Full load, grades, no engine brake

Use the highest gear in the low range... 5th for the typical.10 speed.

 

Ok now with that information;

1. Stop Truck, set parking brake.
2. Check to make sure I have an extra pair of Fruit of the Looms.
3. If surface is solid, not slippery, engage Jake.
4. Place gear selector in LOW
5. Release parking brake.
6. Ease down grade, praying as I go.
7. Apply slight steady service brake, feathering to increase or decrease as needed.
8. Once I reach the bottom, see #1 & 2 above.

If there are curves in this grade, then I would disengage the Jake, as the trailer will push the tractor sideways.

I think the above is close to a correct method. Was with my brother a little over a year ago, and we had to descend such a grade. The road surface was gravel, and once we started into the curve, the tractor was shoved due to the jakes holding the tractor tires.

 

Well my hubby Jim would say use the companies trailer brakes as much as you can if you are an owner op. They have more money than you do for brake shoes.

 

My off road trailer gas folding landing gear, that we never crank much, we just hook up fold them and go.

 

I am sure he is talking about the surface of the brake shoe that contacts the brake drum, if that's what he is talking about he is correct......

 

Use your 4 way flashers, lower gear than you climbed the hill, and don't stop at the bottom or your brakes will catch fire.

 

Your statement unfortunatly shows newbreed ignorance, Going down a hill with a steady brake pressure is ( the old school way) that is how i drove the rockies in Colorado back in the day. Stab braking is the ( new breed way) and was experimented with after the steady applied pressure way and BOTH WAYS ARE EQUAL get it? I drove I-70 west of Denver for years hauling beer with out a jake and never had a problem i even would drive down Rabbit Ears without a problem. It's up to you the driver to know what is a safe speed for your truck with what you weigh.I know you cannot figure it out so i will give an example. When i drove down Straight Creek Canyon on I-70 weighing 78,000 plus the speed limit was 35mph for a truck weighing over 35,000,that grade is 8-9 miles long at 7-8% or more, i had to drive that at 10-12 mph without a jake. Even the Colorado Motor Carrier Association says Jakes make up for sloppy driving. They say drivers drive the Rockies every day without jakes. The rule of thumb is you use mechanical brakes first, jakes second.I dare you to call the CMCA and then come back on here and refute my post. My .02 cents.................

 

There you go....get readyrocknroll81.....the way we learned and lived to tell about it, won't work today, remember the trucks are more aerodynamically shaped now, jakes do it all for you, air compressors don't fail, airlines are super-doober, and GO-Nads are bigger. Folks like us ...we're dinosaurs....but we are still here right........

 

Wow, i am impressed to hear that Stevens does that, good for them, mechanical brakes first, jakes second..............

 

It doesn't matter how you brake, at a given weight there is a given amount of energy the brakes have absorb as you descend. Come down too fast and they are unable dissipate the energy fast enough (as heat,) and the smoke machine comes on. But the total energy dissipated is the same.

The reason for the push to snub braking over slight pressure (which the rest of you grandfathered old timers will remember is what the very first CDL handbooks taught, they were misprinted, and supposed to teach snub.) has to do with the mechanics of the brake system. Under the light pressure of steady braking, it's much more likely to have an individual brake fail to make adequate contact with the drum, leaving the other brakes carrying a higher load. The higher pressures of snub braking tends to ensure all the shoes make contact, and even though there will be differences between the brakes, at least this way all the shoes are providing some braking force.