Choosing a gear for down hill

You need to choose the gear that will let you have the highest legal speed, while at the same time not using the service brakes any more than a little bit.
More than 2 or 3 times a minute (for a few seconds each time) is too much. At that point you need a lower (numerical) gear if it is more than a mile or two to the bottom.

And you need to learn to downshift on a downgrade. It could save your life, because you may not always choose the correct gear before you start down.
It's not much different than downshifting on flat ground. Just slow down a few miles an hour more before you shift to compensate for gravity.


You may start out with a 4% grade and be great with the gear you chose. But then the grade might decline to a 6%, and you'll be in trouble if you don't know what to do.

 

A lot of variables involved. Must use a lower gear on slick conditions than you must on dry. Some slopes specify what speed you should or are allowed to descend. Jake is generally not recommended on slick surfaces but is a no brainer on dry. All trainees need a good amount of mountain time with a trainer. Usually doesn't happen though.

 

You mean you just don't turn a kid loose on the first day down Donner?......

 

CRST usually does. Some make it and ...well. .you know. ...

 

Don't forget to keep other conditions in mind too... Donner Pass on a clear day is a bit different than Donner Pass in a snow storm... not to mention all of the other big hills throughout our USA.

Snoqualmie Pass (I-90 in WA) is one of my favorites: http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/passes/snoqualmie/

 

In hindsight: of the many scary things that I needed to learn in the future, this one actually turned out to be one of the easiest. You'll get this one when you actually do it. And yeah, you may have to slow down a bit to shift down even more, but that's no big whoop. Ignore the "super truckers" whizzing right past you; their loads are lighter than yours. Put your flashers on and take the hill at 25 if you have to. Whatever gear is low enough so that you rarely touch your brakes and don't over-rev. Once you do it you'll wonder what all the fuss is about.

 

LOL, My first run straight out of driving school(which lasted a whole 6 days) was over Donner.

 

Here's what happens when you get it wrong.

 

When you drive north on I-5 (as you will), just before Ashland, there is a steep grade that you must negotiate. Just before you begin your descent, there is a big, yellow sign that actually does the work for you: it says, for example, 75,000 = 25 mph.

At my company, the unhelpful knuckleheads would always spout off about a notorious grade on I-84 called "Cabbage". They would do this to get the newbies to wet their pants or something, or just to compensate for their poor image of themselves (or their little wieners).

Their stories turned out to be nothing more than stories. Cabbage is simply more annoying than scary.

You will easily learn what gear to be in when you actually do it and you will soon learn that the guys who hang around the drivers lounge are to be avoided. You don't need their lies, tall-tales and negativity.