Downgrades with no Jake. Best way to handle it?

You should always drive you truck like you don't have an engine or exhaust retarder. So, just drive it like you were shown in driving school.

 

Im new to this myself, but my good friend who is very experienced, told me it is a big NO on driving without an engine brake. It would be a catasrophic accident waiting to happen. Trucks have engine brakes because they are absolutely neccessary. I would not take a load in my truck if my jake was inoperable unless it was under 15k lbs. And then I would go down a gear or two on downgrades. If you drive for a company they should not let that truck on the road without all safety equipment in working order.

 

Well if your brake did not overheat, thenyou did it correct.

Start out slow, low gear, light brake pressure and take your time.

 

Start in a lower gear then you would with a jake going down the hill. Only use you brakes for 3 seconds to reduce speed, (but hard enough to drop 5 mph) then let it rise back up. If you start running out of air, push brakes harder to slow down more then 5 and use less often giving a chance to build. If brakes start to over heat, brake for a shorter period of time, but more frequently. If you are loosing air and they are over heating, just put the brakes down and stop the truck. Take a runaway ramp if you have to. You can tell if you brakes are overheating pretty easily. if you are pushing harder to get the same braking power your starting to get brake fade, which means they are to hot.

 

Under your scenario, you would use the same gear going down a grade as you would use going up.

If it starts running, drop a gear.

 

Your friend did you a deep disservice with this lie. There are plenty of trucks out there built without Jake brakes or similar, and even more trucks with top ends so far out of adjustment that the Jake Brake is about as useful as sticking your tongue out the window. The absolute truth is that every driver needs to learn how to handle their trucks without the Jakes. Jake Brakes are not required safety equipment, they are optional equipment that the company pays extra to have installed. Just like the ABS systems on today's cars (generally considered a "standard" option, not a safety necessity), the lack of Jake Brake will not create a Safety Out of Service violation.

Learn how to drop down a grade without a Jake, and you'll be a better driver overall. It's not that hard, just drop an additional gear or two, and use the combination between the transmission drag and the brakes to maintain control over your speed. Bear in mind that there are some weather conditions where the use of a Jake is not recommended. What are you going to do if you're dropping down Fancy Gap in heavy rain?

 

There is no trick. You just have to keep the truck slow enough to where you wont overheat the brakes. Stab method helps, but if you're talking 80,000 lbs with no jake down a long 6%'er, you're crawling along at 10-15 mph.

If you've ever been down Cabbage/Deadman Pass on I-84 in Oregon, they have a big sign on the westbound side (the fast side) that gives approximate speeds you should adhere to depending on your GVW if you don't have an engine brake. 105,500 it suggests like 8 mph or something ridiculously slow like that.

 

Bad advice as far as I'm concerned. Why not start out in a lower gear then grab another one if need be, vs. starting off behind the ball?