Best way to descend down a long mountain road?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
1,298
Location
SE Ohio
Hi Everyone,

Getting to our property is about 2.5 miles up a twisty turny "mountain road" where 4x4 is needed in some areas especially if it has rained. It used to be gravel when the gas drills worked but the wells dried up and the gravel has washed away to leave a rocky, rut filled road.

When it was gravel it wasn't to bad on the way back down because the gravel helped slow you down. Without it some areas might get you moving real fast and some of those small rocks are sharp or you might hit a turn to fast and go off the edge which would be a bad day.

Would 4wd-low be a better choice on they way back. 4wd-low and keeping it in 1st gear instead of using just the brakes on the way down?

Thanks!
 
Use low gear to slow down, use the brakes as little as possible. Last thing you want to do is get the brakes too hot. If 1st gear in 4 High isn't low enough, then use 4 Low.
 
OK, this is what I did for decades in Calif State Parks - road and trail condition assessments including erosion surveying. I think I have driven most everything that can be called a road
laugh.gif


1.) Do not rely on the brakes. If the vehicle is new enough to have ABS (?), there are a lot of cases where it will not actually stop in time. If it senses a wheel slipping it will moderate the brakes and you will roll past your intended stopping point. ABS and slow slippery going are a match made in Hades
frown.gif


2.) Use 4x4 Low Range and as you approach really slippery sections, slow down and put the tranny in low gear too. If you are in nicer sections where that feels to slow, just shift to 2 (still in low range). You can actually drive in Drive in low range if needed, just don't try going over say about 35 MPH... Downshift after slowing as needed.

3.) If you have a modern Euro 4x4 it may have Hill Descent Control... If it does, engage that on the way down. It will override the ABS in some situations. Really good ones will help by sensing wheel slip and apply braking to wheels with traction to minimize vehicle speed/slippage ...

4.) The best thing you can do for the road is to get the water out of the wheel ruts. Everywhere there is a natural change in road gradient, or there is a minor swale or drainage on the upper side, make sure that water gets across the road and continues down the natural slope as it would if the road was not there.

Roads are classified as "cross slope interceptors" in that they take normal down slope drainage patterns and re-direct them into themselves and carry higher volume and velocity water for long distances. Usually taking the road surface and any viable native soil with them. Very destructive. Do what you can to minimize this
smile.gif
 
Last edited:
Don't use 4 lo; its ratios are too restrictive and top gear in most automatics actually freewheels. You'd be in OD at about 20 MPH in 4-lo.

I'd go 4 hi on the t-case and manual 2nd or 1st as applicable. More diffs will be unlocked but you'll still be pretty much in control. If one tire breaks loose its rotational inertia will still work as "redneck ABS".

Besides, gravel surfaces let you "plow" with a locked tire, getting yet more traction, though I understand not wanting a puncture.
 
4WD Low in first gear? You'll be doing less than walking pace! I don't see the need to even have it in 4WD on the way back down. Sensible use of the brakes and I think you'd be fine. You're not going to overheat the brakes at low speed.
 
I can't imagine 4WD low with my 4:1 transfer case under those conditions. 4H in 1 or 2 should work, at least with mine.
 
Hill descent mode is fantastic. Our Fusion has it, and it really came in handy going through the Catskills a few years back. On the interstate I had set the cruise control to 70 something, but then we started roughly a 15 minute descent. I popped it into hill descent mode, and it took care of the rest. The engine will rev quite high, but I didn't use the brakes at all, and my speed never varied more than a few MPH.
 
I too have issues seeing the need to jump right to 4LO--but I know for my truck, I can't shift into 4LO on the fly. 2HI to 4HI, yes, as long as I'm below 60. IIRC my low range is 2 or 2.5:1.

So I'd try 4LO, especially if it's wet and slick. If 4HI & 1st wasn't enough, well, it's not like you can stop and try over again.

I'm sure after a few runs you'll have a better feel for what is needed.
 
Thanks, I know when I did it last year my right calve was on fire riding the brake all the way down keeping the truck at around 10 mph. Any faster than that and you risk bottoming out the front bumper on some of the dips. When it was all flat and gravel you could run 25 mph pretty steady on the straights.
 
In my Tracker on logging/cottage roads in the winter I'd use 4 low with the manual trans just to get more gear ratios in the 10-40mph range so i could always be in the right gear.
It had a fairly narrow band of rpm you wanted to spend alot of time at.
 
What vehicle? if its a part time 4wd its not going to like turning in 4wd.

If I was in... a 2006 Ford Ranger I'd use 4hi/1st gear

4low is so low you would have to get into 2 or 3rd gear to go over 15mph.. and if you let off the gas it will give you whiplash from engine braking.

if that is not sufficient try 4low 2nd gear

If you had a subaru I'd put it in X-mode and turn on hill decent control as needed.
 
Last edited:
I do this all the time, with different vehicles. Dropping down in gears is all it takes, sometimes as low as first, but my daily drives are normally only down one or two gears, depending on rain.

Keep off the brakes. Hit them maybe for 5 to 10 second intervals before hairpins, then let off and come through them. I would not go as low as low range. I think it is too low.
 
Can you drive with two feet for the hairy parts?


I like to do this in parking lots in automatic transmissions to help in case someone runs in front of me.


It is not comfortable and there are other reasons not to get comfortable doing this. One being, you might get which leg to use confused with the other and get in a big heap of a mess.
 
So I'm reading that the OP has to keep it 10 mph or under due to road conditions.

Using 4 low in that situation is just fine. You are not overspeeding anything going at those speeds. Not sure what the paranoia being exhibited by some about using 4 low is. Its a tool in the toolbox - and this sounds like a place to use it!
 
I agree, 4 low sounds ideal for this. You probably won't need the brakes nearly as much. I used to travel old logging roads that were abandoned and a mess. 4Low in a low gear coming downhill was ideal. In my case I also typically ran low air pressure as well, assuming you aren't getting on the highway at the bottom of the hill.
 
Got a picture of the road?

If you have to slow down to 10 MPH, 4 low might not be such a bad idea. That's really slow.

My truck isn't going anywhere fast in 4 low, but it's definitely going.
 
depends on the road. My Willys Overland generally descended in the gear it ascended . Forget brakes, use the gears. I remember a photo in an old Popular Mechanics of a 5o's Suburban going down a steep stretch dragging a boulder as a drogue. Diverting the water from the road would be the way to go. I used to walk,bicycle, bug and Willys a hill that had a spot where an "occasional stream" shared then crossed the trail. I mostly used it as a down hill shortcut in days of yore. Best is an icy down hill in frozen ruts.Redneck luge . My Grand Wags in stock condition did very well staying in established tracks.
grin2.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top