Ignoramus465 wrote:
On 2012-02-08, wrote:
On Sat, 4 Feb 2012 17:18:17 -0800 (PST), rangerssuck
wrote:

On Feb 4, 7:40??pm, Ignoramus27096 ignoramus27...@NOSPAM.
27096.invalid wrote:
On 2012-02-04, wrote:

On Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:30:48 -0600, Ignoramus27096
wrote:
Done deal, registered without problems.
I almost had a heart attack when I learned that registration fee for a
80,000 lbs plate would be $3k per year. For now, I registered it for a
lot less weight just to pay less, until I get a trailer. Then I will
know how much registration I need.
i
??How bad did the insurance hurt?????
I do not have any insurance... I need to buy Maalox first,,,

i



On 2012-02-01, Ignoramus32500 wrote:
I bought a semi tractor on auction and received a title, not only
without my name, but also without any signature of the seller (which
is a company, not an individual, closing down a factory). The purchase
is 100% legitimate. When I was at the DMV registering a title for
something else, I observed that they did not check the signature in
any way (obviously).
If I decide to keep this tractor, which I likely would, should I just
have, say, my wife sign it with something, in order to re-register?
i
In NJ, you can not register a vehicle without proof of insurance.
You can register a vehicle but you cannot plate it? Register it in
your name, but no valid plate or "sticker"

My bobtail is, as of now, fully registered and plated. I got 26,000
lbs plates for it. The plate is on it. While I do have insurance on
other vehicles, I have not purchased insurance for this bobtail, so I
do not drive it on public roads. I drive it on my property.

i
DON'T drive it ANYWHERE off your property with it tagged that way.
Especially if you don't have all your CDL paperwork in order.
That can be VERY expensive.

--
Steve W.

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:45 -0500, "Steve W."
wrote:

Ed Huntress wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:36:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:29:26 -0800, Jim Stewart
wrote:

rangerssuck wrote:
On Feb 3, 9:14 am, "Jim wrote:
"Larry wrote in message

...

On Fri, 3 Feb 2012 07:32:37 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
Backing a trailer straight across an open parking lot is a challenge for
me.
It's hard to reverse your thinking and drive counterintuitively, isn't
it? "To move the trailer to the right, turn the steering wheel to the
left." Then I look at double and triple trailers and get all goosey.
For me the worst one was trying to taxi a Cessna 152 with the toe brakes. I
can't leave a straight wake behind a sailboat either.

jsw
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.
I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.

I've been told that if you sledded and built soap
box type coasting cars at an early age, which I
did, your mind takes an almost permanent intuitive
conditioning that right foot means go left and left
foot goes right.
Driving a farm tractor, and in particular ploughing, trains you for
right foot = right, left foot = left.

And road racing trains you for heel-and-toe double-clutch downshifting
while trail-braking at the same time.

I don't recommend that Iggy starts there. I wonder if I can still do
it? d8-)


I was faced with that test last year when a gent asked me if I wanted to
drive his dirt car. Told him I was a bit rusty since I hadn't been in a
seat for over 3 years. Amazed me that my body still knew the tricks, BUT
I don't recall ever hurting as much when I got out of the seat.....

It's been almost 30 years since I even tried driving on a track, and
40 years since I was racing. No way I'm trying that again.

--
Ed Huntress

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:47:21 -0600, Ignoramus465
wrote:

On 2012-02-07, Jim Stewart wrote:
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.

I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.

Which brings up a related question. For 17.5 years, I drove cars with
automatic transmission. This is what I learned to drive in the first
place.

Now that I have this semi tractor with non-synchronized manual
transmission, I have great troubles adjusting my brains to operate the
transmission.

I am used to just driving, thinking about stuff, and using the gas
pedal only.

I am wondering if operating a manual trans is a skill that can
actually be learned, given my age of 40 and my past conditioning of
driving auto trans.

Practice makes perfect. Go rent a little car with a manual
transmission and practice driving that, and only that, around town for
a week or two. You'll then climb back into the truck and it will be as
familiar to you as driving an auto trans is now. I agree with lots of
teachers that immersion is the best way to learn after age 5 or so.


Is there any hope or not?

You just learned to do CNC programming, right? There's hope, Ig.

--
Energy and persistence alter all things.
--Benjamin Franklin

On Tue, 7 Feb 2012 13:52:37 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"Paul Drahn" wrote in message
...
... Listen to the engine sounds. They will tell you when to shift up or
down. Someday you will even learn to shift without using the clutch. Good
skill when you are all alone in the boonies with an inoperable clutch.
Paul

My mother taught me that, and double-clutching when the synchros fail. I've
lost the clutch twice and I'm glad I learned.

