Brakes hot -Steep grade

[Grumpy Grampa]

Thoughts. Went down some steep grades in South Lake Tahoe, with my 37.1 Miramar 6.8 V10. Heavy load going camping for a week or so. Came down a grade then smelt brakes, I down shifted, dint ride brakes used them only when needed.

Is there a better way. Or can I expect the brake smell on steep steep grades.

Normal freeway driving small grades and hills no issues.

Thanks

[Judge]

I would manually downshift to let the drivetrain help slow your momentum vs relying totally on your brakes.

My Magnitude is a diesel so I have an Engine Brake Option that allows the drivetrain to slow and maintain speeds down hills and steep grades. Many times I never even have to touch my brake pedal.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Grampa

Thoughts. Went down some steep grades in South Lake Tahoe, with my 37.1 Miramar 6.8 V10. Heavy load going camping for a week or so. Came down a grade then smelt brakes, I down shifted, dint ride brakes used them only when needed.

Is there a better way. Or can I expect the brake smell on steep steep grades.

Normal freeway driving small grades and hills no issues.

Thanks

Use cruise control and let the drive train seep you at the slower speed.

[Jimbo56]

Towing or not, press the tow button. Tap brake a couple of times. Will downshift for you. May rev to 4500 rpm. Won’t hurt it a bit. I come down Black Mountain on I40 in NC at 30 mph this way. No braking.

[Grumpy Grampa]

Thanks. Using cruise control option what speed do you set, I am assuming if grade is 25 set to 25?

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Grampa

Thanks. Using cruise control option what speed do you set, I am assuming if grade is 25 set to 25?

The cruise control kicks in at about 5 MPH above the setting to reduce speed. Personally, I'd rather rely on the TOW/HAUL mode and downshift when tapping the brake as mentioned above. You may not need the brakes at that point, but the brake tap forces the downshift to ramp up engine braking.

[Chance]

If you can smell the brakes they are too hot, and could fade due to heat and lead to a runaway motorhome that can not be slowed down enough to avoid an accident. It is taking too big a risk in my opinion.

The better solution is to use engine braking enough so that brakes don’t have to do much work, which will prevent them from getting hot in the first place. However, engine braking has limitations and requires that you plan ahead, or be proactive.

A gasoline engine can only provide limited braking power, and thus can provide much more stopping force in 1st gear than in 4th gear, as an example. The real problem is that on steep and high-speed descents, once the motorhome gets going too fast, it CAN NOT shift down to a lower gear even if you want it to.

Warning signs on highways to use lower gears on downhills are there because it works. The only question is how low a gear do you need?

In extreme conditions, I use a low enough gear so that I don’t have to use the brakes, or use them very little by tapping them OCCASIONALLY to slow down intermittently at most. If you allow motorhome to get going too fast before downshifting, it won’t be able to downshift at all because engine would over-rev, so best to apply brakes enough to slow down and allow transmission to shift down. If that is still not enough engine braking to limit (control) speed, apply brakes again to slow down more so an even lower gear can be used, etc.

The main disadvantage is that you may end up going downhill at a much slower speed than car traffic, but I would rather take that risk than gamble on brakes not overheating.

My 2 cents is that in extreme mountain conditions, the driver sometimes has to take over decision making.

[Ottosails]

With the V10 the key is to use your tow/haul modes and get your gear and speed set at the top of the hill and then ride it down with minimum braking. It will pick up some speed as you go so you’ll need to use intermittent bursts of moderate braking to maintain to your desired speed. If you space out and get rolling too fast on a long steep hill it will take some concentration and a little puckering to get it slowed down.

My 2 cents after many miles of towing and running heavy in the mountains with a V10 with a 5 speed transmission. The V10 is a great, dependable engine, it just takes some concentration in the mountains. It’s a screamer but can take it…

Usually the only time I would get brake pad smell was if I needed a long, hard, constant brake to get stopped for a quick changing light or someone pulling out with no chance to use intermittent braking.

[Sappy2]

Grumpy Grampa - If you have tow haul mode, use it. As for long down grades. The correct way to manage the grade is to stab hard on the brakes to get a lot of your speed down. Then stay off the brake and use engine braking. Never ride the brake. If you're going down, and let's say you reach 65 MPH, stab hard on the brake and pull it down to 55 or less. Then get off the brake. Let the engine and tow haul attempt to keep the speed down. If it climbs back up after a few minutes, then again stab hard on the brake and pull alot of speed out. Then stay off the brake. This is what a professional commercial driver is taught to do.

