Is it better to push the clutch in when starting the truck?

Even in neutral. You're still spinning the trans.

With the clutch in. You're only spinning the crank.

Think cold oil engine and trans. Things are harder to crank when everything is cold.

 

Many newer trucks won’t start unless clutch is pushed in .

 

What's a clutch

 

sure it does make a difference. even in neutral you are still spinning a lot of gears in the transmission. But that being said I'd bet the difference is small and really isn't going to affect anything

 

I knew this day would come,,, as mentioned, most vehicles won't start unless the clutch is depressed. In the warm, it doesn't make much difference, but in the cold, where you only have a limited amount of battery, turning over a cold trans might kill the deal. When cranking cold, and then push the clutch in, you'll notice the starter spins faster. That trans oil is like STP( I realize that dates me), and it's just a good practice for safety.

 

You best better get in the habit of pushing the clutch in when you start anything with a clutch Simply for a safety reason some of the older trucks have no neutral safety switch’s they could start while in gear

 

I definitely did push it in during cold weather.
When it is extremely cold, several seconds after a successful start, I casually let the clutch out and the engine rpm would drop a noticeable amount. There can be a lot of drag there that can make a difference determining whether it turns over fast enough in extreme cold.

 

If you don't push the clutch and you have the extra drag created by the transmission.

On the other hand, what happens when you push in the clutch? You're pulling on the release bearing. This also pulls the crankshaft back, which loads up the crankshaft thrust bearing.

Is one more harmful than the other? Who knows?