Road test help!

[eyewannaracethetruck]

I am re-scheduled to take my initial road test this week. I failed the road test 3 weeks ago for 3 reasons.

1. I had horrible difficulty backing the vehicle into a marked spot.
2. I had trouble eliminating "clutch roll."
3. I had trouble finding the gears in the fine piece of machinery that I was driving.

I believe that I have figured out why I had so much trouble backing the vehicle. The On-Road Sup that gave me the test had told me how to adjust the mirrors -- the top one so that I could just barely see the top-rear corner of the car and the bottom one so that I could barely see the bottom-rear corner of the car. It didn't occur to me, until a day or so after the test, that with the bottom mirrors adjusted like that I was not going to be able to see the rear tires nor the white lines. Now it makes sense that, if I am to put the car where I want it, I have to be able to see the tires and the lines that I want to put the car in between. Problem solved(I hope!).

As for the clutch roll, during the test I solved the problem by letting the clutch out a little bit and giving the engine a little gas. I didn't know that this isn't the way that they want you to eliminate clutch roll. Am I supposed to eliminate it using the hand brake? Can someone please tell me how to properly eliminate the clutch roll?

The last problem I had, finding the gears, is probably because I am not used to the shift pattern in the 800 and how close together the gears are. The only shift pattern I have ever seen is 1st gear all the way to the left and up, 2nd left and down, 3rd middle up, 4th middle down, 5th right up, and reverse right down. I think that this problem will probably go away with practice. However, maybe someone can help me with this problem also.

If I can solve these 3 problems(and remember to keep my foot off of the clutch pedal unless I am engaging it), I believe that I will pass the road test and be in driver training W/E June 9.

Thanks in advance for any help!

eyewannaracethetruck
Ocala, FL

 

[brett636]

I always have the big mirrors set so I can see the side of the car from top to bottom. The little mirrors are there to cover the blindspots left by the big ones. I imagine the sup wanted you to have one pointed up so you would see overhangs, tree branches, and other obstacles not viewable by the rear camera. Your best defense against that is to inspect any areas you back in to before you actually back in.

As for the clutch goes that is just a feeling you have to get. When I drive a manual package car I just let the engine idle as I release the clutch, and as I feel the car rolling foward is when I start to apply the gas. Once I've taken off a few times I get the feel for it and I can drive it just as I drive my manual honda civic.

The only package car I ever encounted that had a 5th gear was the training car I drove during my driving school. all the cars in the building that I have driven were either 4 speeds that included one low range gear, or a 5 speed that also includes a low range gear. The 4 speeds I have driven were not marked on the shifter handle, but the 5 speeds usually are. The low range is what you might have been using as a first gear. Its completely useless in everyday driving. Start off in what you would consider 2nd, which in reality is your true 1st gear. You can use the low range gear if you like to get used to the clutch as its easier to take off in, but once your on the road driving you will find its just not practical to use.

I hope this helps and goodluck with your test!

 

[outamyway]

Having the mirrors set to see over hangs is ridiculous. Like Brett636 said, that is something that should be scanned for before you even start backing.

I adjust my mirrors to see traffic, not for backing. I want to see all traffic on either side from my doors to the horizon. I usually set my top mirrors so I can just see the edge of my car and the top 1/3 of the mirror shows the horizon. The other 2/3 show anything below the horizon, to the rear of the car.
I set the convex mirror to show anything below where the top mirror stops.

You should be able to see partially behind you with at least one of the mirrors with minimum movment of the head.

We have about 150 cars at our center and I don't think any of them drive the same, except for maybe the automatics. Transmissins very from car to car, so be prepared to adjust when you make it through your 30 days. You may not be driving the same car everyday.

The only problem I've ever had with the 5 speed manuals is with changing from 1st to 2nd. 2nd gear seems to be crammed in there between reverse and 4th and most of the time you'll end up in 4th instead. It takes some practice to get it right.

Unfortunately they don't let you practice.
Good Luck!

 

[Harry Manback]

heh heh, I've never heard one called..."fine piece of machinery"

 

[dillweed]

To prevent rollback my sup said to leave the e-brake on and let off the clutch until I hear/feel the thing take off. Pain in my butt and a good way to kill it. I did my best at that during a safety ride but have since gone back to just using the regular brake until I feel it grab.

It's a rotten shame they don't let you practice in the yard with those trucks prior to road test. Silly geese. dw

 

[eyewannaracethetruck]

Thanks to everyone for your help! I am taking my re-test either today(Thursday) or tomorrow.

