Quote:
Originally Posted by BillT
When I was driving for a Lumber Yard, the Clutch Rod dropped out of the '64 International 1600 one day. I crawled under it and determined that there was no way to fix it right then and there and called the office to let them know. I told them that they were going to need to tow it in, although I mentioned that I could just drive it back without the Clutch. They really liked that idea and gave me the go-ahead. I finished unloading it and on the way I went, starting off in granny gear cranking it over. I did my best to time the lights, traffic, etc so as not to stop any more than I had to and it all worked out fine.
Now getting back to Shifting w/o the Clutch (other than emergencies), I agree with what someone mentioned on another truck board one day. If the Trans has Synchros, you should "not" Shift w/o the Clutch, but if is a Non-Synchro Trans, it is OK to.
Now, me personally, I always use the Clutch. With a Road Ranger Trans, I Double Clutch every gear up and down. Although many out there don't, I have found that I can shift faster and smoother with the Clutch, especially when downshifting.
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With an experienced driver, shifting without the clutch is not an issue. The syncros do help, and of course shifting WITH the clutch is easier, no question. Double clutching with good syncros does not help, but it does not hurt anything either. It probably would limit the wear on the syncros, but it puts a bit of extra wear on the clutch, so it all comes out in the wash. It definitely IS faster to shift with the clutch, but that was not the purpose of this exercise. I would not recommend shifting the way I do to anyone who is not already experienced doing it. There is a good chance that you WILL mess up the transmission if you do not know what you are doing. God knows I have messed up more than one learning how. I had a STACK of old three speed Muncies that I TRIED to destroy when I was a kid (OK, I know. I was STUPID back then). I wanted a four speed, but could not justify BUYING one to my mother unless all the THREE speeds were useless. It was because of that, that I learned how to shift without a clutch, AND how to rebuild standard transmissions. The road in front of my house looked like an airport landing strip with all the skid marks in front of it. I would come flying over the hill at about 80, downshift from third to second at 60, and from second to first at about 40. Every now and again, the transmission would go BANG! and I would spend the next half hour swapping in another three speed. When I went through all the good ones I had, my mother made me rebuild them using the good PARTS from the bad transmissions. The truck fell apart before I went through my pile, so it never did get that four speed. It DID catch fire, but I rebuilt it after that, too. What eventually made me get rid of it was that the floor rusted away so bad that the cab started spreading and I could not open (or close) the doors without chaining the back of the cab to the front of the cab. That, and one brake would lock up on a regular basis. I carried a jack, lug wrench, vice grips, and a sledge hammer in the truck at all times. It got to the point that I could spin the lug nuts off, knock the drum off, spin the adjuster back, and replace the wheel in just ONE traffic light cycle.