Going down long steep "DOWNGRADE"

Ah ha, not sure that can be switched off these days but it's funny how things can be misunderstood, or else I'm just a big idiot.

 

Nah, not an idiot. not at all, just inexperienced ( no offense, going by the profile). It has been I would say at least 30 years or more probably that this was done. I think its against the regs to do it now. But it was a regular practice back in the day.

 

ALWAYS keep your rig under speed going down steep or long grades. I always radio check at the top to see if anything might make me have to slow down more. ie: a breakdown, RV, county mounty etc. and if i dont get any feed back, plan for the worst, hope for the best and expect anything.

 

393.48 (b)1 and 393.42 (b)1

Best regards

 

Quad and tri axle dump trucks back in the day when the tag or pusher axles did not need brakes also. I believe that all changed in the late 80's early 90's. The company that i drove for back then had a fit with the new law being put into place because of the money they had to spend to put brakes on those axle's, that included semi dump's that they had.............

 

Here's my advice on how best to tackle a long and steep downgrade:

Regardless of modern advances in manufacturing of brakes, engines, and trailers, you should start down 2 GEARS LOWER THAN WHAT YOU WENT UP! Sure, it seems excruciating going that slow but think on this: you can go too slow a million times, or you can go too fast exactly once.

You should be able to travel the full length of any downgrade without touching your brakes once (this is assuming you have Jake brakes on your truck).
This is how I have done it for 12 years and I have never had any problems. Yes, you are going slower than almost everyone else but who cares? You will still arrive where you need to be and its a whole lot less stressful than wondering if your brakes are going to fade because you were hauling ### down the hill because "everyone else was doing it."

When trip planning you can see on your route that you will be encountering mountain grades, so allow for that reality in your calculations.

If you are driving a vehicle sans Jake brakes here is my suggestion:

Drop 3 gears instead of 2 before entering the downgrade. Keep your rpms no greater than 1500-1600 by using the following braking method: apply a constant pressure to the brake pedal until your rpms drop to apx 1200 then release your brake pedal and when the rpms get back to 1500-1600, repeat the braking procedure. Some people will also supplement this by saying to pick an absolute safe speed and don't exceed that but frankly you are better off by understanding that rpms tell no lies but mph can be deceptive.

I'm sure I forgot a lot of information but them there are my two and half cents worth.

 

Steering axle brakes

 

Bingo we have a winner. Get there alive!!! End of story

 

What I learned about manuvering a boat in a busy marina might also apply to steep downgrades in a big truck..... I was told to only go as fast as you are willing to hit something!

 

BUMP *interesting topic