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Originally Posted by mudpuddle
Come on Rev, don't let your petty grievances with Steve put the spotlight on your own ignorance.
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Excuse me?
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There was nothing wrong with what Steve said. If you try to control a 78 or 79K truck down a 7% grade with the brakes you won't have any when you get to the bottom. You gear down, then you use the jakes, then you add the engine fan if you need it. You use all the tools available to you BEFORE you use the brakes.
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That is poor advice, plain and simple. If you feel it necessary to use your engine fan to slow your truck, then chances are you're going too fast in the first place. The fan is not a tool for slowing the engine - it is a tool for cooling it. :roll:
I've driven plenty of trucks
with no jake brake available to use down heavy grades, maxxed out at 80K. I've never smoked a brake doing it either, because I took the steps to prevent it
before I ever began going down the grade.
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My cousin taught me to drive and he retired with over two million miles of driving without one at fault accident. He told me three things that really stuck with me over the years. Stay away from truck stops, GET IT IN WRITING, and use the brakes only when all other avenues have been explored. Pretty good advice and all three have kept me out of trouble.
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Good for him. Now explain how playing with switches is safer than pushing on the brake pedal. The proper way to go down a hill is to:
#1. Slow down at the top
#2. Gear down
#3. Set your jake
#4. Use your brakes to maintain your speed.
If you do the first three, then the fourth should only have to be used every once in a while anyway.
Although if you are wanting to put excess strain on your fan belt, then by all means pretend it's an engine brake. :lol:
Besides - using your engine fan to slow the truck isn't going to give you hardly any slowing power anyway.