14' Series driving down steep descent

[Ss--ss]

Gday was driving yesterday from cooma to eden down a steep mountain road with the expanda on the back. I was on the brakes most of the way & they were red hot with that brake smell.. Was wondering how others do it, does any one adjust there brake controller up or down? Cheers

 

[davemc]

I drop down gears on the auto instead of brakes.

 

[twscoot]

Agree with Davemc.
Drop the gears. Go you own pace and use the brakes when you need to but try to give them some 'time off' on the way to let them cool.
Last steep descent I took (east down the range on the Gwydir Hwy) I backed the brakes off too much on the van and it was the car brakes that took a beating! It's all a balancing act.

 

[DawnMark]

Yep, let the engine do the work most of the time even if its a auto knock it back to 2nd gear

 

[Ss--ss]

Yes thanks guys, I put the auto back into 3rd & that seemed to help.

 

[gspy4u]

always let the engine braking do most of the work, if it's a real steep and long road then i also just use the brakes on and off to help the engine braking. I never use the brakes all the time as they will soon overheat and fail leaving you in all sorts of trouble. Better to go slow and steady then too fast and not be able to stop.

Our recent trip down to Canberra had us travel down Oberon through to Goulburn on a very steep bit of road, have a manual so just left it in 2nd gear all the way down and dabbed the brakes on and off all the way down. Was starting to notice I had to press a little harder by the time I got to the bottom though, so would hate to think what it would have been like if I used them all the way down.

 

[Bushman]

Yep definitely let the engine/gears do the work weather it's manual or auto, best to select the lower gear from the start, sometimes it will seem to still be to quick even in low gear and or your rev's are starting in climb, then use brakes just to pull your speed back down, don't rush take your time but be courteous to any traffic queuing behind when possible and everyone should have a good trip.

Trouble with the PJ (Auto) sometimes 1st is to low but second is to high so definitely a balancing act . Pity can't use low range on the black top.

 

[chartrock]

With my manual I can put it into low range while on the blacktop as long as I don't put the manual hubs into the lock position but I have never had to do it even over the Toowoomba range or Cunninghams Gap.

 

[bigcol]

yes @chartrock , having the "old school" 4wd with manual locking hubs is a blessing on steep descents......

although, we dont have many over here....... mainly only the 1 on Greenmount - and maybe Red Hill.........

but, yes, with manual hubs, as long as you DONT lock them in, you can select low4 for going down hill.........

 

[ShaneT]

Just got back from 2 months in tassie and never had brake smell once. Put the auto in 1st or second gear and use the brakes on and off to keep the engine revs around 3000 My first gear is around 25km and second is about 50km. If your doing 25km It is reall easy for people to pass you quickly. Just watch your tranny temp though as it is working hard being locked in first or second and trying to hold all that weight back.

 

[Smirke]

We did the woy woy rd the other day. Bit hairy. We used lower gears and brakes. No issue with brakes, just those really tight turns and very steep descent (our car is a manual)

 

[Bellbirdweb]

We did the woy woy rd the other day. Bit hairy. We used lower gears and brakes. No issue with brakes, just those really tight turns and very steep descent (our car is a manual)

Heading back up the hill can be fun as well.

If you like a good fish and chips, head around to Patonga, nice little spot with a good fish n chip shop and a very expensive pub

 

[Drover]

I was taught always use the gears to brake going downhill, that way when you need to stop you will always have brakes. I always prided myself in trucks of going down hills and I mean proper ones like Black Mtn down Bega way, of not using brakes.
With an auto always downshift and tab the brakes if need be before the tach red line, if you have to touch them often go down another but you may have to brake harder to slow down to get it to shift down, on decent grades just knock it into 2nd easier to go up in an auto, manual if you know or can judge what gear you would use to go up it then thats the one to go down in and select at the top, you can stop pop it into 2 and go again usually, if you haven't driven a crash box then don't try a change it if starts to run away on you.
If you have FWHubs you could go into LR but don't with AWD or auto hubs you will do major damage, never engage FWD hard surface.

 

[Drover]

I will have to check my van brakes as I had a hard time the other day leaving my mates place in the Blue Mtns, Jeep was having a hard time dragging the rig, then I let the van park brake off and all was good. Just bedded them in.

 

[Marv_mart]

The Mazda BT50 has 'engine breaking for downhill' system
With these three, starting off when facing uphill is a breeze as is going down hill when towing.
More and more 4WDs now have these systems, but they should not be relied upon completely of course, I also use engine breaking by putting Auto in a lower gear if descent is particularly steep, but HDC does work!

• Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)
• Hill Descent Control (HDC)
• Hill Launch Assist (HLA)

 

[Drover]

Forgot about all those things @Marv_mart , invented because so many people don't know how to drive, I don't really like them as they can cause nasty problems when in out of the way places, as well as making people just a steerer.

 

[chartrock]

Forgot about all those things @Marv_mart , invented because so many people don't know how to drive, I don't really like them as they can cause nasty problems when in out of the way places, as well as making people just a steerer.

I agree @Drover, it is also just more things to go wrong and if you come to rely on them and they fail, then all hell can break loose. :fear:

 

[bigcol]

*Try posting a bit more so your post isn't boring* @chartrock and @Drover

(I had a guy I was working with once - he had one of the first Range Rovers with all that stuff........
he went out with us one day - as a passenger, and thought he knew what to do - as all that Traction, Stability, Ascent, Descent stuff, he was used to it, and had been out a few times with us...........
however, in my mates 40series, he nearly became an "ancestor" as he came quite a cropper
very very very messy)

 

[Marv_mart]

Not saying you don't follow all the other precautions about using the correct gear to keep control of you vehicle but for more moderate ascents, descents, I have found them useful.

 

[Drover]

Oh for sure they are usefull but there's a lot who don't know what to do without them and then they don't use them properly, just look at how many people don't really know how to use an auto transmission. No one gets taught.

I recall going down a big hill in a semi, a petrol job so no jake and the damn thing jumped out of gear, now that really gets you doing a tap dance and pulling the trailer handle nearly off it's mounts.............................actually has happened on the odd modern day job also, once caused by a Nikko pen dropping into the gear shift boot and a bit of cab flex and POP, aarrgghh.