You can go down that mountain 1000 times too slow...

I've also seen some guy on the side of the road, after coming down a mountain and his tractor tires were literally on fire and the guy just standing there talking on phone.. He did not look scared at all.. He just disconnected trailer and moved tractor up some and let the sumb burn.... Did not see what happened next.. just hope he and his tractor made it ok.. This was on Thursday nite ..

 

The mountains ain't no place to be Mr. Macho. Gravity will show you who's boss! Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise wins every time on the grades folks.

Don't worry about Billy Bigrigger just do your thing and keep it all slo-mo and you'll be fine. Should you ever really need those brakes coming down, you'll have them if you take it easy and Mr. Supertrucker may not have that option. Then that big burly manly man will become a little screamin ##### when that rig starts to lose control. Don't be that guy.

 

I have lived in the mountains since I was young and so I learned early, before I drove a big truck, that you take it easy coming down hills. Especially if the roads are wet. It's something I took for granted until I started seeing truck drivers who didn't know better. I've seen plenty of trucks on the side of the road with smoking brakes. To be honest, that's a good way to warp your brake drums, but I suppose it's better than losing your brakes. When your drums are smoking hot and you set your brakes, the brake pad pressure can warp them. It's best not to let them get that hot. I remember before trucks had Jake brakes, drivers went slow because that's the way things were done. Now days, drivers just don't seem to care much about anything except getting that front row parking spot. But back when I was a machinist apprentice, I learned that if you take care of your tools, they will take care of you. That's the attitude I brought to truck driving. If you treat your truck right, it will do the job for you. Too many drivers over drive their equipment. It's no wonder most company trucks look beat up after only a couple of years of being on the road. Mountain driving is no different. You have to learn to keep vehicle stability. Around corners, up and down hills, or both at the same time. For the drivers who feel that the signs are wrong, I guarantee they won't be when you get to court after rolling your truck.
Brake adjustment also has a lot to do with smoking brakes. Even if they are all within legal specs, they can still smoke if they are not all adjusted the same. If you drop and hook a lot, the first thing you should do is check to see if your trailers brakes are adjusted the same as your tractor. That's a problem more often than not caused by automatic slack adjusters not being the same and there's little you can do about it. But if you can, you should. Always best to check. Trailer brakes will smoke if they are different from the tractor. If one brake is different from the rest, that's the one that will smoke even if it's within specs. I think that point doesn't get stressed enough these days. Look at it this way; you have ten drums on five axles. If one brake is out of adjustment, you have lost 10% of your braking power. If one axle is out of adjustment, you have lost 20% of your braking power. It gets worse as your brakes heat up and your drums begin to expand. For full braking effect, they all need to be adjusted the same. Just getting them within specs is only half the equation. I have found from experience that keeping your brakes all the same reduces your smoking problems a lot.