Gear Jammer

Can someone please tell me what makes a super 10 so hard to shift. I have never drove one but I have a good friend who does and he claims it is incredibly hard to shift. The basis seems real simple to me, keep in mind he is a clutcher and I am not...

Onemoparnut

I never understood how or why someone would clutch a big truck. I tried it and it is so much harder than just shifting without the clutch. my 18 spd shifts nice with no clutch. Gear jammer is that your rig in your avatar?

Hvytrkmech

Shift it like this,
1st to 2nd move the splitter then push the shifter into neutral then back into the 1st gear slot.

2nd to 3rd, move the splitter, then up and over.

3rd to 4th, move the splitter, then pull the shifter into neutral then push it directly back into the 3rd gear slot.

4th to 5th, move the splitter, then pull the shifter straight down.

5th to 6th, move the splitter, then push the shifter into neutral then right back into the 5th gear slot.

6th to 7th, move the splitter, then up and over.

7th to 8th, move the splitter, then pull it into neutral then back into the 7th gear slot.

8th to 9th, move the splitter then pull the shifter straight down.

9th to 10th, move the splitter, then push the shifter into neutral then back into the 9th gear slot.

You can shift it like this with or without the clutch. The super 10 is a decent tranny once you get used to shifting it.

wannadiesel

I can see why a driver might learn to hate that. Sounds awesome for running empty, though. Just run through the pattern without touching the splitter and skip the odd gears.

Hvytrkmech

You would think you could just drive it like a 5 speed when empty but you can't. The spread between gears is too much. Once you master it you can skip a couple gears down low, but that is it.

DmaxEter

And it does not shift fast. I can shift a lot faster than it will let me. I drive them pretty regular and I must say I would hate to know I had to drive one every day. The Super 10 Top 2 is the same trans but the 9/10 split is automatic. It is pretty neat if you are in the moderate hills.

lowboy

on mine you dont have to pull it out of gear to split it just let off the accelerator and it will split.

Onemoparnut

yea I never heard of moving the shifter to split a gear just let off the fuel and it should shift.

Hvytrkmech

That is how that tranny is designed to shift. You guy's should try it, it works super slick. I can shift it like that without the clutch just as fast as I can shift a straight 10, 13 or 18 speed tranny.

Gear Jammer

I wish that was my truck in my avatar but I am not that lucky! So how does this tranny differ from a working 5 (lo-hi) in the older gas trucks other than rear end vs tranny shifting? I am just curious and I am wanting to drive one to see what the hype is.

Nick02Ram

The Freightshaker I drove at my old job was a super ten w/ 9-10 automatic, I never pulled it out of gear to split. Are you supposed to? Only thing I didn't like was the automatic part, it seemed like it couldnt decide when to shift. When it did, it took forever, and felt more like dead pedal for a second than anything else.

kerry.king

I drove a KW with the super 10 at a construction company Iw roked for a few years ago. Pulled belly dumps and frameless half rounds. I loved that tranny! And I double clutched it. Even when using the splitter. I did skip gears a lot too. Only thing I didn't like about it was it was slow to shift on clod mornings, but once up to op temp, she was good to go all day.

Onemoparnut

The 18 spd is basically an 8 speed with a double low that you can split on the low and high side it has 2 air selectors on the shifter. You have 1st direct and overdrive then 2nd direct and overdrive then 3rd direct and overdrive and so on. it is very nice when you are heavy or you just slow down a little and dont need to downshift a whole gear you can just split it down get it going again and split it back up.

Gear Jammer

So the super 10 ain't that bad then?

DiEseLjunKy

Dredging up an old thread I know, but the reason you bump it in and out on the upshift splits to "speed" shift it. Just letting off the accelerator and letting it drop into the higher split takes about a half second longer before it falls into gear. That's how I used to shift the super 10's in the old company trucks I drove. I won't do that on the splits in my truck though.

The old super 10's were air assisted splits. The last year they made super 10's before discontinuing them they were electronis assisted and called a lighting 10. The top 2 auto shift on a lightning 10 could be programmed to be manual. That's how the one I had was I always hated the auto shift it never shifted right. On the old air assisted ones you could convert them to manual some how or another or if it wasnt converted you could bump it out of gear when it was between 9 and 10 on the upshift, mash the accelerator to the floor and listen to the engine rev up and down, up and down, up and down, when it stopped "up and down" and started to rev up high drop it back into gear. From then on until you turned the truck engine off your top two would always be manual.

And I don't know if this is true but a freind of mine says super 10's have a weak output shaft and are not really a transmission you want behind big power. But they were ok for company spec trucks I was driving back in the day. Never understood why some people thought they were so hard to drive. It's probably the most ergonomic transmission you could have. Always got a kick out of that "30 year trucking veteran" Alex on Ice road truckers who said he'd driven 18 speeds all his life but he couldn't figure out a super 10???? It splits just like an 18 it just doesn't have the low/high range he was probably just full of BS.