Dad taught me to listen to engine RPM in the various gears at various
rates of speed. Once I got that, I could use the clutch only for
stopping. The pedal never went down unless I needed to hit first, or
stop and back up. Amaze your friends by moving the gear shift between
gears, both upshifting and downshifting, with no clutch and no
grinding at all! My old Corvair was easy since I had put Cherry Bomb
turbo mufflers on it. I could hear the engine rpm easily from the
exhaust but it wasn't the _blatt_ of straight-throughs.

--
Energy and persistence alter all things.
--Benjamin Franklin

On 2012-02-08, Steve W. wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:01:26 -0500, "Steve W."
wrote:

Ignoramus465 wrote:
On 2012-02-07, Jim Stewart wrote:
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.
I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.
Which brings up a related question. For 17.5 years, I drove cars with
automatic transmission. This is what I learned to drive in the first
place.

Now that I have this semi tractor with non-synchronized manual
transmission, I have great troubles adjusting my brains to operate the
transmission.

I am used to just driving, thinking about stuff, and using the gas
pedal only.

I am wondering if operating a manual trans is a skill that can
actually be learned, given my age of 40 and my past conditioning of
driving auto trans.

Is there any hope or not?

i
Unless you're a brain dead idiot it isn't hard top learn. BUT If you
really want to learn take a driving class for trucks. Usually successful
completion of a class also gets you reduced insurance costs and you get
real world practice actually driving.

Be advised that you will NOT be "just driving, thinking about stuff,
and using the gas pedal only" in a rig. If you do that you may as well
plan on crushing a few cars and having lot's of trouble. In a rig you
need to pay attention ALL the time. Even a minor slip with 20-30 tons
will do a serious amount of damage.

You have learned how to double clutch correct? If not I hope you have
lot's of money to repair/replace transmission parts.
Double clutch?

Until he can shift WITHOUT the clutch he's no trucker - and he can't
drive a standard either.

Give the guy a chance, He hasn't needed the clutch other than to stop so
far...


I could shift a little bit without clutch, but only when speeding up.

i

On 2012-02-08, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:47:21 -0600, Ignoramus465
wrote:

On 2012-02-07, Jim Stewart wrote:
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.

I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.

Which brings up a related question. For 17.5 years, I drove cars with
automatic transmission. This is what I learned to drive in the first
place.

Now that I have this semi tractor with non-synchronized manual
transmission, I have great troubles adjusting my brains to operate the
transmission.

I am used to just driving, thinking about stuff, and using the gas
pedal only.

I am wondering if operating a manual trans is a skill that can
actually be learned, given my age of 40 and my past conditioning of
driving auto trans.

Practice makes perfect. Go rent a little car with a manual
transmission and practice driving that, and only that, around town for
a week or two. You'll then climb back into the truck and it will be as
familiar to you as driving an auto trans is now. I agree with lots of
teachers that immersion is the best way to learn after age 5 or so.


Is there any hope or not?

You just learned to do CNC programming, right? There's hope, Ig.


Good idea about renting a car with a manual trans!

On 2012-02-08, Steve W. wrote:
Ignoramus465 wrote:
On 2012-02-08, wrote:
On Sat, 4 Feb 2012 17:18:17 -0800 (PST), rangerssuck
wrote:

On Feb 4, 7:40??pm, Ignoramus27096 ignoramus27...@NOSPAM.
27096.invalid wrote:
On 2012-02-04, wrote:

On Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:30:48 -0600, Ignoramus27096
wrote:
Done deal, registered without problems.
I almost had a heart attack when I learned that registration fee for a
80,000 lbs plate would be $3k per year. For now, I registered it for a
lot less weight just to pay less, until I get a trailer. Then I will
know how much registration I need.
i
??How bad did the insurance hurt?????
I do not have any insurance... I need to buy Maalox first,,,

i



On 2012-02-01, Ignoramus32500 wrote:
I bought a semi tractor on auction and received a title, not only
without my name, but also without any signature of the seller (which
is a company, not an individual, closing down a factory). The purchase
is 100% legitimate. When I was at the DMV registering a title for
something else, I observed that they did not check the signature in
any way (obviously).
If I decide to keep this tractor, which I likely would, should I just
have, say, my wife sign it with something, in order to re-register?
i
In NJ, you can not register a vehicle without proof of insurance.
You can register a vehicle but you cannot plate it? Register it in
your name, but no valid plate or "sticker"

My bobtail is, as of now, fully registered and plated. I got 26,000
lbs plates for it. The plate is on it. While I do have insurance on
other vehicles, I have not purchased insurance for this bobtail, so I
do not drive it on public roads. I drive it on my property.

i
DON'T drive it ANYWHERE off your property with it tagged that way.
Especially if you don't have all your CDL paperwork in order.
That can be VERY expensive.


