C 15 descending hills question

Try and go down in the same gear u go up in or 1 gear lower...2 lower u should be able to get down with no jake and light pressure on the brake pedal.. But ur gonna be going painfully slow like 10 or 15mph ... dont know anything about the c15, but i run out west like u .. usually 1 gear lower than i went up is how i do it

 

All the single turbo Cats I drove would hold 105k on a 6% grade between 20-25 mph.

 

You’re just going too fast. You slow down and drop gears until you find one that holds it.
The craziest hill I went down, 140,000 lbs , 11% grade for 4.5 miles with a stop light and turn at the bottom. I went down in third gear on a 18 speed at 7 mph. Yes that works out to 35 minutes to get down that hill. Only had to snub the brakes twice.

 

In snow or ice you want to use the service brakes and not the engine brake. The differentials apply the engine brake to the tires with the least amount of traction. That why you see truck in parking lots one drive tire spins and the other 3 don't move. If on dry roads then the differentials will apply even power to all drive tires. You turn off the engine brake in snow or ice and use all 10 brakes. You can get away using the engine brake in snow and ice. Lots of drivers do, just remember it applies the engine brake to tires with least amount of traction.

I was trained you want light steady pressure on the brakes 10 PSI or less. So you go down any hill with any weight that 10 PSI or less will hold your speed. Because the brake drums can dissipate that much heat without overheating. So in snow or icy you don't need the engine brake just the regular brake. You will be going very slow like someone already said 15 MPH or something. Then I use the engine brake to go faster downhill when the roads are more dry. I run the engine brake plus 10 PSI or less pressure on the brakes. I'm getting the most brake from regular brakes plus the engine brake all at the same time. I'm going as fast as safely possible. Your truck needs to have Applied Brake Pressure gauge for this to work.

In snow or ice I turn off the engine brake and use the regular brakes to get me down a hill. We were trained you want low RPMs like 1200 going down hill because if trailer starts to slide and come around the tractor. First thing you do it take foot off brakes to get all the tires rolling. Then if trailer keeps jackknifing. You have one option left to save it and yourself. You step on the pedal and pull the trailer down hill and back behind tractor. Then you use the brakes to slow down again. This something I don't hear anyone ever say.

 

You just have to keep slowing down and dropping gears until the engine brake holds it.

And you can use your engine brake going downhill in snow, you may have to drop another gear and run in stage two instead of three, but you can run it and not ride your brakes all the way down.

 

What are you pulling for boost at 2000 rpm? I run the West. Have a 2ws with a single turbo. I run my jake up to 2000 rpm consistently. 2100 is gettin it, definitely brake to keep your revs between 1800 and 2000.

Kick your engine fan and AC on, ... it will help.

Twin turbo builds much more back pressure, same as cummins/detroit/volvo with their Variable Vane Geometry Turbos.

If you have a non stock, non gated turbo and are in elevation most of the time, consider a smaller exhaust housing. It will spool up faster, and hold better in the thin air.

Everyone here has their own way of crapping in each others cheerios. You are not over revving your motor at 2000 rpm, or 2100 ... but, I would not push it much further. I stab brake using the johnny bar *trolly brake, trailer brake lever* to slow myself whenever speed builds. Not excessive pressure. Just slow 5 to 7 mph and let it creep back up on short grades ... long ones, choose the gear that holds.