Semi stopped near bottom of the hill. Much smoke.

OK I'll tell on myself ! when you start with Swift and they give you a Volvo and all you've ever driven was freightliners no one shows you the differences, like the order of the jakes are opposite each other. SO I went down into Denver from Utah with jakes on minimal in the day while the snow was melting at 79000 lbs. MY first time down it and I made it in one piece. one thing for sure they had to put new shoes on that trailer though! Whew! I was one SCARED Rookie.

 

OK, I have a question here. Somebody in this thread was talking about carrying a couple of gallons of water to use on hot brakes. Or something like that. Now my question is, if your brakes are hot enough that they are smoking, do you not risk damage to the drum if you throw water on it?

Or is this another old trucker's tale?

 

If you pour water on hot brakes or hit them with a fire equip you will break the drums besides that two gallons of water won't do much in cooling hot brakes any way

 

I had the experience of helping someone put out a brake fire after they came down "that" hill. When they are on fire the last thing you think about about is "will it crack when I throw water on it?" The brake drums were hot enough to put off their own light source. Luckly it was winter and there was plenty of snow around and I had shovels. It didn't do much for the cooling of the drums but it did put the fire out. There is an uphill sections after the down hill part and then there is a pull off area for trucks 1 miles after the bottom of the hill. There is a reason for the 35 mph speed limit on that hill. Here is the reason I told the guy driving to release his brakes. A brake shoe that is on fire pressed up against a surface that is hot enough to reignite it will not help you put the fire out. Seems like common sense to me. I have seen to many people pass me on those hills with their foot on the brakes pedal the whole way down.

 

I like these discussions. You see a big differences of opinion. It's better to hash things out here than on a bottom of a mountain somewhere.

 

Doesn't anyone besides me carry wheel chocks?

It might be a rookie mistake, but I would want to stop at a safe, level as possible place and set my wheel chocks so the drums and shoes can cool separated from each other....along with my hub oil and everything else. I have never had to do this because I, like BW9, am always passed going down hills riding my jakes.

So....DieselDave: What is the correct answer? I have not seen any of your other posts on the subject and don't want to wade through every thread looking for them. And please don't act like I'm an idiot for asking. You can't learn from someone if they aren't willing to teach.

 

Yup! Couple of years ago, a 4-wheeler cut in front of me and slammed on their breaks, while I was fully loaded... The good news, I got stopped before a collision. The bad news, I had to lock up the breaks so hard to do so, that I cracked 2 drums, and didn't do any favors to my tires.

 

I carried wheel chocks, but mainly for sliding them stubborn old trailers with rusty rails.

 

Been there too. WD did a good job with them as well.

 

Dirt from the roadside is a good way to smother a brake fire without cracking anything.