Manual shifting

[Kirk klingaman]

I have a badlands and can't get it to hold in 1st gear when depending a steep grade. It will hold in 2nd and up but not in first.

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[thekingprawn]

Use trail control?

 

[Kirk klingaman]

Trail control works but activates the brakes. I just want to use the engine for braking.

 

[EduBsAs]

I had the same issue and ended up using trail control... 2nd march is not enough for motor braking!

 

[Osco]

We don’t have enough engine for engine braking, the crank is just too light.
Ford knows a 1st gear hold would be too slow and a sudden change in slope could over rev these little power plants in a heart beat.
Besides most know brakes are far cheaper to replace than engines or transmissions.
Smooth steady continual brake pedal pressure. On the longer grades. Like the Cumberland gap I’d stop for a full disk cool down once along the way down. As my disks are not drilled.

 

[Obi_Kwiet]

We don’t have enough engine for engine braking, the crank is just too light.
Ford knows a 1st gear hold would be too slow and a sudden change in slope could over rev these little power plants in a heart beat.
Besides most know brakes are far cheaper to replace than engines or transmissions.
Smooth steady continual brake pedal pressure. On the longer grades. Like the Cumberland gap I’d stop for a full disk cool down once along the way down. As my disks are not drilled.

That's not the case. On a mountain highway, your 2.0L and even the 1.5 are totally capable of engine braking. You should be able to simply chose a gear and coast. If you do happen to hit a very steep bit, a controlled brake application for a few seconds to reduce your speed might occasionally be needed, especially if you are in too high of a gear. You should never ride your brakes for an extended period of time.

Your engine will be just fine as long as you watch the tach.

 

[Osco]

That's not the case. On a mountain highway, your 2.0L and even the 1.5 are totally capable of engine braking. You should be able to simply chose a gear and coast. If you do happen to hit a very steep bit, a controlled brake application for a few seconds to reduce your speed might occasionally be needed, especially if you are in too high of a gear. You should never ride your brakes for an extended period of time.

Your engine will be just fine as long as you watch the tach.

That is not the case !
In my 1.5L dragon I used low at about 45 mph. The transmission downshifted to I think 4th from 6th.
The engine rpm quickly climbed to near redline.
This small engine was about to be pulled past redline on this moderate grade. I applied steady brake pressure like I was taught in tractor trailer school and drew my rpm’s back to 4,000.
In the Cumberland gap in class five tractor trailers this is the method I personally used many times.
We as professional driver would have lost control without smooth steady braking.
We did use the compression release and downshifted to the appropriate gear.
BUT the brakes are what held our speed in check.
Did you know a commercial driver must stop before a long decent and physically check brake slack on each individual brake ?
I must stress this for everyone’s safety,
To choose a gear and coast is wrong, very wrong.
Unless your on some kiddy grade like a 2 or 3% then do as you please,
I choose inexpensive brakes as opposed to planetary gears buried deep in my multi thousand dollar transmission.
Brakes can handle long steady pressure.

 

[Folkman]

For what it’s worth. I have Badlands and drive from Phoenix to flagstaff occasionally.

I had an OB 1.5 and could drop it in low and it would hold 65 mostly even on the 6% grades. Just a little tap of breaks here and there.

I now drive a badlands. (No low) and just set the cruise to 65/75 depending on the posted limit.

I think I used the breaks once or twice the whole time. It just …. Held.

Now when it got sketch on this last trip (rain and wind) I didn’t use cruise, but it still mostly held.

 

[Folkman]

For what it’s worth. I have Badlands and drive from Phoenix to flagstaff occasionally.

I had an OB 1.5 and could drop it in low and it would hold 65 mostly even on the 6% grades. Just a little tap of breaks here and there.

I now drive a badlands. (No low) and just set the cruise to 65/75 depending on the posted limit.

I think I used the breaks once or twice the whole time. It just …. Held.

Now when it got sketch on this last trip (rain and wind) I didn’t use cruise, but it still mostly held.

And the 1.5 it wasn’t over reving. It was at a good tach of 2500-3000.

