Quote:
Originally Posted by DD788Snipe
I watch my tach, trans temp and speed in that order. If I drop below 1800 rpm I drop a gear and depending on the grade and it's length I can wind up in 3rd gear but rarely. I never drop below 55 mph. The computer is smart but can't react as fast as the operator and keeping a consistent RPM within the power band saves fuel and the engine doesn't have to work as hard. Just my thoughts.
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As far as shift patterns I would think that you can have Allison set the shift pattern to be a little more preemptive in shifting for hill climbing. Ya'll keep talking about manually downshifting. Once you get out of the coastal flats of Texas we are pretty hilly and if I have to continually downshift and monitor speed and RPMs it really makes no sense to install a cruise control. I have a friend with a Prevost bus and it has an Allison transmission. I was recently talking to him about my hill climb problems in cruise control. He said that he had the same problem and that he called Allison and they came out an monitored his bus while he drove it. They were able to reprogram his tranny for his bus to effectively climb hills without losing speed.