Semi stopped near bottom of the hill. Much smoke.

Gotta agree with you Diesel Dave. Sounds like some BE to me. Where do they come up with this stuff. I have read a lot on this board lately that was PURE BS. #### what's the crime in keeping your mouth shut if you don't know what you're talking about.

 

Instead of criticizing like most of the experienced guys like yourself seem to do (shown above) why not help with the subject. I know you were not talkin bout me specifically but come on dude, you obviously have all the answers. Put em out there, not all green drivers are stubborn and unwilling to learn. I would like to know, my father and grandfather taught me that you keep going to cool em. In your experience what is the best thing to do. I also keep 2 gallons of water in the truck because I have witnessed that fire extinguishers don't work well on brake fires.

 

My comments weren't directed at you. I hate it when somebody says something that is BS but sounds like they know what they are talking about. Guys like yourself could believe such nonsense not knowing any better and put themselves into a dangerous situation.
I have smoked my brakes before. It was due to heavy loads and too much speed. Yes it usually is better to keep rolling unless the grades persist or get worse. I have had to stop before, tractor brakes were not smoking but trailer was. Trailer brakes released to cool and set tractor brake to get out and check - the tractor brakes were hot and would not hold alone due to slight grade on ramp. Still even after that my brakes were not fused to the drum. I have never seen it never heard of it until today. That's what I called BS on.
I am happy that you keep an open mind and open ears it is the only way to learn without just doing it and possibly making a mistake. But you have to use common sense too because there so much BS out there. Be safe.

 

I appreciate the feedback. Although I find it hard to show with some people I really respect all of the veterans out here. And I do not want my post to be taken the wrong way, since I am always listening for good and bad info I notice a lot of drivers that could offer their wisdom but for some reason do not. And I can't figure it out, my own father will not talk to me about trucks, everything I ever learned was just by paying attention to him and my papaw. I would give anything to know the things u guys know. It would make my life a whole lot easier.

 

So ya can't ever say a rookie never asks for advice! Lol some of is do want to keep the old school spirit alive. My entire life has been devoted to the trucking industry and hopefully if things keep going the way they are by this time next year I will be a real owner operator. Only dream I have in life is to own a nice 379 and a log home.

 

I have , do your research, with all due respect. You wouldn't need 2 gallon's of water if "they" knew how to drop off the hill's. I do my walk around "EVERYTIME" I stop. If you have a seal leaking and your brake's get hot, of course your gonna have a problem. You back off the slack adjuster and run down the hill slower than usual. Anyway's I could write a book on over the year's on how's and dont's and how to get by when on the road but Im not a writer but a trucker, and if I was to post the correct way of doing thing's on here or how it should be done, I will alway's get the smart### or Mr. Big Strapper that know's it all, that why sometime's or most of the time I'll stay quiet or make a "sarcastic" remark. The bottom line is, as the year's go by "everyone" learns the trick's of the trade, do's, and dont's and how to get by through the year's of experience. We can write here all day what to do or how but that doesnt mean anything till 'ONE" experiences it.

 

I still to date learn something new and Im never ashamed or let my EGO set in to "ASK" anyone if Im not sure about something.

 

That's what I'm trying to do. And I don't carry the water for myself, I do it because I watched a bus burn up one time because the brake wasn't disengaged and obviously a dry chem extinguisher did nothing to cool it off. Thanks for the response and I didn't think you were disrespectful, I haven't done anything to earn respect yet. And I'm not sayin it will never happen but I've been across all mtn passes and really don't understand why with the jakes being as good as they are today, how drivers are still losing control, Maby they are complacent, Maby bad training, Maby in a hurry. Idk thanks again, and I will look further into your former posts. I'm hungry for knowledge

(burn up meaning like a lot of heat, smoke, a confused driver that couldn't speak English and it smoldered its way thru almost everything attached to the axle)

 

I've had brakes smoke a little a couple of times. I always stopped and let them cool down. When you start to loose pedal that's called brake fade. Brakes rely on friction and heat to work properly but the heat is only helpful to a certain point. The linings can glaze over and loose their effectiveness and then can start to burn. When you smoke the brakes to any degree you will never get the same level of stopping power out of them as you did before they got smoked. Also the drums can warp and that will also decrease the effectiveness of the brakes. I sell brakes, but I'd rather be driving =)

 

The Brake pads will not fuse, You would have to get the drums hot enough to melt to get them to fuse and the drums will break apart before they got that hot. Now you can crystallize the pads and cause cracking or complete explosion of the pads, burn up the wheel seal and bearings. And because to the friction that builds while rolling it would be better to pull off and let the hub oil or bearing grease to cool to prevent bearing failure and watching you wheels run pass you.