Gearmaster

[P51bombay]

http://www.gearmaster.com/1.html
Some may have heard of this and I know some say its a waste of money but I went ahead and got one. I looked at it this way, I could pay someone to teach me and have nothing afterwards or I could buy this and have something left over in the end that I think wil still be useful.

Having never driven anything but a full syncho 6 speed I knew I would need something, and as it turned out the new truck wasn't fully ready to hit the road (legally) until one day before I had to put it to work. I only had a chance to drive it twice (with the GM installed) to get the tires looked at and load the truck) prior to Monday so I was faced with heading to the inner city with virtually no 10spd time. Well I gotta tout this thing as the greatest thing since the all nice donut shop.Within just a short time if gave me the confidence to drive in heavy traffic with the knowledge it would help me along and bail me out if I got in deep water.
It only takes a few minutes to program with some very basic information about the engine/tranny combination. Once done it give you engine speed, road speed, a line to show the total rpm range (idle through redline) a smaller, brighter line for the sweet spot, scrolling gear indicators above an arrow that indicates rpm - all you need to do is use the brake, throttle to match the arrow to the gear numbers and you can shift with or without the clutch.

Right now I'm just using the clutch to break torque then braking and adjusting rpm to match the desired gear. Still a little grinding but more due to not being as familiar with the shift gates as I'd like but that will come in time. One of the hurdles I found in the first hour or two was downshifting and braking. Coming from a 6 speed I was used to downshifting and braking at the same time. I soon found out you need a third foot or another technique. Not sure if there's a better way but what I came up with is left foot braking - not easy with the T300 steering column in the way. But I found I can break torque and quickly move both feet to the brake and throttle to achieve a downshift while braking.

All in all I'd say the GM is a lifesaver, the only real flaw is if the sun his the screen its pretty much unreadable, luckily we got plenty of clouds around these parts but summer is on the way so I solution will need to be found. Maybe a bigger hood or a cut down computer glare shield will do the trick.

 

[bluejaybee]

So you did get it? And installed, too? And like it already? This is great. I have read and looked ever since your other post. But as it has turned out, I have become a lot more confident on my 9 spd and am actually doing pretty good with it. I still rake a little on the downshifting at times. But very seldom rake 'em upshifting. I have even quit depending on the tach upshifting. I just go by sound of engine now. But should I have to ever replace it, I will go back with a sync'ed 7. Ha!

 

[P51bombay]

I did, he had a refurb unit for $100 off so I took that. Installation is easy, just find a spot you like, put the velcro like (3M version) tape on, stick it down and plug the cable to the truck. Programing - takes longer to read than actually do it, maybe 15 minutes tops. Just set your idle, redline sweet spot then push set once while driving in each gear. I liked it pretty much right away. After using it a week now I'm getting some upshifts mostly by sound and with the GM's help I can come down from 10 through 6 with no grinding most times although downshifting with a range change is still a problem getting into 5th and most times I have to wait till 4th comes along and get into that. I can't figure out why but its the 4th to 5th upshift that's giving me the most trouble - while most others up or down I'm ok with that 4-5 continues to make hamburger. First I thought I wasn't hitting the gate but its straight down so I don't think that's it, tried doing the shift higher up the rpm range without much success, going lower is a little better but not much, the window seems very narrow on this one. I did find with 6-10 it seems easier to make shifts around 18-1900 (Cat 3126) rather than going up to 21-2200 and a slight pause gets it dropping right in most times. I'm sure I will get better and need it less and less but I still think its a valuable tool. It also tells me that even though the ecm is set at 65mph, it only goes 64............gotta bump that up.

 

[bluejaybee]

if yours is a 10, 4th to 5th would be my 3rd to 4th. And I was having problems there every time. But, I found that if when you shift, don't come straight back toward 5th, instead, come out of 4th and go over toward R or 1st. Just a little to break the straight back effect. Just come out of 4th, bring it toward your leg just a little, then move it to the right and down into 5th. It is all a timing issue. But that worked great for me. I have trouble with 2nd to 3rd and cannot find the right spot every time. But am working on that. Glad you are gaining confidence. That is all there is to it.