For anyone out there who doesn’t believe that truck driving is an acquired skill, watch this video and have your opinion changed. This video shows the driver of a Kenworth W900L driving and rowing the gears in his truck. All of that is well and good but we have to add in the detail that the guy is shifting a trio of sticks to operate the transmission and this isn’t exactly as easy as pulling the Lenco levers in Larson’s car!
We dig the hot roddy feel of the truck and the fact that all three of the sticks are super tall and have that Ed Rots feel to tham. This man has obviously been operating a truck with this sort of a pattern for a while because he is virtually seamless when it comes to hustling down the road and grabbing all the gears. The sad part is that we’re inches away from automatic transmissions really making inroads into the heavy truck market. The only good thing about them at this point that’s they’re expensive as all get out and they reduce the performance somewhat as compared to a driver clutching and shifting the rig.
This is not a very long snippet of film but it s high quality stuff. We could not imaging completing the procedure you see here for a year or two and while the old school guys like it, us whippersnappers aren’t that into it. Give us a single stick and enough gars to make it work!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A TRUE GEAR BANGING HERO AT THE TILLER AND THE STICKS IN HIS KENWORTH –
Its only a twin stick, and instead of a having a splitter button, he put the air selector to a dummy stick. He is good though!
I don’t care how “talented” he is but both hands off the wheel and not using the wipers while it is raining doesn’t add up to a good driver to me
Never mind the fact that he’s got the seat so low he can barely see over the damn wheel. Check out some of his other vids – he sitting so low in the cab you can barely see him when he drives by.
Two speed axle, a splitter, and a manual tranny. If the truck had any power he wouldn’t have to double the split. notice he rarely shifts the third stick. Useless reduction to me.
The splitter stick I agree is more form over function. The two stick hell if it’s what you know. I was never one for loving the two stick, the 18 was a vast improvement. I can tell you from the bits where you can see the scenery and the bounce of that cab this was a off-road application and deep reduction is absolutely necessary.
I’m sorry to disagree but he’s on paved road all the way.
That turbo whistle tho….
All in a days work. I wouldn’t drive one anymore but have when I startd 30 some years ago. Mostly on Hay Trucks or Bull Racks nowadays.
Maybe I could come out of retirement if their making a comeback??