transmissions in a haulmark

[gil]

i hope this is the correct forum for this question.

we are looking at a 2005 haulmark, 450 mbe with a 12 sp meritor (spelling?)

and then a

2006 same engine with a 12 allison transmission

question -

was the transmsission change made for a reason?

is the allison better, other considerations?

tks loads again

gil

[rjdhomes]

Gil, there are no 12 speed Allisons

The Meritor 12 Speed Freedom Trans is great, you will love it- especially in the mountains.

On flat land and no trailer, the Allison is very nice.

Bob

[Gordy]

It could have a ZF in it also. Check the build sheet or crawl underneath. My 2005 had a ZF that was replaced with low mileage due to "gear clipping"(a slight gear clash noise made due a shift) Told later that the Meritor was a better trans and communicated better with the North American engines. That's what is in my '07 Century now.

[Bob86ZZ4]

If it's truly an Allison then it's a hydraulic type of automatic with a torque converter. I'd rather have an auto shifting manual transmission with a true clutch. More gears and more strength and less loss of power than a hydraulic auto. The auto shift transmissions are cool. Don't trust the salesman to know what type of transmission is in it. Some of them don't know what they're trying to sell. Some are good and know about these trucks though. One of the places I went to and took one for a test drive the salesman didn't know about the transmission. It was a 3 pedal 10 speed autoshift. He didn't know if I should push the clutch in when I came to a stop. Hhhhmmmmmm.

[Bob86ZZ4]

Better clarify one thing. The autoshift transmissions don't all have clutch pedals. There are two pedal units that only have a brake and throttle pedal. Then there are 3 pedal units that have a clutch pedal too. The clutch is only used to get the truck rolling from a dead stop and when coming to a stop. All the rest of the clutching is done with the electronics.

[bushpilot]

one of the most amazing thing <to me> about our coach is the meritor 12 speed....its smooth and SMART...down shifts w/out prompting, as it should and the thing could pull a freight train...i cant imagine any allison <converter based 6 speed> being 1/2 as nice or 1/2 as powerful !

[rjdhomes]

The Meritor and ZF Freedomline are the same transmission. All Eaton Autoshift will have a clutch pedal. The Eaton Ultrashift does not have a clutch pedal. Volvo I-Shift is the smoothest smartest trans available, followed by the Freedom. The new Eaton Ultrashift Plus is supposed to be closer in smoothness to the Freedom, but I have not driven one yet.

Bob

[Gordy]

Bob-thanks for the clarification. I should have known that when I typed it-some days I can't fix stupid.