From: Joe Garrett (j.garrett@verizon.net)
Date: Tue Nov 09 2004 - 18:32:40 PST
Going down a hill in the same gear that you ascended it in is not the same
as downshifting to decelerate after you are already going too fast. A good
driver anticipates his/her acceleration and deceleration in order to avoid
smoking the brakes or downshifting AFTER losing control. A BUS driver has
to have a very soft touch on both the accelerator and the brake pedal. The
cargo is much more sensitive to abrupt speed changes, and can complain about
a bad ride.
Besides, I only repeated what my former employer had stated as policy.
Since I was a Driver Trainer at that time, I was really familiar with their
policies and the reasoning behind them. They were, and still are today,
correct. Brake shoes ARE cheaper than engines, transmissions OR clutch
rebuilds. As you said, a good driver shouldn't be smoking brakes. He also
shouldn't be smoking clutches, or coming in so hot that he needs to over-rev
a $20,000 engine. I have no opinion on exhaust brakes, as I have never used
one.
I assume your superior attitude about driving skills was directed at the
unwashed masses, the "weekend drivers" of this list, since you can tell from
my note that I am a bus driver. I am only 52 years old, and I have only
been driving busses for 31 years (you have to be 21 in most states and with
most insurance carriers to haul passengers). I currently own two MC-9
coaches and a diesel school bus. All are 4 speed Allison automatics that
only lock up in 3rd and 4th gear. Because of this lockup situation, I have
had to actually learn how to DRIVE these coaches. I live in the mountain
west, and am usually hauling high school kids on long ski trips, rafting
trips, or backpacking trips. We have made three trips to Alaska in the last
5 years and two to Mexico. I can't afford to blow up one of these engines,
or these transmissions, so I just take it easy. I shift into 3rd BEFORE I
start down a hill. I feather the brakes, and I try to stay off them as much
as possible.
The subject of this thread is an M35A2. It has a multifuel engine that,
according to the military, does not respond well to engine braking. The
military says not to downshift it in order to slow it down. I have four of
these trucks, and have driven them thousands of miles, much of that in the
mountains. I have yet to overheat the brakes on any of them. They have
enough rolling resistance that you almost don't need to brake except when
you get surprised.
I think it is a neat project to put an engine brake on one, but I will not
be putting them on my trucks. I am much more interested in dual circuit
brake lines on these trucks.
Joe Garrett
-----Original Message-----
From: jatonka [mailto:jatonka@telenet.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 5:43 PM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List; Joe Garrett
Subject: Re: [MV] M35 Exhaust Brake installation
What about the instruction in the truck driver's manual that says descend
the hill in the same gear that you ascend it in? Isn't that about engine
braking? What about burning the wheel brakes out or glazing them so badly
that they won't even slow you down on the way to the bottom of the hill with
the school at the bottom at that 20 mph turn? How about the signs in all the
mountain states that say HILL trucks use low gear? I am a truck driver,
have been since I was 15, I'm 53 now. I've always geared down, never ran off
the road to lost brakes, Gone a hundred and eighty thousand miles on brake
linings and never ruined a motor by using Jacbs Brake or exhaust brake on
smaller diesels. I think the weekend drivers oughta listen more and speak
lots less about the driver's world. John T
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Garrett" <j.garrett@verizon.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 12:02 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] M35 Exhaust Brake installation
> Actually the policy on downshifting was "don't".
>
> Joe Garrett
>
>
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