I received lots of help with the clutch roll and mirrors, but no help on the backing of the vehicle. Do ya'll think that it will help to have the small mirrors adjusted so that I can see the rear wheels at the very bottom of the mirror?

 

[outamyway]

Thanks to everyone for your help! I am taking my re-test either today(Thursday) or tomorrow.

I received lots of help with the clutch roll and mirrors, but no help on the backing of the vehicle. Do ya'll think that it will help to have the small mirrors adjusted so that I can see the rear wheels at the very bottom of the mirror?

It's a little hard to explain, but just try to aim where you want to go by looking down the sides of the truck(through your upper mirrors). You don't want to use the convex mirrors to much because they distort space and distant.

Again, it takes practice to get good at it. Wait till you have about 8 inches of space on both sides to work with.
Hopfully your sup will be a bit lenient about it if you do well on the rest of your test.

Good luck!

 

[eyewannaracethetruck]

Thanks again for your help. I am on my way tp be re-tested now! Pray for me please!!!!!!!!

 

[dillweed]

Good thoughts and prayers being sent your way. I remember how terrifying it was to take that road test. Hard to be smooth with a clutch when your legs are shaking so badly! Let us know how it went, dw

 

[CFLBrown]

Are they making you start that P8 in 1st gear?

The P8 has 3 gears

2nd
3rd
4th

 

[ozzey]

BEST THING WOULD BE TO ASK IF YOU COULD COME TO THE BUILDING AND PRACTICE ON YOUR OWN TIME. OTHERWISE RENT A U HAUL AND PRACTICE USING A LARGE VEHICLE IN SMALL SPACE. IF YOU WANT IT YOU CAN GET IT!!!

 

[synystergates]

Good thoughts and prayers being sent your way. I remember how terrifying it was to take that road test. Hard to be smooth with a clutch when your legs are shaking so badly! Let us know how it went, dw

I'm gonna be going out tomorrow for the 1st day of our driving. My class started on Tuesday and we have just been doing CBTs and such. So tomorrow morning is my DIAD board test and then the trainer is going to take us on an evaluation road test. He said he was going to take us out 3 times. Once for the evaluation, critique and then for our final.

Wish me luck guys. My left leg shakes quite a bit. Is that normal?

 

[dillweed]

You made it to school? Congratulations! I think left leg shake must be normal for lots of folks, especially those who are new to driving big trucks with clutches. During class driving I had trouble with the close gears in the five-speed. Went to turn left with plenty of time but had trouble getting into gear and had cars coming at me. Wow, everyone else in the truck sucked in their breath and a couple of the darned girls made little screams. Boy, did that ever help. We only had about half an hour driving each at school so came back to the center not too much better than I had been before. Getting used to it now and just take time to get comfy with the truck I'm in.

Best of luck, don't be too hard on yourself and keep us posted. dw

 

[paganpink]

Since it burns your clutch to keep slipping it on a hill, then (as Dillweed says) you should put on your emergency brake while at a stop and then start up as normal while releasing it a second or two later with a swat of your left hand. This is also a help if you're struck from behind by someone while stopped so some people were trained to always put on the e.brakes when at a signal light thus reducing the chance of your being driven into the car in front of you. Your mirrors really don't have to show the side of your package car but the area just beside it so you have to adjust them very precisely. Remember the flat mirrors don't distort distances and should be relied on to judge how much space you have, while the concave mirrors (usually round) give you a broader range of field but certainly distort distance and should not be relied on to change lanes or back up except to make you aware of things out of view of the larger mirrors.

 

[tieguy]

I am re-scheduled to take my initial road test this week. I failed the road test 3 weeks ago for 3 reasons.

1. I had horrible difficulty backing the vehicle into a marked spot.
2. I had trouble eliminating "clutch roll."
3. I had trouble finding the gears in the fine piece of machinery that I was driving.

I believe that I have figured out why I had so much trouble backing the vehicle. The On-Road Sup that gave me the test had told me how to adjust the mirrors -- the top one so that I could just barely see the top-rear corner of the car and the bottom one so that I could barely see the bottom-rear corner of the car. It didn't occur to me, until a day or so after the test, that with the bottom mirrors adjusted like that I was not going to be able to see the rear tires nor the white lines. Now it makes sense that, if I am to put the car where I want it, I have to be able to see the tires and the lines that I want to put the car in between. Problem solved(I hope!).

