The first thing I got for the truck was the E-brake. It makes towing so much better when you don't have to worry about overheating your brakes on downgrades.

I pull a 5er @ ~10K. There's this one annoying national park that has a 4% downgrade going into it. 4% isn't much, but the stupid speed limit is 25 mph. I just drop it down into 2nd and the Jake E-brake keeps me at 25 mph without having to use the brakes again.

 

Y'all are in too much of a hurry. If you had been in trucking with the 238's and 250 cummins you would have learned. If you have to use the brakes going down hill, you are going too fast unless you are in first gear. Many a hill I did at 4 or 5 mph down them. An ebrake will only allow faster speed going down the concept is the same. Going fast your brakes heat up fast, going slow you can use them.

Yep you say, Grandpa talking, don't know the todays vehicles. Yeah but I am around to talk about it. But now it is 500hp and Jake brakes. The serious downgrades like Grapevine, Cabbage and so on generally only go down at 15 mph or so on the smaller engines. The old rule was you go down in the same gear that you went up. That worked until turbos and high tech motors, now they pull far too good to use that rule. You go down in a gear that does not require brakes unless you know the hill and can work with it. Grapevine is straight down, no help just slow it down, same for Cabbage, you will never make the curve at the bottom going too fast.

Take care of your equipment, slow it down, be a few minutes later, but go down comfortable. I almost lost it a couple of times on Tahachapi, the Denny s at the bottom always reeks of brake smell. What works one day will not work the next day when the wind blows the other way.

 

I too try to live by the rule - whatever you go up in is what you go down in. That rule works more often than not. My Uncle taught me to drive towing in the 60's, his rule had to do with the theory of the tortise and the hare. He also was very emphatic about being 'legal' weight, 'safe' weight, and within the specs of your truck/trailer. Taking your time was always his sermon, get ther the same anyway was his regular statement. Then, they did not have a jake brake to do the work that the jake brakes do today, they also did not have the hp we have today. The trucks were geared for their work load and steep grade conditions. I take the downhill grades a little slower than most others, I also set up the trailer brakes a tad more than the truck's, trailer grabs first, I've not had hot brakes at the bottom either. Your gears will do the job and if they are not, time to look at what's pushing you AND the part that speaks to being overloaded for the truck's capacity and the brakes of the trailer. I will agree that the jake brake is an excellent addition, but it IS a creature comfort, not a necessity. It will help to save your brakes and that of your trailer, but the bottom line is still at the curb weight as compared to safe weight and the limits of your truck/trailer.

I live and drive in the Rocky Mountains every day. I tow in them a lot, using my gears and setting the trailer to grab first, slowing down and taking my time, I get around just fine.

CD

 

LOVE my Pacbrake. Another benefit is the quick warm up in winter. I will guess my fiver is around 10K loaded. Out of Helena west bound is McDonald pass witch has tight turns. I slowed to around fifty for the turns and the truck easly picked up speed after. On the back side I smile just as big letting the E-brake do all the work. Helena to hungry horse and back I avg. 12.1 hand calculated.

 

Yes the Rule is a good one, "What ever gear you ascend the hill in , is the gear you should descend the hill in" Now as far as my truck I usually do it in 4th gear.

 

The wind can be nasty, but I really hate the fog they can get on the Bakersfield side.

 

And you would think that as bad as the fog gets in that area that the idiots would learn to slow down.
Iv been going through there and started to come into a fog bank and slowed down.
Had several blow by me doing 80 at least into the fog.
Makes you wonder what they re thinking.

 

Well I can tell ya that on the long steep grades you can start out at the top of the mountain in second gear and start down the mountain. Now with weight behind ya you will soon rev to the point where you have to shift to third then fourth. Gears alone will not hold me back on a mountain decent. I thought they would and ended up with 400 bucks in rotors and brake pads. I then went out and bought a BD ebrake. Best money hands down spent on the truck since I owned er and that is from new 15 years. No one is sayin speed down the hills but if you rely on your gears and brakes alone to hold you back you will do two things. First you will run through the gears and or heat your brakes to the point where if you really need then they won't be there. If you tow and tow in the mountains get the ebrake and bite the bullett. What's 12 hundred bucks compaired to hurting yourself or someone else.

I use the ebrake all the time, even empty. Once you learn how to use the thing you will wonder how you drove without it. You still have to use your gears but the ebrake will hold ya. It's a warm fuzzy feeling. Most of the time loaded with the fifth wheel I can run down from 55 or so to a light and never touch the brakes until just before the stop. I hope I never have to go without it. In fact I would say if you don't have one and your towing I think it may be dangerious. JMHBAO

 

good grief! Please post when you are going on a trip with a loaded fifth wheel so that I can make sure you are not on a road that I am. You are a disasterious accident waiting to happen. You have it completely backwards.

