Dodge MD Series - Page 9

The Proper Way
To Shift Gears
In thi s tru ck, ge ar s hiftin g is
always smoo
th , sile nt , e ff ort-
less. Yo ur tru ck has an im-
pr ove d tr a n s mi ss io n a nd
"' Lig ht-Pr ess ur e" clut c h.
Her e we sho uld lik e to o Jf er a few ugge tions ab o ut gear hift-
in g- ele me nt ary though th ey may see m.
U nd er n ea rl y all co nd iti on s, yo ur tru ck ho uld be s tart ed in lo w
ge ar - unl e , of eO llr e, yo ur fir t move mu st be ba ckwa rd. llut
very sho nl y you c an hift int o eco nd - unl e s YO ll are s tartin g
0 11 a hill or ha ve a n unu sually h e avy load. \V ith tIle tru ck in
seco nd and still pic kin g u p peed, it i us uall y best to s hift int o
high at ah o ut 20 to 25 mil es per ho ur. B y ob erving thi s pro-
ce
uur e of gear s hiftin g, YO II save fuel and get longer wear fr o lll
yo ur til' '.
Ic e Is Dang e rou s
Here is an exce pti on to th e rul e of sta rtin g in l ow gem'. If yo u
ar e stal· tin g on icy p av ement, st art in hi ghest ge ar lo ad co ndi-
ti on will pe rmit - don't use fir t or seco nd ge ar unl e s n eee -
s
ar y. \Vh en you sta rt in a higher ge ar , the poss ibilit y of th e
wh ee ls s pinnin g is Ie, sen ed, an d they get a he tt e l' gri p on th e
ice. Ce
rt ain non-s kid devices may be allaeh ed to the wh ee ls
thr o ll gh the slot ju t JJe) ow the rim s.
On wet or icy pave lll e nt s, gear , hif tin g is imp o rtant in sto ppin g
as well as in tartin g. Move
the gem' s hift lever fr om hi gh
int o eeo nd , and then th e en-
gine d oe s part of the br a kin g
for yo u,
and an y dan ger of
s
kiddin g is greatly re du ced.
14
Handling Your Truck On Hills
Too man y dri ve r feel a ce rt a in sense of s ham e in s hiftin g o ut
of hi gh gear wh en climbin g a long or steep hill. Yo ur tru ck
need
it s ge ar s, a nd YO Il sho uld use the ge ar s fO l' th e purp o e
for wh
ich th ey were i Ilte nd ed. Ev en if a "tiff hill 'cal/, be climb ed
in
hig h. it i ~ I I. lIally hcller to , hift int o "c('o lul
S hiftin g int o " CC OIl.! when climbin g a hill ,.: a n', " train on YO llr
engine and minillliz e,.: th e ha z ard of sta llin g. nut if ),0 11 "llOlIld
accidc
ntall y stall on an u pgr ad e, ill1mediately pllil 011 Ih l' ha nd
hr ake IIntil th e engine has b ee n tart ed aga in.
A ft cr q allin g, or aft er ha yin g hecn park ed 0 11 an IIpgra.!\,. tll('rc
ar c two gcne rall y acce pt ed llI e th ods of ge ttin g lll1(ler way:
Method No. I - H o ld Ih e trll ck willi th e foot brak e. thro w Oll t
th e ellllch, put the tru ck in l ow gear. T h f' n " "e th e hand Ihr ottle
to accele rat e th e engin e and slowly l' cil'a ": l' lh > brakt' alld en-
gage the e1lllch at thc ~ a lll c till1e.
Me thod No . 2- JI oltl the truck w ith the Iialld brak e ; pllsh the
c1 ut eh Ollt alld pllt the tru ck ill low ge ar ; li se th e foot aCC c1 e l'<l-
tor in the u !' naI wa y while at tIll' !' allll' tiJlle release the hand
hrak e and let in the c lut ch.
Downhill I s I mportan t~ Too
\"fhen dr .iv in g d ow n a steep or dif-
fi c ult g rad e, it 's ad visable to l1 S I ~
the s am e ge ar you wo uld u sc if
dri v in g uphill. Thi s kind of dri, '-
in g is far safer than if you wellt
downhill with o ut " hift ing from
hi gh.
15
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