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Posted by ChrisCase [63.199.242.188] on Thursday, June 09, 2011 at 17:49:40 :
In Reply to: Brakes driving me nuts posted by D Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Thursday, June 09, 2011 at 11:21:21 :
Drums can get hot enough to boil the brake fluid. When that happens they won't slow you down any more. It's the main reason everybody went to discs up front. It can happen on a steep 1/4 mile length.
You know those signs on mountain hills that say "truck use low gears"? This is why. Use engine braking to keep speed under control without overheating drum brakes. It's also why it is illegal to kick a tranny in to neutral to coast down a hill- the old non-synchro crash boxes were impossible to get back into gear at excessive speed, so no engine braking either. Also, proper practice is to 'pulse' you brakes. Don't just ride them all the way down a hill. Apply them hard, get slowed, then let off to allow some cooling before re-applying. They probably don't teach that is driver training any more, do they?
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