As for the clutch roll, during the test I solved the problem by letting the clutch out a little bit and giving the engine a little gas. I didn't know that this isn't the way that they want you to eliminate clutch roll. Am I supposed to eliminate it using the hand brake? Can someone please tell me how to properly eliminate the clutch roll?

The last problem I had, finding the gears, is probably because I am not used to the shift pattern in the 800 and how close together the gears are. The only shift pattern I have ever seen is 1st gear all the way to the left and up, 2nd left and down, 3rd middle up, 4th middle down, 5th right up, and reverse right down. I think that this problem will probably go away with practice. However, maybe someone can help me with this problem also.

If I can solve these 3 problems(and remember to keep my foot off of the clutch pedal unless I am engaging it), I believe that I will pass the road test and be in driver training W/E June 9.

Thanks in advance for any help!

sound like you need to practice in the yard more. Thats why we are buying more and more automatics. Todays kids don't know how to drive a clutch and therefore tear them and the transmissions up.

 

[ON ROAD SUP]

Learn to drive first. you should sit on my side of the car sometimes and have the life scared out of you.....

 

[raceanoncr]

sound like you need to practice in the yard more. Thats why we are buying more and more automatics. Todays kids don't know how to drive a clutch and therefore tear them and the transmissions up.[/quote]


Tie, on a slighty different but similar topic...You are, I take it, a feeder mngr or supe, right?

What do you think of the age-old practice of double-clutching in the tractors? I got trained (or, rather, trained myself) on a 1962 Mack, B-model, 5X3 and learned REAL quick that double-clutching was gonna get me in trouble, especially in town driving. I've driven almost everything that every company has made since, from Diamond Reo conventional, to Hendrickson conv, 5X3's, 5X4's, 18's, 13's, our 5-spds, 7's, 10's...just about everything. I never double-clutched anything...til I got here.

I think, in todays world, that it's a total waste of time. I also think that it is harder on equip, clutch pack, disc, pressure plate, etc. I still don't double anything and have never had problems.

Now, when supes ride along for the annual and they have to drive their little stint, I'm afraid they're gonna tear it out! Man, what a hassle! I tell em, "Lighten up on the double and you'll do better". "Oh, no, I can't do that". OK, whatever gets us thru this without me dying in traffic while you're stopped trying to get it back in gear!

Opinion, please.

 

[synystergates]

Today I had my practice with the P750 I think. I stalled twice And for some reason I couldn't get the car into 2nd gear. Those were the only two problems I think I had. I was very nervous and my left leg was again trembling. How can I stop this from happening? Can someone please give me some advice? I went to the yard to practice yesterday, and today after class. I can drive the P1000 no problem. I can also drive various manual cars my family members own. They are no problem. But for some reason when there is that authoritative figure sitting in the car with me critiquing I crack under the pressure. My trainer is very supportive of my driving though.

I have tomorrow for and Monday to try to get this down pat. Tomorrow I have to do the demonstrate the 10 point commentary while driving and then after recite the Space & Visibility Habits.

I got all 100% scores on all the assignments and test and I would hate for this to be the thing that prevents me from passing the class.

 

[tieguy]

sound like you need to practice in the yard more. Thats why we are buying more and more automatics. Todays kids don't know how to drive a clutch and therefore tear them and the transmissions up.

Tie, on a slighty different but similar topic...You are, I take it, a feeder mngr or supe, right?

What do you think of the age-old practice of double-clutching in the tractors? I got trained (or, rather, trained myself) on a 1962 Mack, B-model, 5X3 and learned REAL quick that double-clutching was gonna get me in trouble, especially in town driving. I've driven almost everything that every company has made since, from Diamond Reo conventional, to Hendrickson conv, 5X3's, 5X4's, 18's, 13's, our 5-spds, 7's, 10's...just about everything. I never double-clutched anything...til I got here.

I think, in todays world, that it's a total waste of time. I also think that it is harder on equip, clutch pack, disc, pressure plate, etc. I still don't double anything and have never had problems.

Now, when supes ride along for the annual and they have to drive their little stint, I'm afraid they're gonna tear it out! Man, what a hassle! I tell em, "Lighten up on the double and you'll do better". "Oh, no, I can't do that". OK, whatever gets us thru this without me dying in traffic while you're stopped trying to get it back in gear!

Opinion, please.[/quote]

I actually agree and I'm guessing you also know its possible to shift without clutching at all. The problem tends to be that too many drivers push the clutch in too far when a light tap is all thats needed. I think thats the where the real wear and tear comes into play.