Looking for better rotors
After one trip down the Bighorns my rotors warped, pulsing pretty bad, seemed the right front wheel was very hot compared to the rest and had a heavier dust buildup on the rim. Had the Ford dealer in ...
Forum Discussion
Padlin wrote:
I am new to the longer mountain runs found out west, this trip was the first I've encountered them so I could definitly be.doing something wrong. I had heard to go down in the same gear you go up in. Went up in 4th or 5th, came down in 3rd. I could have stepped harder on the brake when in 3rd and it would have down shifted to 2nd, but I didn't have to so I didn't for e it. Instead I used the brakes if I needed to slow below what 3rd would do.
No brake issues other then the throb or pulse one gets when the rotors have overheated, and that mostly just when hot, with or without the trailer. There is no lack of braking.
If everyone thinks I sould let it downshift further that's what I'll try on next years trip, and replace the rotors and pads. The truck, when in tow/haul seems to downshift based on my braking, the I brake the more it down shifts. Light braking on the down hills does not do it, takes more then that.
Took a look at your profile to see what your TV was, but didn't see it. I made a similar trip two years ago (for the first time) and was really concerned about the downslopes in the Rockies. Prior to leaving on that trip, I found some info on the net about Duramaxes and what was a safe rpm when using the engine as a brake (I have an '07 so it doesn't have an EB). What I found was a blog talking about how to downshift and that the DMax is engineered to rev up close to the redline safely so when I felt I was in a bind, I used the manual mode and downshifted appropriately, sometimes down to 2nd gear and at least once down to 1st when I ran into some construction road work and had to stop sort of suddenly. Bottom line, while I watched as the engine rev'ed up to 4200+, I cringed but trusted what I had read and it worked great. Like others have said, I also used my brakes hard for short periods of time to slow down 10-15 mph then let the engine accelerate again saving the brakes. Like I said, that was two years ago and now I have about 100k miles with no ill effects. In fact, the last time I had my tires replaced, I asked them to check the pads, rotors and shoes and I was told they have plenty of stuff left on them.
