Everyone Should Get A Kick Out Of This!

So this isn't legal in the USA? You have to take both hands off the wheel to shift.

I am not even sure what I just witnessed.

So this isn't legal in the USA? You have to take both hands off the wheel to shift.

Nothing illegal about it. It's what is known as a Triplex(3 sticks) transmission. This is a truck from way back in the day. It's how trucks used to be.

Those gear shifts have been extended. The ones that normally came in those trucks were shorter and you used to have to reach in between the steering wheel.

My how the trucks have changed

I can't even begin to imagine WHY someone would want to drive like that. the amount of problems and the learning curve...

gosh that truck had so many switches and gauges too... and here i was thinking trucks were complicated NOW... aint got nothing on the old ones.

that whistle noise... my head hurts from the couple of minutes i watched that video....

I can't even begin to imagine WHY someone would want to drive like that. the amount of problems and the learning curve...

gosh that truck had so many switches and gauges too... and here i was thinking trucks were complicated NOW... aint got nothing on the old ones.

that whistle noise... my head hurts from the couple of minutes i watched that video....

That high pitch whistle noise is called a turbo. Lol. The older trucks, especially KW and Pete's, did not have good insulation from outside noise or engine noises.

Those gauges may look to be alot but alot of trucks back then had up to 25 gauges on the dash or more. That basically monitor everything on a truck. Most truck were mechanical back then and did not have a computer to watch stuff like they do now so the driver had to do the watching.

I can't even begin to imagine WHY someone would want to drive like that. the amount of problems and the learning curve...

gosh that truck had so many switches and gauges too... and here i was thinking trucks were complicated NOW... aint got nothing on the old ones.

that whistle noise... my head hurts from the couple of minutes i watched that video....

That high pitch whistle noise is called a turbo. Lol. The older trucks, especially KW and Pete's, did not have good insulation from outside noise or engine noises.

Those gauges may look to be alot but alot of trucks back then had up to 25 gauges on the dash or more. That basically monitor everything on a truck. Most truck were mechanical back then and did not have a computer to watch stuff like they do now so the driver had to do the watching.

Did I mention how complicated those older trucks must have been?

I'm sure it became 2nd nature to those who drove them way back then but that initial learning curve must have been interesting.

Let me put this into perspective. In the video you see a 3 stick(Triplex) setup.

We still have the same thing today it's it's simpler than it use to be. The stick on the far right is the hight and low, just like on a 10 speed, like in most truck today. The stick in the middle is the actual gear shift the runs through all the gears. The stick on the far left is the splitter and is use to split each gear from 1st gear up to 18th.

This is a 18 speed gear shift head. 3 sticks built into one. Lol. See? Much simpler.

And here is the shifting pattern that today's 18 speeds have to do.

Guyjax, thanks for putting that video in perspective with an updated shift system.

But you gotta admit it's cool to see all those chrome sticks waving around. (And whatever you do, don't touch the shift with the skull unless you know what you're doing!)

The only issue is that is a photo of a 13 speed shift lever. You can tell by the color of the button on the side.

Grey button on the side with a high low on the front is an 18 speed Grey button on the side with no selector on the front is a super 10 Red button is a 13 speed and has a selector on the front also. Blue button is a is a 15 speed and also has a selector on the front.

Even if the shift pattern is worn off you can still figure out what you are driving. Except I have not driven a 15 yet and probably never will. I have driven all the others.