Hey, put two bucks in your pocket and have someone drive you to a local truck stop and have coffee, ask a trucker how to handle coming down a hill. If second would not hold it then you go to first. At that speed you can use your brakes all you want with no damage and no one dead.

You are obviously dealing with the short pop hills in Penna or you would be dead. Do that out west and you will either learn or die.

 

Harsh. I think Thumbs was just making a point about overrunning a diesel engine.

Ask a trucker how to come down a hill with, or without, a Jake Brake? I'm pretty sure Thumbs was just saying that driving downhill with an E-Brake is much better than without one. I know getting an E-Brake was the best towing addition I made to my truck.

I do the same thing as Thumbs. I try to anticipate stops far enough in advance so that I use just the Jake Brake and downshifting to slow down until I get to ~22 mph. Then I have to use the brakes. Great thing is, that if I have to slow down sooner/faster, I still have the brakes.

 

LVTony

Yeah that was my point. I have also been on long grades where first won't hold for long periods of time. The point is if your on your brakes your heating them up. Heat reduces the effectiveness of brakes. The e brake reduces the need for your brakes to the point that if you choose the proper gear you really don't need to use brakes at all. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. This has worked for me all over the country. I think that anyway you can stay off the brakes decending a long grade is better than trying to hold the load with them. Weight will cause your pm to increase no matter what gear your in.

I really didn't want to upset anyone

 

No he described a situation where second gear would not hold the speed and ran the rpm's up so he changed gear to lower the speed of the engine. And in doing this he cooked the brakes costing 400 in roters and pads. Those are his words. That is not harsh, that is foolish. The lower the speed of the truck the more you can use the brakes without heating them up.

If the truck is over-speeding from the load pushing the truck down the hill, you are going too fast already. You need to slow down not speed up to accommodate the heavy load. I said short pop hills because on longer hills the higher speed would really cook the brakes and probably a run away truck.

He said that himself, he burned the brakes up and had to replace them. That is driver error, not equipment failure. Yes an engine brake will let you come down faster but the process is the same, you have to have the truck in control.

If you truck is not in control in second gear, raising the speed multiplies the problem. Yes, he has to back wards. And knowing that he would not listen to what I have to say, talking to a trucker would possibly educate him about hills.

Going down hills is not something that has several methods, the slower the speed the safer you are. The faster you are going the more the brakes heat up. At faster speeds like his 55 it only takes seconds to overheat them.

Look what he said, that the truck would run away in second gear so he shifted up to fourth gear. How fast is that? That is not oversight it is trying to commit suicide.

And in comment, the trailer brakes should have been a bit hotter than the rioters up front. That indicates that he does not have a good braking system, probably a surge system. The trailer brakes should apply at or before the truck brakes especially going down a hill.

 

hey Haulin

I'm not goin to get in a pissin match with ya. You just don't understand. I don't care what gear your in if you get on a long enough hill with a steep enough grade and a heavy enought load, you will overspeed your engine without using brake. If you use your brakes they will eventually heat up. Hot brakes don't work to well. The ebrakes helps keep your brakes cooler. That's all I am trying to say. I am also trying to say an ebrake is a great help in decending mountains, hills, mole hills or whatever you want to call them. I am not attacking your manhood I am only trying to to say ebrakes work and are safer than using gears and brake alone. Period... If not why would most, if not all, of the heavy trucks have them? I don't understand why your so upset.

Ok I'm a liar, I don't know what I am talking about and I have not experience at all in what I am talking about. Personaly don't care if you believe me or not. Do what you want. I was just saying what works for me. Maybe rideing you brakes all the way down a 5 or 6 mile 11% grade works for you. If so great.

Go ahead and flame me. I won't respond again. I really don't care. I think the other readers get the idea. I really wasn't looking for a fight. I was just trying to help.

 

If you can't hold your truck back with gears you are not in a low enough gear. Think SLOOOOWWW when using gears for braking on downhill slopes.

 

First, I will admit, I am a little impatient and would like to descend a little faster (within reason) and have the ability to stay in control. The E brake would definately help in that regard.

Second, You can have enough weight behind the truck that the gears alone will not, I repeat not hold you back! You will use the brakes occasionally to keep the rpm's in check. For example, last fall I was bringing a load of firewood down off of the mountain, I do not have an exhaust brake. I started crawling down the grade using a low gear and rpm's were at redline in no time at all. I was on the brakes to keep the RPM's in check, not my speed in check. I was going down the hill at a quite comfortable speed and was able to get it slowed down just fine with the brakes and no worries about them getting overheated. I feel the exhaust brake will reduce the amount and duration that I have to apply the brakes to get the rpm's back where they need to be when going down the grade at a comfortable speed.

I'm not saying an exhaust brake is an absolute necessity. I tow now without them and get along just fine, It would just be a lot nicer in my opinion to have one.