Down hill shifting

clutch brake clutch brake clutch brake.

Kidding, yeah- it's called using the foot brake and then quickly down shifting.
Repeat as necessary.




Oh! And don't put the truck in neutral.

 

When you feel you are ready to try downshifting on a hill, start with a small grade, in good weather conditions, with an empty trailer. Understand that things will happen a lot slower than when you have a steeper grade, and/or a fully loaded wagon. You can gradually step things up in good conditions. Experienced drivers will do everything they can to avoid downhill downshifting with a load, especially in inclement weather.

I would rather run a 50 MPH 10th gear hill, @ 25 in 7th, or even 15th in 6th especially in the winter. The first time you come over a peak or around a curve and see traffic stopped, and now you have to, you'll be glad you are in a position to make a full stop.

A mile of cars behind you flashing their lights and blowing their horns? Feel good in the knowledge tat you are protecting them as well, even though they don't realize it and fail to appreciate it.

 

There's nothing "safe" about any motor vehicle in motion, at any velocity, and they're often rendered unsafe when they are stopped.

I have to ask, since you're a student, what have your instructors told you...?

 

Yes there is , BUT, it takes practice...as a newbie...if you find your self in this situation....by all means use the foot valve to stop completely before you gain too much momentum and can't stop , or worse you heat your brakes up and they become useless...in other words , STOP WHILE YOUR BRAKES ARE STILL COOL ENOUGH TO FUNCTION , once you've had time and opportunity to practice you'll see it ain't that hard to do , just keep your cool and don't panic.

 

[QUOTE="Hang - Man";3765909]FYI: WD40 --this is what can happen if not in the right gear or any gear going down hill -its been posted many times before but maybe you didn't catch it.
When your out of gears and you already smoked your brakes -- http://youtu.be/1Vl9SLzzw_w[/QUOTE]

That is a good/terrible example there.

 

in my CDL school our instructors trained us that when we are climbing a hill, to KNOW which gear we should/need to be in when going down a grade and to stay there. So when you come to the crest of the hill, you should be in the gear you want to be to go down it, and you should stay in that gear. don't ride the brakes. don't stab brake, and don't mash them and hold them there. apply firm pressure momentarily until you reduce speed, and then let off the brakes.

Just rembember....Always K.I.S.S.! (Keep it Simple, Stupid.)

 

yes you can do it but after years of driving didnt like it very much. try and avoid getting yourself in situation like that.

 

Sometimes it's difficult to know what gear you need when you come over the mountain because the grade on either side is often different.
There might be a 5% on one side and a 7% on the other.
My rule of thumb is to 'look' at the grade as I am cresting the top. If it looks steeper that what I climbed I'll slow down to the next lower gear to begin with.
If my engine brake is reducing my speed too much I'll upshift until I find the gear that balances the grade with the jakes for the speed I want to maintain.
Same if I'm gaining speed too fast with full engine brakes. If I have to apply the service brakes more than every 20-30 seconds I'll slow down to the lower speed range of the next lower gear and make the downshift.
And I do it BEFORE I've let the brakes heat up too much.

The trick for the rookie is to try to shift at exactly the same rate that you normally do.
Try to shift faster and you'll likely miss the shift.
So get the speed down to the lower speed range for the gear you want, which gives the leeway for the truck to gain some speed on the hill as you are shifting.
Just blip the throttle to hit 1500 RPM, apply light pressure to the stick, and let the gears sync into place as the RPM's drop.

 

There is a very easy way to downshift while coming down a grade when you're in too high of gear. Downshifting on a grade is a skill learned over time, we've all made mistakes and misjudged hills, but as a rookie you need to remember putting an over speed in a motor is a hell of a lot better than rolling a truck over or taking a truck ramp! Remember come down a gear below what you climbed the hill. That's a good way to keep yourself out of these situations. If its an absolutely necessity to downshift get the rpms as low as possible BEFORE coming out of gear and make sure you've take the rpm up high enough to catch the gear you want. Over time you learn your truck and how many gears you can grab given the rpm your at. If I've lugged down to 1000 I can grab 3.5 and be at 2100. Its not fun or easy but can be done. The best advise is don't get in this situation to begin with. The next best advise is to get it slowed down enough to grab the next lowest gear and if you have to grind it until it goes in the hole if you must. Like I said before though try not to get in this situation to begin with.

 

x2 on that, break once and downshift. Make sure you get slowed down enough that if you miss your gear you'll have a second run at her without having to break again. Rev her up good the second time around though because by then you will have picked up some steam.

Clutch break! Well that's for when you want to upshift quickly while CLIMBING the hill. But well save the walkthrough of that technique for another day lol