Covemastah
Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
Oh. Across the street at the landscapers ,, gotcha
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Covemastah
Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
@over9five , they sent a friend of mine to Littleton with an mt God did he bitch. Not my job. Blah blah. They rented a lot down there some place ??
brownwannabe
Member
you can test out on a small International through a private cdl company that uses a synchro 5 speed, was just like driving a Honda. got my restriction off that way. I haven't heard of any of the larger carriers that offer their own cdl schools, Swift, Prime, Knight etc etc, I don't think any of them have you learn or test on a manual.
retiredTxfeeder
cap'n crunch
When I started in feeders in '85, we had 5 speed GMC's with wet clutches. We were trained to double clutch every shift in feeder school.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
If I recall, weren't those air assist clutches?
retiredTxfeeder
cap'n crunch
I don't recall. I know the clutches were filled with transmission fluid, and it gave us an extra fluid level to check everyday.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
The clutches did have fluid...I agree.
The clutch pedal was air assist and didn't require massive quads to operate it.
The GMC Astro's I drove had 5 speeds, air assist clutch and rigid mounted cabs that were popping the rivets out.
The reason I remember this is because, as a newbie, I jumped up in the cab, started the engine and crammed it in reverse.
The air hadn't built up yet and I had to drive around in a circle, in reverse, until the air built up enough to operate the clutch to get it out of gear. This is the reason we were trained to park in neutral in case the clutch air leaked down.
The clutch pedal was air assist and didn't require massive quads to operate it.
The GMC Astro's I drove had 5 speeds, air assist clutch and rigid mounted cabs that were popping the rivets out.
The reason I remember this is because, as a newbie, I jumped up in the cab, started the engine and crammed it in reverse.
The air hadn't built up yet and I had to drive around in a circle, in reverse, until the air built up enough to operate the clutch to get it out of gear. This is the reason we were trained to park in neutral in case the clutch air leaked down.
retiredTxfeeder
cap'n crunch
Now that you mention it, I remember jumping in the tractor and firing it up as a newbie. It didn't have enough air pressure to get it out of gear. Someone had parked it in gear and it locked up. Those GMC's had Keysor air conditioners retrofitted, and they always leaked water into the cab. The carpet always smelled like a wet cat.
Yup, right on 2A on the way to Ayer. On the road the book company CPU is on...wth the name, cant think of it now.
1A Auto moved there from Pepperell too.
Yeet
Not gonna let ‘em catch the Midnight Rider
Pardon my arrogance here but couldn’t you have just revved up the rpms with the clutch pushed in to get your air back up? Or did the clutch not work at all? I wasn’t around when this was a thing, genuinely curious.
2Down2Many2Go
Well-Known Member
Im curious also, but i think he could've did what you said had he not put it in reverse. Maybe once put into gear it's locked up until tha proper psi !
Yeet
Not gonna let ‘em catch the Midnight Rider
Maybe. But if someone left it in first to park then you jumped in it after the air bled down, there would be no way to get the air up before it stalled if the clutch didn’t work and it was stuck in first.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
Correct.
We were also taught to assure the transmission was in neutral before starting the engine.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
The clutch didn't work at all until sufficient air had been built up.
Johney
Pineapple King
If the clutch didn't work and someone left it in gear and it leaked down, how did you start the engine?
Shiftless
Well-Known Member
Hit the button and you are moving if the air has bled off.
Remember! The brakes need air to operate also, if the system has bled down the brakes have released too. On top of that, these strong diesel starters can fire the motor and if left in the lowest gear they still could over run the brakes even if there was some pressure.
Siveriano
Well-Known Member
Yeah thats what i figured. Talk to one of the people in charge and what they explained to me is that we are short on drivers so that the company choose what jobs not to cover and lucky me the 5 i bid on were on the cut. Make sense tho.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
You get a mechanic or a fellow feedah driver with a jumper hose to charge your system.
trickpony1
Well-Known Member
Don't the spring brakes activate if the air is lost?
I thought that's what a leak down test (remember that thing known as a pre-trip?) was for?
Shiftless
Well-Known Member
I know most have heard the old guys saying the young guys have no clue what we started out in! This was said for decades! When it comes to vehicles? This is NOT the same company I worked for in what you see today! They ran everything till they couldn't get parts for it!
No fault of the mechanics! Don't get me wrong! They did the best they could considering most tractors where I worked out of were 15 to 20 years old with crazy miles on them that were 2 driver tractors that were shared. Those days it was all about minimalism! If its not there it doesn't need service or have to fail. There was no A/C. No power steering. They bought some Mack trucks and took the P/S off them for us to use!
So to answer your question? Spring brakes were as good as could be expected with crazy miles on them. Most drivers couldn't tell their springs were shot as we always had trailer on 100 percent of the time and the trailer masked the issue a bit! On top of that the weights were totally different than the weights in trailers today at UPS!!! I started feeder in early 1979 and Yes my first truck was a 64 international only 15 years old. I think it had? Heck cant even remember! I want to say 4 or 5 million miles on it. That was a boatload for a 1960's tractor.
So I as sit back and look back at what I have written! Man I am glad I have been retired 15 plus years!
