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Down hill tech ???

D

Deadman 94 xj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I have a question about the best way to approach a down hill descent. It my experience I've always thrown it in neutral so the gears don't over ride the brakes. But thinking about this, if the brakes don't hold (not failing, just holding) than it might be best to go down in 4lo 1st gear?
By down hill I'm talking about long 100-200+ft descents.

Hill climbs are what I love but I'm always afraid to take it back down so I usually find another route. This isn't solid rock (Moab) where you could depend on the brakes, there's alot of loose stuff around here.

I'm just wondering what any of you guys might do/have done in this type of situation.

A note for our good old xjs, I climbed a hill on sunday that nobody has made it to the top of. Apparently many have been trying for years. Sorry, I had to throw that in there lol.
 
I tend to try to match the gear to the grade and length of runout of the hill.....you don't want to be in too low of a gear but at the same time you dont want to be in too high of gear.
 
Invest in axle and transfer case gears,that's just a "hill"! What would you do if it was "really" far down the mountain??
p1010356.jpg
 
RCP Phx said:
Invest in axle and transfer case gears,that's just a "hill"! What would you do if it was "really" far down the mountain??
Click to expand...

Very nice! I was hoping somebody would share!

What I'm talking about though is steeper stuff and not quite that long lol.


Outlander, that's what I was looking for.
 
Deadman 94 xj said:
Very nice! I was hoping somebody would share!

What I'm talking about though is steeper stuff and not quite that long lol.


Outlander, that's what I was looking for.
Click to expand...
Steeper than that?You need to go there first!Gears are where its at!
(you do realize that's Telluride at the bottom of this "little" hill?)
 
Last edited:
chance_p said:
i ALWAYS keep it in gear when going downhill. it might save you from going end-over-end some day.
Click to expand...

So i'm guessing my "neutral" approach is a bad idea. I understand that if the brakes fail it would be bad but I took that as a trade off for better traction. I do the same thing in snow.
 
You should try to NEVER use your brakes when going downhill !
 
RCP Phx said:
Steeper than that?You need to go there first!Gears are where its at!
Click to expand...

LOL, yeah steeper than that. No doubt that's some scary stuff but what I'm talking about are mostly dirt bike hills. Guys go there with their "hill bikes" (stretched wheel base bikes).
 
RCP Phx said:
You should try to NEVER use your brakes when going downhill !
Click to expand...

I'm only running 4.88's nothing in the case. I've never attempted to go down gears only. I'm just not sure if the momentum would make the jeep get loose. This is where my inexperience comes in. I guess I'll have to give it a shot.
 
Maybe a dumb question, but what about those of us with autos? The only time I get any engine braking is when I put her in Lo range and hold it in 1-2 on the shifter. Doesn't give me a whole lot of options for intermediate speeds. Is there a simple way of keeping the torque converter locked up in the higher gears on the auto?
 
Just throw it in a low gear and let the gears do the work. If it's really steep and really short, plan the descent, like, you should know roughly how fast your jeep will go by just throwing it in a certain gear down a really steep slope. If it feels like it want to go faster or it's about to go over, hit the gas, or throw it in neutral for a sec and get the next higher gear. It's alright to let the gears make the engine rev up....it will make for a nice smooth decel at the end.
 
mjma said:
Just throw it in a low gear and let the gears do the work. If it's really steep and really short, plan the descent, like, you should know roughly how fast your jeep will go by just throwing it in a certain gear down a really steep slope. If it feels like it want to go faster or it's about to go over, hit the gas, or throw it in neutral for a sec and get the next higher gear. It's alright to let the gears make the engine rev up....it will make for a nice smooth decel at the end.
Click to expand...

agreed, that's what i do. sometimes i use brakes to supplement.
 
squidd said:
Maybe a dumb question, but what about those of us with autos? The only time I get any engine braking is when I put her in Lo range and hold it in 1-2 on the shifter. Doesn't give me a whole lot of options for intermediate speeds. Is there a simple way of keeping the torque converter locked up in the higher gears on the auto?
Click to expand...

For my auto with 33's, lockers and 4.56's:

Put it in 4 Hi and then leave it in the 1-2 range. That will give you a decent speed. I like to have the gears doing the braking to where I can let off the gas going both uphill and downhill and the engine will slow me down. I like it to where I have to actually give it gas to get it to a constant speed while going downhill. Not much gas at all, but just enough to where if I let off the gas it will start to slow down in 4 low 1-2 range or 4 low 3 range.

Of course this won't work for every situation, so remember that. It's only what has worked for me on my runs.
 
Absolutely just put it in gear and let the engine bring it down.

On really steep stuff I throw the twin sticks in front-only and lightly drag the rear cutting brakes...this squats the rear down a little bit and the torque from the front axle jacks the front end up slightly. It also prevents the rear wheels from sliding or locking up, which can cause the vehicle to end up sliding around (not fun).

Not everyone's gonna be able to do that, but I know there are a few guys on here with Dana 300's or Atlas cases...just something to try next time. :D
 
vetteboy said:
Absolutely just put it in gear and let the engine bring it down.

On really steep stuff I throw the twin sticks in front-only and lightly drag the rear cutting brakes...this squats the rear down a little bit and the torque from the front axle jacks the front end up slightly. It also prevents the rear wheels from sliding or locking up, which can cause the vehicle to end up sliding around (not fun).

Not everyone's gonna be able to do that, but I know there are a few guys on here with Dana 300's or Atlas cases...just something to try next time. :D
Click to expand...

...what i'd do for twin sticks and cutting brakes...

this is a good thread. plenty of threads talking about going up but it's been a while since i've seen a good one about going downhill.

one thing i noticed when i was out this weekend, going downhill and using the engine and gears to slow you, make sure your motor mounts are good. i've never had a problem with my fan rubbing anything before, but i think between going downhill and the torque on it in the direction it's not normally applied, it threw it off a tiny bit. granted they were rather hairy decents, but it's something to think about nonetheless. a seemingly fine motor mount may not be so fine when going downhill steeply.
 
Have always let the gears/engine do the work for me during descents no matter how steep. Using brakes, especially on muddy or slippery hills can cause the rear to swing out in front of you if he rears lock up. If anything, I like to have to goose it a bit to keep the backend in line.
 
scavengerj said:
Have always let the gears/engine do the work for me during descents no matter how steep. Using brakes, especially on muddy or slippery hills can cause the rear to swing out in front of you if he rears lock up. If anything, I like to have to goose it a bit to keep the backend in line.
Click to expand...

I got in a situation this spring where we were in the the woods climbing hills/decinding hills. Had a little shower pop up. There was a lot of leaf litter on the ground from the fall. ICE SKATING thru trees is what we were doing. Like scav. said i had to use throttle to goose it from time to time to change directions. Hitting the brakes caused you to gain speed and smack trees. It would have been fun to watch someone in neutral trying it. WOuld have a short trip into the cloest tree:roll:
 
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