Steep Downhill and you need to downshift

Does have some decent drives lol,

 

Jeez. And I thought I like me a little scrapper... You two are predatory for that burnt iron LOL. Those rears would be good salvage wouldnt it?

 

This may have been covered before this so I apologize for not reading every page but here's what I have done. A few years back (ok many years back) when I was in the Navy I was hauling OTR heavy equipment specialized for explosive range clearance. I had a 60 ton single drop deck triple axle trailer and a Ryder rental tractor. No jake or engine brake and I gross over 110,000lbs. Went down many grades and never smoked the brakes and always had plenty of brakes to bring the truck to a emergency stop if needed. I never paid attention to the over side because they're different. But I always started down the gear that I was pretty sure was the correct gear. I never downshifted after I was committed. Loaded as I was I'd go down at right around 25mph. I'd let the truck drift to about 30mph and brake down to about 20mph. I wouldn't have to use the brakes that much but without an engine brake I would have to use them. If I was loaded to legal (without permits) weight I go down at 35mph and go from there. Other jobs I had OTR did not haul near the weight I did as when I was in the Navy. Also when I drove at other jobs they had engine brakes so that was a different story. The Navy had no tractors where I was stationed that had sleepers so I had to rent the tractor as needed. Hell, they just got rid of the twin sticks. Anyway, that's my 2¢.

 

Aww twinsticks... I hope someone domestic bought and saved them. They are going away fast.

 

The last thing i would EVER do is split a 13 or 18spd decending a grade. If the auxillary section doesn't complete the shift you now have a truck on a grade effectively out of gear. That's something that can go real bad fast. I always try to get the energy out of the truck before i start down, but stuff happens. Get on the brakes hard to get the speed off quick and shift the whole gear. Holding some trailer application on when you make the shift will help.

 

Am I the only one that hates and have had a bad experience with i-77 turnpike in West Virginia on the grade in the snow.

 

the best one i've seen is "Emigrant Pass on the I-84 in Oregon all trucks have to drive past the Weight station there are huge signs everywhere before the down hill section notifying drivers of the correct gear to select, any driver who has lots of mountain experience knows one never tries to down shift going down a hill or continues to use one's brakes if they fail what has one got left? an experienced driver selects the appropriate gear before going down the mountain and stays in it till its safe to change up. It really amazed me just how many drivers ignored the warnings.

 

The WV Turnpike is deserving of "respect" even when it's mid July. Many think the west coast is the only place you can lose a truck do to curves and inclines. Being in between the mountains it freezes quickly in places, if there is snow you need to go slow. Be safe out there.