Auto trans in Dump truck
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Forum Name: Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks
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URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=197378
Printed Date: 25 Apr 2025 at 10:06am
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Topic: Auto trans in Dump truck
Posted By: ACinSC
Subject: Auto trans in Dump truck
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 7:46am
| Saw a guy yesterday driving with his arm hanging out the window. I could hear the trans shifting when he left the stop sign. Don't understand how it was downshifting when he was stopping? Not like the trucks I drove years ago. Thanks |
Replies:
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 11:27am
| 90% of ALL Class 7 and 8 HD Trucks are Auto or Semi Auto trans now. Few to any being constructed Old School as decreasing few can drive them. |
Posted By: ACinSC
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 12:42pm
| Thanks Dave, sounds about right. Kinda funny, my grandma drove a school bus and now my baby sister does. No way Sis could drive a manual transmission. |
Posted By: Codger
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 1:07pm
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I rode the school bus until the 1974-1975 school year. Most were no air conditioning, and five speed transmission w/two speed rear axle. 350 V8, or 366 V8 Chevrolet engines. Diesels, and automatic transmissions came along after I was out of school. ------------- That's All Folks! |
Posted By: ACinSC
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 3:53pm
| Late 60's our school bus was probably a 5 speed and I think a gas engine. Thanks |
Posted By: thendrix
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 4:38pm
We have a Japanese mini truck we use at the farm and it's a 5 speed. I made my girls learn how to drive it and now they love it. It's funny to see new people come around and see them sitting in the truck and they say "wow they're driving at that young?" Then when they take off they get a funny look on their face and say "does that thing have a clutch?" You better believe Ole Daddy rares back and says "yes, yes it does".  ------------- "Farming is a business that makes a Las Vegas craps table look like a regular paycheck" Ronald Reagan |
Posted By: John m
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 4:44pm
| There's a lot of dump trucks now a days with auto shift. They have become a very durable trans. Most all semi trucks have went to the auto. I remember grade school days when I had to ride on the steps (always someone else's fault) and they would be shifting steady. High school years I don't know much about because it seemed I was always kicked off. Lol. Good ole days |
Posted By: ACinSC
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 5:27pm
| I remember our bus driver Mr Simms changing gears with the floor shifter. Can't remember what I had for breakfast though. Oh well |
Posted By: Walker
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 5:29pm
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I'm kind of a celebrity cause I got to ride a mid fifties Dodge with a hemi in it. Rams head emblem on the hood too as I recall. Genuine chrome plating over potmetal. |
Posted By: thendrix
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 5:45pm
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All of the semis that come to the farm are Volvo's and they all have automatics. There's one Mack that they bring the forklifts on and it's still manual but that's all ------------- "Farming is a business that makes a Las Vegas craps table look like a regular paycheck" Ronald Reagan |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 6:15pm
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Don't matter what the tranny is, 99.44% of 'truckers' around here don't know HOW to drive let alone being nice to the rest of us. ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: klinemar
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 6:21pm
| All of the MDOT Plow trucks are Allison Automatics. They hold up well. And they are a pleasure to drive when clearing intersections! |
Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 6:25pm
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Combination of compact mechanics and electronic controls, with constant mesh of the automatic makes for a very durable and effective transmission nowdays. The automatic in cars has brought technology forth to a point where scaling 'em up to go into large trucks is no big deal. Look at the torque numbers advertised on these turbo'd gas and diesels used in cars and light trucks... it's putting their 'smaller' automatics to task, but when you look at scaling that up to Class 6,7,8, it's just a little bit more size. ------------- Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest. |
Posted By: DougG
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 6:36pm
| We got an Chevy 8500 with a Cat an AUTO,,, its pretty sweet ! Just mash the GO Pedal- and shes gone ! |
Posted By: Dusty MI
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 7:08pm
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I've got a '89 Ford E-150 van with a straight 6 with 4 speed with Over/Drive. ------------- 917 H, '48 G, '65 D-10 series III "Allis Express" |
Posted By: Lars(wi)
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 7:25pm
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Driving semi’s with ‘auto-shifts’ suck. They down shift when you don’t want them too, they up shift when you don’t want them too. Slow as turtles from a stop. No warning then BAM, not shifting and your dead in the water. And worst of all, they have increased the ‘driver pool’ thus suppressing wages. ------------- I tried to follow the science, but it was not there. I then followed the money, and that’s where I found the science. |
