3 Stick Shifter

[RustyJC]

This should generate some conversation! Flakey, but sort of entertaining. I'd hate to have to drive this in Houston freeway traffic.

As near as I can figure out:

Left stick - splitter
Middle stick - main box
Right stick - low/high range



Rusty

 

[NIsaacs]

Cool video, I am a fair hand with a 2 stick but not that good, he was smooth as silk. I also can't figure out what kind of combo of trannys he had. It almost seems like a 15 speed roadranger, somehow converted to manual shift on the low/high side and the spliter rather than air. Good sounding Cummins too



Nick

 

[RustyJC]

Looks like 5+4 in the main box/low & high range plus a splitter with the low & high range and splitter converted from pneumatic switches to sticks.

Rusty

 

[NIsaacs]

Watched the video again:-laf, I don't think there is a 4 speed as in 5x4, the left stick is the splitter and the right stick is low/high with the middle the main 5 speed. At about the 5. 15 on the video he is in the low side and goes through 5 in the main, goes to the high side and 2nd in the main, which is actually 6th. It also seems like the left stick is a manual air valve, I hear air when he shifts it. He also (sometimes) seems to shift the main to neutral when he shifts the left stick then goes right back to his orginal main box gear... . the guy is confusing me:-laf Mike, we need some help here!! Rather than a 15 speed, I think it a 13 speed. At the 5. 15 when he starts in the low side, then shift the main 5 times, then goes to the high side and back to 2nd in the main, thats 6th, that is how a 13 speed shifts only with air, then starts using the splitter which gives him 2 gears in every main box gear.



Nick

 

[RustyJC]

Nick,

I think we're saying the same thing. He goes through 1-5 in the basement (low range) then 2-5 in the main box (6-9, if you wish) in high range, splitting the high range gears to give 13 gears overall.

That's what I meant by 5+4. He uses all 5 gears in the main box in low range, then the top 4 in the main box in high range.

Rusty

 

[NIsaacs]

Yes, now why couldn't I say it that simple



Nick

 

[mwilson]

Watched the video again:-laf, I don't think there is a 4 speed as in 5x4, the left stick is the splitter and the right stick is low/high with the middle the main 5 speed. At about the 5. 15 on the video he is in the low side and goes through 5 in the main, goes to the high side and 2nd in the main, which is actually 6th. It also seems like the left stick is a manual air valve, I hear air when he shifts it. He also (sometimes) seems to shift the main to neutral when he shifts the left stick then goes right back to his orginal main box gear... . the guy is confusing me:-laf Mike, we need some help here!! Rather than a 15 speed, I think it a 13 speed. At the 5. 15 when he starts in the low side, then shift the main 5 times, then goes to the high side and back to 2nd in the main, thats 6th, that is how a 13 speed shifts only with air, then starts using the splitter which gives him 2 gears in every main box gear.



Nick

I have watched it once with a grandson hanging off of my right shoulder asking all kinds of questions... ...



I will study it again tonight. I hear the air as well, wondering if there is a toggle to the front of the left shift handle.



That turbo sound is simply awesome, I could listen to that 14 hours a day and still not tire of it.



Once figured out I'm sticking it on Facebook to see how my driver buddys do with it.

 

[NIsaacs]

with the low & high range and splitter converted from pneumatic switches to sticks.



Rusty

I think you are right, only they are still air valves switched with a stick. That is why he is so smooth, no rpm matching or danger of grinding, he is still good tho.



Nick

 

[RustyJC]

I think you are right, only they are still air valves switched with a stick.

Agreed.

Rusty

 

[NIsaacs]

Now here is the real deal:-laf

Nick


Some comments in the comment section;

Arn't trucks supposed to be drivin at low rpm, sounds like it is about to explode... .

It's an old Detroit 2 stroke, that how they sound when they are happy... .

Old truckers were a tough bunch, but they retired deaf... .

 

[Hoefler]

100% manual, no air shifting. Left stick is the splitter, Center stick in the main box, Right stick is the range. Listen to it carefully, it is in every gear regardless which stick he moves. The air you hear is the backflow of the boost through the turbo when he lets off the fuel.

 

[GCroyle]

I'm lost, fun to watch. Wish we could have seen the road to see terrain they were running.

 

[NIsaacs]

100% manual, no air shifting.

Watch the video at 2:15 and 5:00, he shifts the splitter under full Jake retarding. Has to be air shifted.



Nick

 

[Hoefler]

Nope, Turbo chuff.

 

[mwilson]

The Lincoln, Maine division of the TDR says it is indeed either a 13 or 18 speed Fuller with a valve at the base each of the left and right stick. Left stick being Direct / Overdrive and right stick is Hi-Low range. Center stick is the main box.

He pulls the center stick out of gear and back in after selecting with the left stick which is one way of shifting sans clutch pedal. I hear the snick of an air valve, I'm sure of it.



He may simply have used a pair of A-3546 range valves to get this done.

If I could hear that sound over an 8V-71 back in the day it's absolutely no problem hearing it in that KW... .



I do need to view it again to see if I can pin down the 13 vs 18 speed question.



I guarantee you that Super Trucker wouldn't be long ditching all that crap and going back to the factory knob if he was hauling 100,000 lbs plus up here... ... ... :-laf

First time that he blew a shift and had to back down a slippery hill because it took too long grabbing two or three sticks to make a shift he would learn... .



Mike.

 

[NIsaacs]

The Lincoln, Maine division of the TDR says it is indeed either a 13 or 18 speed Fuller



I do need to view it again to see if I can pin down the 13 vs 18 speed question.







Mike.

Mike, go to u-tube, you will find the same guy shifting before he did the cobbled up mess:-laf, shifting a normal (I think 13spd)... .



Nick

 

[mwilson]

Mike, go to u-tube, you will find the same guy shifting before he did the cobbled up mess:-laf, shifting a normal (I think 13spd)... .



Nick

I just reviewed it at the 5. 00 mark or so, a 13 speed for sure. If it was an 18 speed he would have been splitting the low side as well.



All I can think of with that mess is rapping my knuckles against the dash about 10 times a day... ... .....



Mike.

 

[RustyJC]

Mike,



He takes off from a full stop around the 5:17 mark, IIRC. Notice he doesn't split the low range gears 1-5. He splits the high range 2-5 in the main box (6-9, if you prefer) for 13 speeds total.



(Oh, you just said that!! Sorry..... )



Rusty

 

[sg5054]

I was a Detroit tech for a number of years in the 2 stroke days. Loved them. 4-53t (all 53 series for that matter) were god awful loud! A lot of it came from the blower. Nothing like 2 stroke power though. I truly do miss that sound.
I remember a kid bringing a IH straight truck into the shop for work. We went for a road test to find the problem. He must have been in his mid 20's or so. 6V-53 and 2 sticks. That kid was good! Smooth, never missed a beat, never ground a tooth. . Touched the clutch once in the driveway and never again. Impressive. It was a farm truck. Said he had been driving it since was big enough to handle it.

Now here is the real deal:-laf

Nick


Some comments in the comment section;

Arn't trucks supposed to be drivin at low rpm, sounds like it is about to explode... .

It's an old Detroit 2 stroke, that how they sound when they are happy... .

Old truckers were a tough bunch, but they retired deaf... .

 

[Dl5treez]

I believe that truck is in the New Brunswick area. Around Saint John. Way other wrong side of Canada from me, but pretty close to mwilson.

It's a 13 speed with the range selector and splitter converted from buttons to big arse levers. He takes both hands off the wheel all the time, I hope he never experiences bump steer... .