72mph # Swift Will get you FIRED

I will totally spam the site as a nude hot chick looking to team! Buuuut, I don't wanna.

 

As Canuck said and Dick alluded to, you are responsible for the control of your vehicle. I said under most circumstances, a jake is safe to use when it's raining. But then again, I always have my vehicle under control and will never turn that jake on in ice, heavy oil or a gully-washer rainstorm.

Dick is right in saying the jake is an aid. But it is also a valuable tool. Yes, I have driven a truck that didn't have one. It bit big time because I was always two gears lower than everyone else hauling the same weight on the same hill. But I still did not have to touch my brakes but maybe once per minute to feather them a little and break the momentum.

If you have to brake more often than about once a minute, you are in too high a gear for that downgrade. Your engine should hold you. If it doesn't, you better downshift as soon as you can without frying your brakes.

 

Downshifting on a downgrade is a big NO NO!

In the split second your out of gear, you have no control. The truck will speed up to a point to where it becomes impossible to get the truck back into gear. When this happens, your best option is to bend over & kiss your arse goodbye while you hope for the best.

 

Hmmmmmm.......I've downshifted on grades many times over the years without a problem.
I don't think I ever lost control...Most of the time I'm pretty sure I'm not dead from crashing and burning after downshifting on a downgrade!

Hold on a second, Let me take my pulse....

Nope...I'm not dead yet!

 

And how many years experience do you have? You know how to do it quickly & properly. Some of these drivers can't even shift an auto tranny without grinding the gears!

 

While I agree it's better to start of in a gear where you dont have to downshift on a grade. They are not all just exactly 6 or 7% so sometimes downshifting is very appropriate. What do you do if you do start down and need to downshift? Dont because its a big NO NO, lol I dont think so. Just because you shift going down a hill does not mean that you are out of control and have to kiss your butt goodbye. Now if you shift and cant get it back in gear, then maybe you better worry

 

Redd, you are right. It is to be avoided as much as possible. However, there are times when it is necessary to downshift going down a hill.

The way to do it is brake, but not firmly. Bring your RPM down to about 900, then don't waste any time shifting. And I mean don't waste time. You will have about a three second window to get the gear you need. It's not a rookie maneuver. The key is to realize you need to drop a gear...before you actually need to drop it and then git 'er done.

That's why they teach in "schools" to go down a hill in one gear lower than you went up.

 

I had to down shift many times, while I was driving OTR, it can be done, but like already said you have to do it quick..

 

I was taught to go down TWO gears.

 

I don't buy into that theory at all. There's no guarantee that one side of any given hill is exactly the same angle as the other. You can go up a nice long gradual incline and drop straight down off the other side. One gear isn't going to cut it.