Posted By: 200Tom1
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2023 at 10:40pm
| GM had automatics in the 1970's in some tandem axle dunp trucks. Don't get stuck loaded, they didn't go too good if you got them down in the mud. |
Posted By: Coke-in-MN
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 1:47am
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Drove a Ford tandem dump with old Allison 5 speed with a 2 speed rear , CAT V8 , for 3 years mostly city driving so seldom used low range . Thing is the dang truck weighed in at 23,000 empty and boss never wanted over 11 ton in box . He then bought another Ford tandem with Cummins and 5 speed Allison and it weighed about the same but had a foot longer box - so ended up putting another axle under it as city said had to be tri axle or more as they didn't want tandem any more on jobs . Both my other sons Quint's were also Allison Auto but with electronic push button shifting , as old Fords were a manual selector and governor shift , new trucks were all electronic modules . The old Auto transmissions are now hard to find anyone who can set or adjust them to shift right , new ones are all computer controlled . ------------- Faith isn't a jump in the dark. It is a walk in the light. Faith is not guessing; it is knowing something. "Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." |
Posted By: Charlie175
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 5:45am
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In the 80's the military was struggling to find recruits that could drive manuals so they pulled in a bunch of M35 2.5 tons and converted them to Autos (Engines changed to a CAT also) until the new line of trucks came out that were all Automatics. ------------- Charlie '48 B, '51 CA, '56 WD45 '61 D17, '63 D12, '65 D10 , '68 One-Ninety XTD |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 5:57am
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it's just another 'dumbing down'...... just wait for the battery powered, self driving dumptrucks to come out !!! ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 6:43am
NYSDOT, also. They started making the change from Road Rangers to Allison automatics in 2013. I had been a supervisor for quite a while then, so I drove the Road Rangers for years. When we got the first automatic, no one wanted it (which was not normal for a new truck). I assigned it to a snowplow route that had about 30 traffic lights per round trip. The guy that had that route quickly changed his mind about the automatic. When we got the second new truck with an automatic everyone wanted it! It was ironic that the guys that resisted the change to automatics the most were the ones that constantly had clutch problems with their trucks!
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klinemar wrote:Posted By: 8070nc
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 6:43am
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Its sad. It seems that few people want to develop skills so equipment becomes more complicated and harder to maintain. I know im old school but I dont want a damn computer to decide for me if the engine will start or when to shift gears. Or on new cars and such if the window will roll down ------------- 1984 80780 1957 D14 DES 300 with 25000 engine 616 tractor |
Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 6:54am
A lot of people that thought they "had the skill", really didn't. They lugged the engines, didn't downshift when stopping and rode or slipped the clutch. Some drivers kept their foot on the clutch enough to keep the throw out bearing engaged all the time. I don't believe any of the "big three" offer manual transmissions in their pickups for the same reason; high failure rates and high warranty costs.
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Posted By: John m
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 7:04am
| All the hours I spent going through Chicago, Detroit and the other big cities during rush hr inching forward 10 feet and stopping I think an auto would have felt good on the clutch leg. Wait to long and another car would squeak in so ya had to stay close to the car ahead of ya. Your right about there is a lot of people think they got it mastered and there goes clutch and throw out bearings. But I do like the ole 18 and 13's when ya start pulling the mountains. |
Posted By: Dusty MI
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 7:10am
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I've got an E-150 with 4 + OD on the floor. It's been so long since I've driven it, I'm not sure about that transmission. ------------- 917 H, '48 G, '65 D-10 series III "Allis Express" |
Posted By: plummerscarin
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 7:16am
| My cousin's fleet got transitioned to automatics. Said got tired of replacing clutches as today's drivers don't have the skill. Also why you flags on trailer wheels. A coworker years ago when we hauled grain dumped the clutch on the cabover and twisted off the driveshaft |
Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 1:01pm
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Back when I drove truck I only used the clutch for starting and stopping never for shifting |
Posted By: Codger
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 2:00pm
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I alternate daily between automatic and manual. Clutch is only used to start, stop and unload driveline for downshift.
