A Special "Thank You" To StarCar For Some Great Advice That Helped Me Significantly!

The way we at Stevens teach going down major mountains is this.

If Not using your Jake Brake slow down to the Highest gear in Low range. (4th on an 8 speed, 5th on a 10 speed) Use light steady pressure (7 to 10 pounds) of applied pressure to hold RPMs around 1500.

If using your Jake Brake slow down to the Lowest gear in High range. (5th on an 8 speed, 6th on a 10 speed) Use light steady pressure (7 to 10 pounds) of applied pressure to hold RPMs around 1500.

Its slow but very easy and safe.

That sounds like a good starting point, but I want all of the new drivers to understand that there is no formula that applies to all situations. It will depend on how steep the grade is, how heavy your load is, and how slick the roads are.

So please do not just "lock in" on one particular way of doing it and think that it will work at all times for all situations. Every situation is different and you have to adjust accordingly:

steeper grade: lower gear

heavier load: lower gear

slick roads: slightly higher gear or lower setting on the Jake Brake while using more foot brake to prevent drive tires from breaking loose because of too much stopping power being applied to only one axle by the Jake Brakes.

The schools and the companies you go to work for will cover this in greater depth so I'm not going to dive deep into it here. But I just don't want people thinking there is one golden rule or perfect formula to use for every situation. There's not. You have to adjust accordingly to each set of conditions you encounter.

That sounds like a good starting point, but I want all of the new drivers to understand that there is no formula that applies to all situations. It will depend on how steep the grade is, how heavy your load is, and how slick the roads are.

So please do not just "lock in" on one particular way of doing it and think that it will work at all times for all situations. Every situation is different and you have to adjust accordingly:

steeper grade: lower gear

heavier load: lower gear

slick roads: slightly higher gear or lower setting on the Jake Brake while using more foot brake to prevent drive tires from breaking loose because of too much stopping power being applied to only one axle by the Jake Brakes.

The schools and the companies you go to work for will cover this in greater depth so I'm not going to dive deep into it here. But I just don't want people thinking there is one golden rule or perfect formula to use for every situation. There's not. You have to adjust accordingly to each set of conditions you encounter.

Brett would it be unsafe to lock your drives when you're going downhill and using the Jake in slippery conditions?? That way you're getting traction on two axles??

would it be unsafe to lock your drives when you're going downhill and using the Jake in slippery conditions?? That way you're getting traction on two axles??

I'm not aware of any reason why that wouldn't help. It should. But even with the axles locked you're still only using 2 out of the 5 axles for braking when you're using the Jakes only. Also, there's always a chance, depending on how the weight distribution changes going over bumps or around curves, that only one set of duals on each axle will be locked in - not necessarily both.

Using the foot pedal is going to apply the brakes to every set of duals on every axle and both steer tires, keeping the braking force distributed far more evenly than anything you can do with the Jakes. So on slippery roads you definitely want to decrease the force the Jakes are exerting a little bit and increase the amount of pedal brakes you're using.

would it be unsafe to lock your drives when you're going downhill and using the Jake in slippery conditions?? That way you're getting traction on two axles??

I'm not aware of any reason why that wouldn't help. It should. But even with the axles locked you're still only using 2 out of the 5 axles for braking when you're using the Jakes only. Also, there's always a chance, depending on how the weight distribution changes going over bumps or around curves, that only one set of duals on each axle will be locked in - not necessarily both.

Using the foot pedal is going to apply the brakes to every set of duals on every axle and both steer tires, keeping the braking force distributed far more evenly than anything you can do with the Jakes. So on slippery roads you definitely want to decrease the force the Jakes are exerting a little bit and increase the amount of pedal brakes you're using.

Makes sense.

I seem to remember being told that there are two things you do not do when its slick....you do not use your cruise control....and you do not use your jake brake. Seems to me that I was told that using the jake when its slick is like downshifting an automatic when its slick...you run the risk of breaking traction..... If I'm wrong...somebody hollar at me....

I have always heard never even use cruise contral in rain too!