Descending down a mountain
1st timer hauling North Carolina mountains. Little nervous about the descent on the way back to flat land. I will be towing my parents TT which is 7500lbs total weight. Give me any tips or pointer...
Forum Discussion
brulaz wrote:
One more thing, if you're going down a hill with lots of sharp 20mph turns, that can be a lot harder on your brakes than a steeper, but straighter and faster descent like on the Interstates.
And the drum brakes will fade faster on your trailer than the disk brakes on your truck. The trailer brakes will need constant re-adjustment via your controller as they heat up. On the western descent with all the hair-pin turns down the pass in Great Smoky Mountains N.P., I kept increasing the voltage to my trailer brakes as they heated up so the trailer would keep doing its part. I also started manually operating them to give the truck brakes a break. That was all in 2nd gear. All the brakes were stinking hot by the time we got down. Probably should have pulled over to let them cool.
I've never driven a downhill like that with the 20mph turns but I can see how that would heat the brakes up. Were the truck brakes starting to act funny that prompted you to use the trailer brakes alone? Just wondering because it seems that if the trailer brakes will fade faster then the truck it would be a mistake to use them alone to also slow the truck.