------------- That's All Folks! |
Posted By: klinemar
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 7:46pm
| I worked with a guy who still double clutched. Said it was how he learned to drive truck. Boss was on him constantly about wearing out clutches. The Allison Auto's in the plow trucks had a feature to lock out the 2 top gears of the 6 speed so that the transmission was not constantly up shifting and down shifting. This worked great with a front plow and wing in heavy snow. |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2023 at 8:16pm
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Allison still makes Autos, still see them in the Medium duty to Lower end Class Seven trucks. Eaton/Used to Be Fuller, has a Next Generation called AMTs. https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/transmissions.html" rel="nofollow - Automated manual transmissions | Fuller transmission | Eaton There are still available Semi Auto Transmissions, shift the first Low range gears and the truck ECMs do the rest. NONE of these masterpieces of Over Engineering can be Towed with drive shaft in place, the Eaton Semi Autos if even pull out of a ditch engine not running Trans is RUINED, that from the rep to a Towing Service that destroyed SEVERAL before stopping.
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Posted By: DonDittmar
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2023 at 5:51am
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Automatic/automated transmission cut drive line failures by probably 90%. When its your truck and you are driving it that one thing, but when you have to HIRE a driver to put in that seat, anything you can do to limit failures is money in your pocket. Little to no trucks are being configured "old school" because there are little to no "old school" drivers left to drive them.... ------------- Experience is a fancy name for past mistakes. "Great moments are born from great opportunity" 1968 D15D,1962 D19D Also 1965 Cub Loboy and 1958 JD 720 Diesel Pony Start |
Posted By: klinemar
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2023 at 2:50pm
| Oldest Son was an Army mechanic from 2000 to 2008. One morning the Motor Pool Sargeant came in and asked if anyone knew how to drive a gearshift? Matt raised his hand. Sargeant said your not old enough! Matt said I came from a farm! Sargeant said follow me and took him outside. There was a M35 deuce and a half that had just came from a rebuild. Matt said I know I can drive that Sargeant as my Reserve Unit back home had M35's. Sargeant told him to deliver to a Unit at Fort Bliss as no one else could drive it ! |
Posted By: Calvin Schmidt
Date Posted: 29 Sep 2023 at 1:13pm
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I'm an old codger and have driven most manuals. Had a KW cabover with a twin stick 4x4 pulling doubles back in the early 70's. A few 5 and 2 speed rears with a short fourth. Had a Chevy single axle with and Allison and a 2 speed axle. That was a nice combo. Years ago at a job in Manitoba, the mixer trucks were all Allison with a 4 speed auxiliary which was great on jobs sites. Brother in law and nephew have a fleet to triaxle dump trucks. Just got two new Western Stars with 500 hp DD15's and Allison trannys. Love them. Another friend who had both autoshift and Allison dump trucks told them to go for the Allison. Worth the extra money. My farm trucks are still old school 9 and 13 speeds. ------------- Nothing is impossible if it is properly financed |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2023 at 11:50pm
| back in 1971 our local school buses had auto's in them, they'd wind up and sounded like they were gonna granade before they shifted. a buddy of mine runs all MACK trucks, and he won't buy anything with an auto tranny in it. musta had some back luck sometime? |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 06 Oct 2023 at 8:30am
| Wanna screw with a Millennials head, tell them can have a car FREE if can drive it well enough to pass drivers tests. Show up with a stick/clutch. |
Posted By: Dakota Dave
Date Posted: 06 Oct 2023 at 10:12am
| the farm I harvested beets converted their trucks to autos. I liked them Driving a 12 hr shift with a road ranger I was wore out. We straight load from the harvester so you drive alone the harvester matching speed and stay 18” away. 1/2 mile later you exit the field acceletrate to hwy speed. 5 miles later wait in stop and go at the pier. Usually 20 stops till your turn on piles. Back to the field and do it again. Usually make 10 to 12 trips in a shift. autos a lot less work my clutch foot doesn’t hurt when I go home. I use the same fuel as I did before and the autos accelerate better. We’re running quad axles at around 72k. After aluminum boxes they wieght around 22 k empty |
Posted By: 1955CA
Date Posted: 06 Oct 2023 at 9:05pm
That's why I retired from being an owner operator. I was getting embarrassed to admit to anyone that I was a trucker. The industry and it's drivers has definitely gone down the toilet. The new breed needs automatics.....because they have their laptop velcro'd to the steering wheel with their head sets on, telemarketing while they drive down the center of the highway wiping out others and all the guardrails.  Oh.....was that my outside voice?
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