Here is something else I was trained by company that runs the mountains. They took us up Parley Canyon. We all drive up to the top and turned around drove and halfway down and stop and switch driver. With a loaded trailer so we could all see it works. That part of my training was probably not normal for most drivers. It’s not a requirement of CDL training and most people don’t live were the bigger mountains are so they don’t teach this. Someone in Florida is not going to get training in driving in the mountains because its flat land.
Understanding Braking Capacity
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Hammer166, Dec 2, 2024.
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Quote'''Braking uses friction to convert a vehicle's kinetic energy into thermal energy, which is then dissipated into the atmosphere. ''end quote''
It's the ability to dissipate the energy that stops the truck. -
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One could technically design a brake system with extremely poor heat dissipation but a huge thermal mass that could stop the truck quite effectively... once. Then it would be ineffective until such a time as the components cooled.Last edited: Dec 6, 2024
Oxbow Thanks this. -
But yes, we all know that isn't gonna happen often in the real world. All of us geezers remember watching the trucks go by looking like meteors at the bottom of the grades.
I was really hoping to get it to sink in that any extended brake usage was not good idea, but I realize this morning that relieving myself upwind into gale and staying dry is a far more likely outcome.
It's also amusing to listen to one tell a bunch of old heads who learned the mountains without jakes that we basically just don't understand how it works. -
If you have been driving a long time how could you NOT know this stuff. It not anything new. You really don’t think you can ride the brakes at 10psi without the brakes over heating or being able to stop if needed is not a problem.
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Adjusted tighter or looser. Always wondered about that. With a service brake diaphragm being more or less a constant surface area through out its entire stroke the braking force should be nearly equal regardless of adjustment would it not? Force = Pressure x Area. Assuming you're not overstroked of course. The slack adjuster angle would change the force slightly but probably not enough to make a huge difference.
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So long as the descent speed is the same, the total heat generated by the descent is the same, snub merely spreads it more equally among the brakes. The biggest issue with snub is that drivers tend to spend too much time above target speed (velocity squared is a #####) without realizing it, and thus put more heat into the brakes than they realized.Accidental Trucker, Oxbow and AModelCat Thank this. -
Accidental Trucker, Hammer166 and Oxbow Thank this.
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