Yes, I am staying within my confines.

i

Ed Huntress wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:45 -0500, "Steve W."
wrote:

Ed Huntress wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:36:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:29:26 -0800, Jim Stewart
wrote:

rangerssuck wrote:
On Feb 3, 9:14 am, "Jim wrote:
"Larry wrote in message

...

On Fri, 3 Feb 2012 07:32:37 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
Backing a trailer straight across an open parking lot is a challenge for
me.
It's hard to reverse your thinking and drive counterintuitively, isn't
it? "To move the trailer to the right, turn the steering wheel to the
left." Then I look at double and triple trailers and get all goosey.
For me the worst one was trying to taxi a Cessna 152 with the toe brakes. I
can't leave a straight wake behind a sailboat either.

jsw
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.
I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.

I've been told that if you sledded and built soap
box type coasting cars at an early age, which I
did, your mind takes an almost permanent intuitive
conditioning that right foot means go left and left
foot goes right.
Driving a farm tractor, and in particular ploughing, trains you for
right foot = right, left foot = left.
And road racing trains you for heel-and-toe double-clutch downshifting
while trail-braking at the same time.

I don't recommend that Iggy starts there. I wonder if I can still do
it? d8-)

I was faced with that test last year when a gent asked me if I wanted to
drive his dirt car. Told him I was a bit rusty since I hadn't been in a
seat for over 3 years. Amazed me that my body still knew the tricks, BUT
I don't recall ever hurting as much when I got out of the seat.....

It's been almost 30 years since I even tried driving on a track, and
40 years since I was racing. No way I'm trying that again.


That might be a bit tough. I got out because I could tell my reactions
were just not there enough for that line of work. Plus it does take a
toll on the body. I do still run through the lights at the 1/4 mile now
and again but usually bracket stuff, although I can still cut a pretty
good light.

--
Steve W.

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:23:58 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:47:21 -0600, Ignoramus465
wrote:

On 2012-02-07, Jim Stewart wrote:
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.

I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.

Which brings up a related question. For 17.5 years, I drove cars with
automatic transmission. This is what I learned to drive in the first
place.

Now that I have this semi tractor with non-synchronized manual
transmission, I have great troubles adjusting my brains to operate the
transmission.

I am used to just driving, thinking about stuff, and using the gas
pedal only.

I am wondering if operating a manual trans is a skill that can
actually be learned, given my age of 40 and my past conditioning of
driving auto trans.

Practice makes perfect. Go rent a little car with a manual
transmission and practice driving that, and only that, around town for
a week or two. You'll then climb back into the truck and it will be as
familiar to you as driving an auto trans is now. I agree with lots of
teachers that immersion is the best way to learn after age 5 or so.


Is there any hope or not?

You just learned to do CNC programming, right? There's hope, Ig.
I got a little jolt last april driving thru the mountains in southern
spain when i got into a five speed disel car never having driven
diesel and auto trany only for the last 25 years.

Ignoramus465 wrote:
Until he can shift WITHOUT the clutch he's no trucker - and he can't
drive a standard either.
Give the guy a chance, He hasn't needed the clutch other than to stop so
far...


I could shift a little bit without clutch, but only when speeding up.

i

I went out for an OTR job about 5 years ago with a local outfit. Went to
the office and they looked at my logs, talked a bit and told me to take
a ride with one of the drivers in the yard. Guy strolls in, says let's
go and we go out to a NEW Mack. Complete with a nice new Mack
transmission. Jumped in and listened to a LOT of gear grinding, and this
was the guy who drove this truck all the time!
We did a D&H and switched seats. Surprised myself by not missing a
single shift. He told me that if I took the run I'd probably be in the
city for 6-8 months doing yard turns. Got back to the yard and missed
one down shift by a couple teeth. Went inside and told them that I would
take the job with a couple conditions. City time was going to be cut
back since I already had a LOT of road miles and I would take any
tractor they had as long as it had a RoadRanger trans and no dogs ass on
the hood.... I HATE Mack engines and transmissions.

--
Steve W.

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:05:10 -0500, wrote:

Double clutch?

Until he can shift WITHOUT the clutch he's no trucker - and he can't
drive a standard either.

Far too many people don't know to shift into second before first or
reverse to get a manual transmission to go into those gears without
grinding, too.

--
Energy and persistence alter all things.
--Benjamin Franklin

On Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:53:49 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:05:10 -0500, wrote:

Double clutch?

Until he can shift WITHOUT the clutch he's no trucker - and he can't
drive a standard either.

