TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:23 pm

Read your states driving manual. There might be a law requiring you what to do.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:13 pm

Stop argueing with your friend! You can't win.

And when it's snowing outside, STAY HOME and don't try driving down hills.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:32 pm

GREG.M wrote: Having driven a wrecker for 5 years, and having leared from a guy that owned the business and drove wreckers for about 45 years. He taught me to stop at the top of the hill put the vehicle in neutral and slowly release the brake pressure (foot feed not handbrake) till the vehicle begins to roll. then hold that pressure till you get to the bottom of the hill. I have used this method for about 20 some odd years in wreckers,tractor trailers, and my own personal vehicles and have never had an accident (knock on wood). His reasoning behind using this metod is if you have the car in gear and apply the brake you are both pulling (going) and stopping at the same time so you don't have control over the vehicle.

Greg

And here is why when it snows in the South, I make a point of not driving with the natives!!
Ever seen the highways during a Southern Snow storm?? It defines the word scary, cars to the left, cars to the right, cars spun out, cars in ditches, accidents galore. So many Southern drivers haven't a clue what to do in snow, but they go anyway!

Dave

Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:44 pm

Do whatever you want but don't lock up the front tires. Greg might be a professional driver, but most people out there aren't, they couldn't handle the skillz it'd take to execute his method.

Down shift, take it slow, and when you have to use the brakes do it gingerly, imagine an egg between your foot and the pedal.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:07 am

GREG.M wrote: Having driven a wrecker for 5 years, and having leared from a guy that owned the business and drove wreckers for about 45 years. He taught me to stop at the top of the hill put the vehicle in neutral and slowly release the brake pressure (foot feed not handbrake) till the vehicle begins to roll. then hold that pressure till you get to the bottom of the hill. I have used this method for about 20 some odd years in wreckers,tractor trailers, and my own personal vehicles and have never had an accident (knock on wood). His reasoning behind using this metod is if you have the car in gear and apply the brake you are both pulling (going) and stopping at the same time so you don't have control over the vehicle.

Greg

As usual, everyone has there own opinion and will use their own method(s). Who am I to say yours is better than mine? I just know what works for me. My experience is based on living at the top of a very steep hill on a very rough dirt road and having to traverse it in all kinds of weather for the last nine years. Admittedly, this is different than a paved road.

Personally, I would not start a vehicle down a hill in neutral using only the brakes for control. If your foot slipped off of the brakes, which could happen for a variety of reasons, you have absolutely no control at all... see ya at the bottom.

If your vehicle is in the lowest gear possible, you are limiting the vehicle's ability to freefall should your foot come off of the brake. Yes, it is technically pulling, but plain old gravity (neutral, no brakes) can pull a heavy vehicle a lot faster! My truck has a granny gear and it creeps down the hill so slowly, it's almost in park. I've used it many times to maintain control on our snow covered hill. One thing I did not mention, because I thought it was obvious, is to only touch the gas enough to get started forward. From then on, keep the h@$% off the gas pedal.

The OP did not mention ice, he stated "a hill covered with snow". IMO, there is no "best method" for ice, unless you count staying home and cracking open a cold one as a method... :wink:

Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:13 am

Here's the deal, you don't want to lock up ANY wheels. You just want to take it easy, you're best off in four wheel drive using engine braking, but most people don't have that option, so I say, use a combination of both. And of course if you lock the fronts, let off and let them roll. Just start playing simulator racing games and you'll learn that braking hard and turning results in understeer (don't do it in real life, because that's dangerous). Of course this is all my theories and I'm not to experienced but I do live in Ak so I get lots of winter driving (with studs though).