[Grumpy Grampa]

Great advice and information.

Thank you all

[Roadkill9]

What I did not see anyone mention is to make sure you’re cresting the pass at the speed the signs are warning for the trucks. If you finally get your momentum up to highway speeds at the top of a long hill, you’re going too fast for the downhill. It’s frustrating to be passed by all the car traffic, but better to take it slow at the top of the hill and pick up a tiny bit of speed than to be going traffic speed and have that much weight and momentum to have to use the breaks to slow down. If you were already using tow/haul to get up the hill, as others mentioned, keep it on going down the hill. Or punch it on at the top and give the brakes 2 hard pulses until you feel the engine braking kicking in.

I went down the northbound side of Siskiyou Pass in my 37’ Challenger towing an MKX and never had a worry about my brakes. Also, tap those brakes hard enough and the toad will also provide some braking. Not sure if it was tires dragging or car braking, but I definitely felt the car’s contribution ��

[Lt Keefer]

I just went north and west across Wyoming and Montana, and back again, on I-90 in my Hurricane. I let the cruise take us up each big 'hill' and then down the other side. I don't think I hit the brakes but a couple of times from Casper to Missoula. The tow/haul feature seemed to do the job just fine.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Grampa

Thoughts. Went down some steep grades in South Lake Tahoe, with my 37.1 Miramar 6.8 V10. Heavy load going camping for a week or so. Came down a grade then smelt brakes, I down shifted, dint ride brakes used them only when needed.

Is there a better way. Or can I expect the brake smell on steep steep grades.

Normal freeway driving small grades and hills no issues.

Thanks

Sounds like you did the prudent things. Two questions:

1. What was the max speed you maintained? I keep it at 45 or lower.
2. Do you have brakes on brakes on the Toad?

[Chateau_Nomad]

Definitely use tow/haul and not cruise. If you're not familiar, there's a button in the end of the shifter stalk... just push to toggle on or off. You'll see a small indicator light up in the dash display when activated. At the crest when starting downhill, toggle it on, then tap the brakes to downshift. If you need more, tap the brakes again.

As others said, the engine revs up to a scream, but perfectly normal. I usually poke the button to turn off tow/haul at the bottom of the hill to speed up a transmission upshift... and back to "normal" driving.

Get used to using tow/haul often in mountain downhill stretches. Your brakes will thank you!!

[Elite Washington]

Like what has been said about using tow haul, tapping the brakes to down shift. What I try to do is pick the speed and gear before I descend. Better to stop out on top a little slow you will pick up speed. I base my speed on how fast I go up: if I can go up at 45 then I try and start off 35-40. Easier to speed up then it is to try and slow down.

[Muggs]

I had reservations going across from Memphis TN to middle NC towing 5500 lb race trailer, think was 6% grade. Turned out was no issue,combination of tow/jaul and cruose control along with slow entry speed and only braking to prevent overspeed in short bursts. Ended up being zero issue never got brakes hot enough to smell.

Was on blue ridge with it once without trailer. No issues other than getting branches stuck in awning making it look like deranged unicorn.

[Mousemate]

7200 miles across the country from PA to California and back we come into our home state of PA from MD .... wife hit a 9% grade for 2 miles with a 90 degree turn at the bottom... she did great.. came over the hill a little to fast but was able to correct that with some braking ... geared down and a slightly tap on the brakes here and there ... glad I had braking on the toad....like others have said slow down before you hit the downgrade ....

[lwmcguir]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Like what has been said about using tow haul, tapping the brakes to down shift. What I try to do is pick the speed and gear before I descend. Better to stop out on top a little slow you will pick up speed. I base my speed on how fast I go up: if I can go up at 45 then I try and start off 35-40. Easier to speed up then it is to try and slow down.

Crossing the passes in the Rockies since 65 towing and that truly is good advice

Saw many a burnt-out rig over the years and later many in the brake ramps

[Mousemate]

Years ago I learned my lesson on this little stretch of road .. going up it with my 4500lb Dakota..... Unhitch the car if you think the hill is going to be steep....
We also take a different road back home to avoid going down it....

[Grumpy Grampa]

Great information.

Thank you