[DIY] Spicer Transmissions (1.0) [Any Game Version] (2024)

Hello!

This time I want to show you something new, a new generation experimental mod - a "do-it-yourself" mod!

This mod contains 29 different Spicer transmissions. The purpose of this mod is to let anyone put them on any truck - and more than that - customize the most important setting of a transmission - a differential ratio!

First of all, here is the download link: https://sharemods.com/dady2djeasd6/spicer_diy.zip.html

So, you get the archive (it does not need to be extracted, it can be instantly activated in the mod manager) which adds all the transmissions to the SCS Peterbilt 389 with some default differential ratios. What it means: if you want the transmissions for the Peterbilt 389, you only need to configure the differential ratios. But I'll explain that later. If you know some things about modding, I guess you will easily make everything yourself, but if not, I will try to make everything clear.

1) First of all, all the truck parts are stored in a specified folder. For example: "def/vehicle/truck/peterbilt.389". Inside this folder there is everything about the Peterbilt 389 parts like accessories, engines, transmissions (what we need) and so on. Each truck has a def name (like "peterbilt.389") which defines the name of the folder. Each truck has a special name which you can observe by going into it's mod archive and looking in "def/vehicle/truck". For example, the name for Scot A2 by Smarty is "scot.a2hd". Here is the list of the all SCS truck names in ATS:

freightliner.cascadia2019intnational.lonestarintnational.9900iintnational.ltkenworth.t680kenworth.w900mack.anthempeterbilt.389peterbilt.579volvo.vnlwesternstar.49xwesternstar.57xwesternstar.5700xe

2) Here is what you should do: download my archive and make its copy, make sure it is located in the mods folder. Once you know the truck name, go to "def/vehicle/truck" and create a new folder with the exact truck name - or you can rename the existing "peterbilt.389" folder to your one.

3) After you are finished with the folder, make a folder "transmission" inside (if there is no such one). After that decide which transmissions you need for your truck and put the .sii files inside the "transmission" folder.
So, now we have a prepared folder with all the needed files. We are halfway done!

4) Now it's time to configure each file. But all the steps are the same for each one, you just will have to repeat them.

4.1) First of all go to the third line. It looks like this:

accessory_transmission_data : spicer6x4.peterbilt.389.transmission

Here we just change "peterbilt.389" to our truck name. For example, if I make transmission for the Scot truck, it will look like:

accessory_transmission_data : spicer6x4.scot.a2hd.transmission

Starting from this point, the transmission unit is ready to be used with your truck! But there are some more important things.

4.2)

price: 25000unlock: 0

This step is pretty simple, here are just the price and unlock level. The price is in ingame dollars, it can be any number but not less than 1$. Unlock level defines which level you need to access the part. 0 means it is accessible from the beginning of the game, 1 and higher - it has to be unlocked.

5)

differential_ratio: 3.55

And now we reached the most important and interesting part - the differential ratio!
I will try to put it simple. Your engine spins with some RPM (usually from 0 to 3000), it gives the spin to the transmission, it puts it though the selected gear, and then this spin is decreased throught the differential - and then it finally spins the wheels. How it is calculated: for example, your engine spins at 2000 RPM, the selected gear ratio is 2.50 and the differential ratio is 3.55. Then it is 2000/2.50/3.55 = 225.35 - it means the wheels make 225 rounds per minute which is converted into your speed (which is also depends on your wheel size).

But let's put it even simplier. The higher differential ratio is - the lower is your top speed, but acceleration is better. For trucks it also means that higher ratios will help you crawl steep hills with heavy loads, and thus lower ratios are better for lightweight cargoes - because they give better top speed and less fuel is consumed.

Some popular modern differential ratios:

2.642.853.083.253.553.73.914.114.3

But of course there are much more, and you surely can put any number you like, for example:

differential_ratio: 7.73

This will make your truck very slow, but good for carrying overweight things.

And one more thing: there are direct drive and overdrive transmissions. Direct drive means the last gear is 1.0 (direct), and the overdrive means the last gear is lower than 1 (0.8 for example). Thus, higher ratios are recommended for overdrive transmissions, because: 4.3 differential ratio with 0.73 is the same as direct 3.14 diff ratio (4.3*0,73 = 3,139).

To conclude, the best way to determine your differential ratio is to put different values and see how they are driven in different conditions.

After you are finished configured your transmissions as explained - you are ready to drive and test them out!
The rest of the file is gear ratios which were observed from original Spicer documents - which means changing them will make your transmissions non-Spicer but something else. You can change them, but justy keep that in mind.

Well, I think that's all for now. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

For modders: I allow using this mod for your trucks, packs etc., but please leave credits - you can even do that without letting me know.

Thank you!