how to drive- because if you don't do everything right it won't move-Karl

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This may not be nice but I say automatic transmissions were the worst thing ever invented. If you cannot coordinate a clutch and brake how can you be a good driver. I'm sure there are many good drivers who cannot drive a standard. Did have the honor of teaching a friend's kid how to drive his Acura with a stick.

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That is an awesome video commemorating a lost art.

Amazing how technology has changed trucking vehicles.

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I drove a farm truck for a neighbor. It was a twin screw IHC with a DT 466 coupled to a 5x4. Have seen a YouTube video of a fellow with triple mixer sticks rowing through 18 speeds. I put a few miles in a KW with a 500hp Cummins and an 18 speed. One stick with two triggers was enough.

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That is so neat to see and hear, it brings back memories of my first log truck a 1946 White with a BIG 6 cylinder gas motor and a 5x3 set of boxes and no syncro's in either box. I was nineteen at the time, only one year older than the truck. I thought I was a pretty hot driver as none of the other guys would drive it because they thought it too hard to shift. I can still hear the sound of that straight stack along side the drivers side of the cab. Between that stack and chainsaws I'm nearly deaf today.

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My Dad hauled logs on the west coast (Squamish) from about 1964 until he retired in 1996. They ran nothing but duplex transmissions but in about the early 80's?? IIRC they switched the auxiliary trans to air shift with the air shaft trigger ion a dummy stick. The last few trucks he drove had 10 & 4's in them. Twin sticks would be too much for most drivers today on the flat let alone on west coast logging roads. This is one of the trucks he drove, late 60's Pacific. You can see the steam rolling off the brakes. No engine brakes in those days and they used water to cool the brakes.
[IMG]http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL159.../414097581.jpg[/IMG]

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I drove a B-series Mack tamden tractor, it had a four and a 5 speed trans, had to split the gears, up in one, down in the other, total 18 gears, took a while to get the hang of it

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They are a lost art to operate but I can't imagine doing all that clutching in today's backed up traffic. Some times around here it takes hours to make a few miles.

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Out of my league here, but just want to comment on my own lack of experience that should have got me killed when I was young and dumber... A "simple" 5 ton dump with a splitter, overloaded with gravel, going downhill. To the initial question "Can you drive it?" my reply that I'd figure it out was almost my last, as I really could have used some advice related to faded brakes and governors and downshifting and such!

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I know what you mean. I don't know if it's the same now, but the worst traffic I ever experienced was in the Tacoma, Washington area back in 2006 while attending the EFV8 Club Western National Meet....

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When my Dad was in his late 60's/early70's he had a hip replacement. When looking at the x-rays the doctor said to him, "you were a truck driver!". Dad said "yes, how can you tell", The doctor said "I see this all the time, left hip wore out the way yours is from years of double clutching".

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I feel that now. Wear, tear and a little rust sets in. I like the saying "if I knew I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself."

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its easier than you think, reason is the gear ratios in the big truck trannys all progress at the same engine rpm. a modern 13 spd for example, has a 400 rpm split. that means you watch the tach, run up to 1800, let off the throttle and at the same time pull the stick to neutral, then when rpms hit 1400 push the stick into the next gear up. no clutch except to start from a stop. the low rpms of a diesel mean slower gear speed in the trans, so its easy to feel the correct time to shove it in gear. after awhile you know the sound of the correct rpm, then never need the tach. i put a 5.9 cummins in a 47 diamond T a while back, and used a small twin stick mack 10 speed for the trans. commercial bellhousings are standardized into four sizes, so you can pick any trans you like.

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Obviously, you have never tried to access a bridge onramp in the City By The Bay.

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cas3 hit it on the nutshell. For those with a crunch box having trouble shifting, thats
how its done today on big rigs. Clutch only used for starting or reversing, other than
that= listen, these things do talk to you. As far as this 2 stick subject, I have a 1956
Ford 10 wheeler and I only use (aux) direct and overdrive.