Double Clutching, Who Knew....

My son is on the road now with his trainer. It's his 4th day and he has not caught on to double clutching yet. He is getting very discouraged. Any advise/insight.

Time. That's really all I can offer up. It can take time to get the hang of things. I know it was a few weeks before I really got shifting without grinding every gear. Just tell your boy to keep on keeping on and it'll come. Good luck to him

Thanks Heav

My advice is this: Don't concentrate on the clutching aspect of the shift, concentrate on the RPM's. It seems the RPM's and traveling speed will dictate the shift and help facilitate it more than the clutch aspect. This coming from a driver that has floated gears for many years. I really don't use the clutch at all other than to get going from a stop or get out of a gear every now and then under braking when I can't use my left foot on the throttle to get the transmission out of gear. I'm having to double clutch right now as I have a student I'm training and it would be pretty silly to harp on double clutching if I'm not doing it when I drive.

And if your son doesn't already know this, pass this formula along. (assuming he's driving a standard 10 speed transmission) When upshifting, go up to 1300-1400 RPM and shift. The truck should go into the next gear around 900-1000 RPM. When downshifting try to shift at designated speeds. From 10th gear, shift to 9th at 45. 8th at 35, 7th at 25, 6th at 15. You shouldn't need to downshift in low range much unless you're in stop and go traffic and going 10 mph or less. if you add the numbers of the speed together it should tell you what gear to downshift into. 45= 4+5= 9th. 35= 3+5=8th etc...

One last thing you really shouldn't have to shift every gear down. I usually downshift to 9th, brake to 25 and downshift to 7th when exiting. That really varies depending on the ramp speed. Now maybe some states require you to shift every gear during the test but Missouri and Florida don't. I don't have a definitive answer to any other state.

Hope this helps =)

Wouldn't be a rookie without grinder a few gears LOL. I had an awful time when I went out the first few weeks. Like Heavy stated time is the best cure. Something that I did was out to heavy a foot on the clutch. So to remedy this I used a little dancing trick for memorization which was tap tap for up shifting and tap rev tap for down shifting. It not only helped with my heavy foot on the clutch, it helped synchronize my thought process. Overtime it's just like a two step practice makes perfect. Give him our best B

Tell him that pushing the clutch isnt really necesary to just act like he is going to push it.

down shifting tell him to just push TOUCH the cluth to get it out of gear then bring the rpms up to about 15 and itll suck it in if he started the process at 10.

my biggest problem is im at a red light. 1000 ahead another. i pull out get to 4th and just roll slo hoping ittl change to,green. but it doesnt lol. when i get to 4th i always get it ready for 5th then instead i have to down shift but leave it up. so i technically try to go to 7th instead of 3rd.

but really even if he just appers to press the clutch and floats it in smooth noones going to notice. unless they are don there getting kicked everytimehe shifts.

My advice is this: Don't concentrate on the clutching aspect of the shift, concentrate on the RPM's. It seems the RPM's and traveling speed will dictate the shift and help facilitate it more than the clutch aspect. This coming from a driver that has floated gears for many years. I really don't use the clutch at all other than to get going from a stop or get out of a gear every now and then under braking when I can't use my left foot on the throttle to get the transmission out of gear. I'm having to double clutch right now as I have a student I'm training and it would be pretty silly to harp on double clutching if I'm not doing it when I drive.

And if your son doesn't already know this, pass this formula along. (assuming he's driving a standard 10 speed transmission) When upshifting, go up to 1300-1400 RPM and shift. The truck should go into the next gear around 900-1000 RPM. When downshifting try to shift at designated speeds. From 10th gear, shift to 9th at 45. 8th at 35, 7th at 25, 6th at 15. You shouldn't need to downshift in low range much unless you're in stop and go traffic and going 10 mph or less. if you add the numbers of the speed together it should tell you what gear to downshift into. 45= 4+5= 9th. 35= 3+5=8th etc...

One last thing you really shouldn't have to shift every gear down. I usually downshift to 9th, brake to 25 and downshift to 7th when exiting. That really varies depending on the ramp speed. Now maybe some states require you to shift every gear during the test but Missouri and Florida don't. I don't have a definitive answer to any other state.

Hope this helps =)

Best post ever!

This is exactly how it works. Terrain doesn't matter (affects MPH, and not the engine RPMs in nuetral). You just have to glance a few times at the instruments until your cerebral cortex learns it (horray for muscle memory and automated brain functions!!!). :)

My son is on the road now with his trainer. It's his 4th day and he has not caught on yet. He is getting very discouraged. Any advise/insight.

Have him look up yourboyethetrucker on YouTube. There is a 3 part series on 2x clutching. Very helpful!