After 15 years in the same POS Ford F800 mechanics truck, it's become time to update/ upgrade. My KW guy says 10spd overdrive with 4.56's and my Pete guy says a 10spd direct drive (8LL?) with 4.11s. I have a 5+2 now, and top range is good from 45-62mph. Until I drop to 45 mph, it has to be in top gear. Is either 10 SPD easier to "split" or shift? Is one better than the other for highway? What about back road, ie...40 mph driving? Regardless, I am so looking forward to driving faster than 62 mph shutting on the rev limiter. Next will be the Palfinger vs Stellar questions. TIA
What engine, what GVW, what speeds do you need to go? Do you go off roading? Have you considered an automatic? If it has to be a 10 speed, the "straight 10" that is like a 9 speed is way better than the "super 10" that is like your 5+2. The super 10 is just a low budget transmission for company drivers. But think over all the options before buying anything. I am not a real fan of 10 speeds and I have come to like automatics a lot in recent years.
26k gvw, 84" CA, PX7, 325hp/750tq.... I average 12k mile a year maintaining fleet for a sewer contractor that does municipal sized projects. I've got a 230/660 Isuzu 6h with an rds3000 Allison in a C7500 here. It will perform pretty awesome just about anywhere, but, I still would rather row my own.
in a new 26K chassis with prob 100 Hp more the regular 7 spd manual will be enough
straight 10's got my vote it's simple and you are not flicking a switch every 5 seconds :my2c
I like the Allison automatic, simple and no shifting. I don't think you can go wrong with the straight 10 speed if that is what you want.
Your KW & Pete guys are both kinda talking the same end result …… only your rear end ratio's make the difference ….. both the 10 over and 8LL are great tranny's ….. I would forget about the Auto's if it's a bush truck as well as a hwy rig, way less maintenance with the gear jammer. …… U'r a mechanic i'm assuming think about the KISS principal. One thought tho ??? …. I'd keep away from the Spicer 10spd and stick with the Eaton Road Rangers ….. JMHO ….. cheers
agreed eaton road ranger... I have a spicer 10spd that sucks!
Straight 10, super 10 and 8LL Are 3 different transmissions Pj
I have sent way more repairs in for screwed up Roadrangers than screwed up Allisons in the same type of truck. These modern Allisons just do not break for the most part.
How exactly do you screw up a road ranger? I have never seen a problem with a 10 speed box. But have seem all sorts of problems with allisons. Just curious about what you have seen break?
you are right johndeere123 I work at ups in the freight division and all they run is straight 10's. because they are so reliable. they got a few auto's in 2012 to try out just to see how they did. and alot of them have already been to the shop with transmission problem's. shifting gears may get old after a while but my thinking is if you can not shift gears with out tearing up a transmission you don't need to be driving it
The most common problems in my application (local delivery, lots of shifting) are bent or worn shift forks and back box synchros behaving strangely. The first requires the transmission to come out, the second doesn't. Of course there is clutch replacement and adjustment, also, and don't discount it because it isn't cheap. What series Allison were they? And what kind of problems? So far all I have seen has been a computer that went berserk, and $1000 later it was fixed just fine. I know a good driver should be able to drive a 10 speed just fine but where do you find enough to fill all your trucks all the time and keep them from leaving? I mean, in the olden days a good driver ought to be able to drive a Spicer 16 speed or a 5x4, but why did we switch to Roadrangers.
Also, just look at a few threads around here for what can go wrong with Roadrangers, such as twisted shafts and a few other things. Plus with the auto the off road factor and the red-light-turns-green factor and the upshifting-up-steep-hill factor are all great advantages. Fuel economy generally is better also with an auto.
i don't know which allison they are. our terminal has never had any that I know of we just run 16 trucks they sent a guy from harrisburg VA and he had one it was a international he said it was a 6 spd and it had a manual mode most of the trucks have 340 to 360 hp I don't know if that helps any on clarifying which series they are. he said that it change gears constantly and it was starting to slip. oh I was wrong ups got them in late 2011 but they were considered 2012s. but since I been there we never had any problems with our 10speeds except the usual clutch job and the city drivers are very hard on them trucks. the trucks get drove on the city rout during the day and at night long haul. I drove a allison one time it was in a newer box truck it was alright but I was not impressed at all. I'll just stick to 3 pedals and a stick
One thing I noticed was that you had to have the company engineer come out and reprogram them when new to have the shift points right. From the factory the shift points are lame and often lug the engine. Once you get that fixed it will never change gears constantly as it is smart enough to know if the truck can pull another gear or not and if not it will not upshift. They do lots of smart things like that now but it has to be programmed right. Once you get it right it should be as simple as uploading the same settings to all similar trucks.
ups would never do that thow once it rolls off the lot all it gets is seviced or repaired
if you notice most all of these big trucking companies have 10 speeds so there most be some good reason for getting 10 speeds
If you're going off road and might sometimes tow, you need more gears. Met one driver of a 10" wide lowboy, also hauled 100' stuff with the little rear under car rig with a second driver. He had CAT power, something like 650hp to the ground, fifteen speed main, four speed brownie, and two speed rears. Still ran out of power on one hill with a prestressed concrete beam, had to have a D9 high drive hook on and "help" him over the top. You can never have too much torque, or too many gears, lol.
just wondering can you still get a 4 speed aux
We had a problem with ours getting jammed in one gear and not shifting. Would have to shut off the truck and restart the engine 3 or 4 times before it would unjam. That and transmission lines would rust off every few years and leave a driver stranded.
I ran an RTO 12510 ten speed overdrive transmission,in front of a 1241 4 speed for 13 years. Smooth, easy shifts and a decent ratio reverse gear. One of My favorite setups to drive. If the lighter versions are anything like it was, I would install one in a heartbeat.
If I am not mistaken, RT-anything 10 speeds are gone, and replaced with FR/FRO 10 speeds which somebody told me were based on a European design. I don't know if the old truck we sold years ago had an RTO 10 speed but the newer ones that I knew had the FR series I didn't really like. They seem to not like to go in and out of gear and are very finicky on how you match speeds or they will just grind and not go in. The RT series 9/13 speeds are much easier to drive and I wish the FR 10 speeds worked like them but they don't. This is all experience in lighter duty transmissions with me, I don't know if the real big ones are better or not. My advice would be to try to test drive one before you buy it because an uncooperative transmission makes for a real long day, and I reiterate, I still like automatics and think they are generally money savers in the long run.
Finally got it.
Looks good. What body did you get? I was just out your way my dad lives in plum