Far too many people don't know to shift into second before first or
reverse to get a manual transmission to go into those gears without
grinding, too.

That depends on whether the transmission has one or two cluster
shafts. In some, shifiting into second, first, does nothing for you.

--
Ed Huntress

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:52:37 -0600, Ignoramus465
wrote:

On 2012-02-08, Steve W. wrote:
wrote:

Until he can shift WITHOUT the clutch he's no trucker - and he can't
drive a standard either.

Give the guy a chance, He hasn't needed the clutch other than to stop so
far...

He did; the "until" statement referred to the learning curve.


I could shift a little bit without clutch, but only when speeding up.

Get to know the engine RPM and you'll hear when it's fast enough to
downshift into the next lower gear at that speed. Drive for a few
months and you'll get used to it.

Got that compact rental car with the manual tranny yet?

--
Energy and persistence alter all things.
--Benjamin Franklin

"Ignoramus465" wrote in message

Good idea about renting a car with a manual trans!

The only significant difference between driving the Army truck and my Beetle
was the control effort. Whenever I got back into the car afer a long truck
trip I nearly ripped out the gearshift lever and pushed my clutch foot
through the floor.

Neither had any power. The 10-year-old VW had a 1200cc engine that maxed it
out at the same top speed as the truck, 100 KPH / 60 MPH. I rarely drove it
on the Autobahn, much preferring the back roads and quaint villages anyway.

That little engine would run with three plug wires disconnected, and I could
crank start it by hand with a dead battery by jacking up and turning a rear
wheel. I think it was a Euro-only ~30 HP low compression version, though the
body trim was US spec.

I had the least impressive car on the Kaserne until a buddy bought a new
Pinto.

jsw

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:42:26 -0600, Ignoramus465
wrote:

My bobtail is, as of now, fully registered and plated. I got 26,000
lbs plates for it. The plate is on it. While I do have insurance on
other vehicles, I have not purchased insurance for this bobtail, so I
do not drive it on public roads. I drive it on my property.

You have a bobtail, too? I thought you bought a rig (tractor) and
maybe a trailer.

Googlin'it, I guess my definition was wrong, but I always thought that
a bobtail was a box on the same frame, behind the cab:
http://tinyurl.com/7zgjkbh

--
To use fear as the friend it is, we must retrain and reprogram ourselves...
We must persistently and convincingly tell ourselves that the fear is
here--with its gift of energy and heightened awareness--so we can do our
best and learn the most in the new situation.
Peter McWilliams, Life 101

Larry Jaques wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:42:26 -0600, Ignoramus465
wrote:

My bobtail is, as of now, fully registered and plated. I got 26,000
lbs plates for it. The plate is on it. While I do have insurance on
other vehicles, I have not purchased insurance for this bobtail, so I
do not drive it on public roads. I drive it on my property.

You have a bobtail, too? I thought you bought a rig (tractor) and
maybe a trailer.

Googlin'it, I guess my definition was wrong, but I always thought that
a bobtail was a box on the same frame, behind the cab:
http://tinyurl.com/7zgjkbh

--
To use fear as the friend it is, we must retrain and reprogram ourselves...
We must persistently and convincingly tell ourselves that the fear is
here--with its gift of energy and heightened awareness--so we can do our
best and learn the most in the new situation.
Peter McWilliams, Life 101

Bobtail is a bare tractor. It's actually also the most dangerous way to
drive one on the highway. That is because the entire suspension is set
up to work with lot's of weight. Without the weight the tires and weight
the rear end likes to dance around a lot. Hit a nice wet spot while
you're going uphill or around a turn and you can swap ends so fast the
seat will turn brown.....

--
Steve W.

On Tue, 7 Feb 2012 13:40:13 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"Ignoramus465" wrote in message

I am used to just driving, thinking about stuff, and using the gas
pedal only.

I am wondering if operating a manual trans is a skill that can
actually be learned, given my age of 40 and my past conditioning of
driving auto trans.

Is there any hope or not?
i

I have to keep an ear tuned to the pitch of the engine, and establish a
preset downshift routine for distracting situations like tight corners.

If you think that's hard, consider a dirt bike. Right hand throttle and
front brake, left hand clutch, right foot rear brake, left foot the
sequential gearshift, with an indicator only for Neutral. When sliding
through a corner all four are doing something different. The front brake is
on the left on a bicycle which adds to the confusion.

jsw

Unless...its an English motorcycle.

Ive got 3 bikes...a BMW, a 72 Triumph..and a '61 Royal Enfield.

Takes some thinking before getting started and stopping the first few
intersections.....

Gunner

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that,
in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers
and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are
not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.
Gunner Asch