JordanBlanton
04-27-2006, 18:38
I've got a quick question on drving a 6.5 TD equipped truck. For the record, today was my first time ever driving a diesel (not sure how I managed to not get behind the wheel of a diesel powered truck until 21, but that's beside the point...). I'm used to driving the company's older F-350 with a gas big block and 4 speed.
I'm gonna get to the point, now. So today I was taking approximately 2500 lbs. of manufactured stone to a distributor. I was driving the company's 3500 HD with a 6.5 TD. It had a 5 speed, with a granny low (the shifter actually showed Low, then 1 2 3 and OD). My issue was with shifting out of the powerband. Every shift seemed to put me below optimal RPM. I felt like I was using up the whole gear before shifting (usually shifting around 2800 rpm or so). Was I just flat out being overly conservative and shifting too soon? I'm not really familiar with the diesel powerband, and I wanted to avoid over-revving the thing.
I much prefer the power this truck had over the gasser (I liked actually accelerating up inclines instead of putting my foot to the floor and watching the speedo run towards 0). I'd like to be able to effectively drive this truck, because I'd much prefer to run it around loaded than the old Ford. Plus, I may try to see if I can use this truck to haul around my derby cars this summer.
I'm gonna get to the point, now. So today I was taking approximately 2500 lbs. of manufactured stone to a distributor. I was driving the company's 3500 HD with a 6.5 TD. It had a 5 speed, with a granny low (the shifter actually showed Low, then 1 2 3 and OD). My issue was with shifting out of the powerband. Every shift seemed to put me below optimal RPM. I felt like I was using up the whole gear before shifting (usually shifting around 2800 rpm or so). Was I just flat out being overly conservative and shifting too soon? I'm not really familiar with the diesel powerband, and I wanted to avoid over-revving the thing.
I much prefer the power this truck had over the gasser (I liked actually accelerating up inclines instead of putting my foot to the floor and watching the speedo run towards 0). I'd like to be able to effectively drive this truck, because I'd much prefer to run it around loaded than the old Ford. Plus, I may try to see if I can use this truck to haul around my derby cars this summer.