Downshifting a regular vehicle (Jeep)

Just giving you a hard time


I forgot how to #### since I've been stuck in this auto freighshaker

 

Depends..

If you're looking at it from an economical standpoint then they're correct, any smaller type passenger vehicle it's better to kick it into neutral and use the brakes to slow yourself. 50 bucks at autozone for brake pads will always beat out several hundred dollars + a weekend wrenching party.

If you're looking at it from a racers point of view you always row through the gears and or standing on the brakes so you're in the appropriate gear & speed for the next section of the track. Brakes and clutches are just part of the price you pay for having fun.

If you're looking at it from a wheeling point of view (jeep owners).. well watch this 13 second video from Moab, Utah. and you tell me.. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbkTncjEOs[/ame]
Maybe it's just me.. but I would have preferred to have been in a gear.

And you're right.. in a tractor you do it because if you're not in a gear then the 80,000lbs pushing you is in control.

 

Everything is dependent upon something else, the situation, etc.

IE: If I'm MT and cruising along at say, 55, in 10th, and I see a light change from green to red, I try to time the space I have left to catch the green.

How I do it is either drop to 1k and hit 9th or drop to about 600 rpm and drop to 8th. IF I have to come to a complete stop, I'll do the drop to 8th then to 7th where I'll let the truck slow to where the engine starts to "PUSH" the truck and clutch in (not deep clutching like in a 4 wheeler) and go nuetral which will be about 15-20 mph. JUST before the truck stops, it has to just "feel right" here, I will then "float" the stick into the proper gear - MT, 3rd. Loaded?1st. Then, again, the truck will want to "PUSH" you and go full clutch and brake to stop. This last part is literally only a couple of feet from where I'm stopping.

Loaded is only different that I float down through every gear if I have time. If not I'll use what I just described. Flip the jake brake on right as I come off the gas and let it work as much as I can.

I found that I didn't have to drive an MT truck like I drove the loaded truck.
You get to know your truck and know the time and space it takes to stop.
Me? I PREFER to be in gear as much as possible so to have more options.

So many scenarios
FWIW I've only been driving a couple months also but I can already tell that as experience grows so does instinct and just "knowing" what to do without even thinking about "what am I sposed to do here?"

Every stick 4 wheeler I had, had a V8. And I used to like driving the Camaro and Mustang and Monte Carlo's. Back in those days, we were called "Ridge Runners". We'd put Chevy 350's into '85 model Old's Cutless RWD and put a slap stick shifter on the auto's. But if I drove a stick, I ALWAYS wanted to be in gear. Because, as another poster put it, you gotta accelerate outta curves. And hey, what'ya know, the same is said of driving a Big Truck. Brake before the curve, coast through, and pull out the other side.

 

Hi Rob.
I personally don't see how the clutch has anything to do with it. The ONLY time I use the clutch is when I'm stopped. I believe knowing the range of your engine/transmission is essential to smooth shifting, up or down - no clutch involved so,...

... who's wearing out their brakes OR clutch?

You're not going to snap a drive shaft by RPM shifting,... speaking from past experience, my boy.