 

[Folkman]

That is not the case !
In my 1.5L dragon I used low at about 45 mph. The transmission downshifted to I think 4th from 6th.
The engine rpm quickly climbed to near redline.
This small engine was about to be pulled past redline on this moderate grade. I applied steady brake pressure like I was taught in tractor trailer school and drew my rpm’s back to 4,000.
In the Cumberland gap in class five tractor trailers this is the method I personally used many times.
We as professional driver would have lost control without smooth steady braking.
We did use the compression release and downshifted to the appropriate gear.
BUT the brakes are what held our speed in check.
Did you know a commercial driver must stop before a long decent and physically check brake slack on each individual brake ?
I must stress this for everyone’s safety,
To choose a gear and coast is wrong, very wrong.
Unless your on some kiddy grade like a 2 or 3% then do as you please,
I choose inexpensive brakes as opposed to planetary gears buried deep in my multi thousand dollar transmission.
Brakes can handle long steady pressure.

That just sounds like one of those passes I would find a way around LOL. I’m afraid of heights generally.

Any pass with a common name gives me pause haha.

 

[Osco]

That just sounds like one of those passes I would find a way around LOL. I’m afraid of heights generally.

Any pass with a common name gives me pause haha.

The Cumberland gap is not terrible. If you do it right. It takes the occasional semi, travel trailer or motor home.
It has several long sustained 7-8% drops that last a few miles. And a few scary places.
Plenty of pull offs for brake cool downs. The trick is to start at a very slow speed and not let it climb.
True story:
Back in 1975 a buddy of mine was team driving in a Freight Shaker, (Freight liner)… he was asleep in the sleeper and he felt an odd bump.
He pulled the curtain open and saw his Co-driver literally standing on the brakes and the tach was at 2300 rpm on a 1800 rpm engine. The speedo was climbing past 35 mph.
He hollered at his buddy, Said,
BAIL OUT NOW ! And my friend dove out the open passenger window. He broke his arm when he hit.
His Co driver didn’t listen.
He died in the truck…
Truth !

 

[Folkman]

The Cumberland gap is not terrible. If you do it right. It takes the occasional semi, travel trailer or motor home.
It has several long sustained 7-8% drops that last a few miles. And a few scary places.
Plenty of pull offs for brake cool downs. The trick is to start at a very slow speed and not let it climb.
True story:
Back in 1975 a buddy of mine was team driving in a Freight Shaker, (Freight liner)… he was asleep in the sleeper and he felt an odd bump.
He pulled the curtain open and saw his Co-driver literally standing on the brakes and the tach was at 2300 rpm on a 1800 rpm engine. The speedo was climbing past 35 mph.
He hollered at his buddy, Said,
BAIL OUT NOW ! And my friend dove out the open passenger window. He broke his arm when he hit.
His Co driver didn’t listen.
He died in the truck…
Truth !

you realize how contradictory that post was for a person like me?.? ROFL.

JUST WOW. There are a few spots here in AZ I have been that I was not “happy” doing. One is the scenic (read that as harrowing) road to Sedona. Up and over the mountain.

terrifying. The trees halfway down tHe sheer drop look like the size of my keyboard keys…. And they are full blown alpine pine. No guard rail, 1.5 lanes wide two way traffic.

I was in an old Lincoln town car.

Inalso turned around at the bridge just outside of Sedona “uptown” on I think the 89a. Nope. Not for me.

 

[Mark S.]

I applied steady brake pressure like I was taught in tractor trailer school and drew my rpm’s back to 4,000.
In the Cumberland gap in class five tractor trailers this is the method I personally used many times.
Brakes can handle long steady pressure.

Pro driving schools now teach engine braking as primary, supplemented with sporadic application of wheel brakes for three or so seconds at a time, with plenty of time between applications to give the brakes time to cool. The slow, steady pressure all the way down the hill technique has been proven wrong.

https://www.crashforensics.com/papers.cfm?PaperID=36

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/long-downhill-grades-require-engine-braking-experts-say

https://www.truckingtruth.com/cdl-training-program/page47/proper-braking-technique

https://cdl-prep.com/question/which-of-these-describes-how-you-should-use-the-brake-pedal-on-6161634775007232/

https://www.dmv-written-test.com/question/cdl/when-traveling-down-a-steep-downgrade-the-best-way-to-use-your-brakes-is-to_x3PG0Yyk.html

 

[WLK]

You might have heard of a show called Highway Thru Hell. Anyway, the hwy is a couple of hours away from me. There is a 12-mile stretch that has a 6-8% grade. You need to use your brakes at times to slow yourself down and a lower gear really helps. It can be a fun ride but not in the winter as that is when they film the show. I have seen so many people ride their brakes the whole way, sometimes that doesn't end well.

 

[Osco]

Yeah grades that long and steep are tuff on brakes.
12 miles, wowza.

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