handling a downgrade

Just put it in neutral and coast down!!!!! J/k, isn't there a formula, I cant remember what it is but it involves your weight/grade of hill and some math.......

Don't worry about other drivers, they probably have less weight than you......

 

The "formula" could never work for many western grades. What you really need to know is the "elevation profile" of the pass top to bottom and you only learn that with experience. They are too long with too much variance in the angle as you progress. If the hill was in fact 6% all the way down, maybe a formula would be meaningful. The difference between 5% and 6% is fairly significant and you don't know if a hill marked 6% is mostly 6 or a maximum of 6. The indicated grade is not very "accurate" in many cases other then to provide a rough gauge of much of it's angle.

But another thing is every truck has a different amount of rolling resistance, some more or less aerodynamic then others, engine brake is more effective in some trucks then others, head wind? tail wind?

 

Trucker rule #6. You never know what's around the next corner.

 

best advice i can give you is dont get in a big hurry, and dont forget that the jacob brake switch only costs about three bucks,made in a some other country. if i think about it can still hear the trucker yelling on the cb am i going to die on the grapevine in calf. dont let the other drivers talk you into going faster than you feel safe at. i didnt survive in trucking for as long as i did because i took chances i should not have. some of these younger drivers will say i do it all the time but that only lasts so long before you have one of those oh poop encounters. if they want to be cool let them go . be safe out there

 

Best advice is go slow and try and use the jake more then brakes.. also use the gear that keeps the truck in that sweet spot.. since your driving that 18 speed everyday only you will know the answer...

 

just go fast enough to bend space around your truck and you'll be at the bottom in no time

 

This is an elevation profile of Red Mountain Summit in Colorado. Notice one side is more lengthy drop then the other, and one side has a misleading level-off before it starts back down again.

 

LOL, just coast in neutral! You are funny, but someone dumb enough to follow that advice might make you a murderer.

"Just put it in neutral and coast down!!!!! J/k, isn't there a formula, I cant remember what it is but it involves your weight/grade of hill and some math.......

Don't worry about other drivers, they probably have less weight than you......"

 

Seriously? I am hoping you are kidding on that. If someone follows some stupid advice, especially with a just kidding afterwards, on the internet....that's their own stupidity or ignorance. People need to take responsibility for their own actions instead of trying to push blame on someone else.

Like I stated, don't know if you're kidding or not but.........