Smoking brakes while off road!!

[chrisinbeav]

Okay I went off roading today for the most part I did pretty good. Got to try out my new tires.(Dick Cepek FCII's Loved them!) Anyways, one of the trails I did had a long steep decent. Towards the end brakes started to get very spungy and when I could finally stop I had smoke coming from what looked like my brake pads or calipers. Obviously they got overheated! Has anyone found a way to not let this happen? I thought about dropping it into 4 low to just crawl down but I would have still had to use the brakes a lot.... Any ideas would be helpful.

 

[dman726749]

next time def drop it down into the lowesg gear you can have....4low and 1 on the gear selector and let the engine take you dowm.

 

[Alec]

yup, you probably just overloaded them.

 

[Billy177]

also make that mud is not covering them and insulating them. just spray em with some brake parts cleaner.

also if you put the gear selector in 1st make sure you press od off so you get engine braking in that

 

[chrisinbeav]

Thanks

I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[kenr74]

Hey Chris,

Where were you wheeling at? I'm down and Mac and want to try out some easy trails to start with.

 

[chrisinbeav]

Good wheelin spots...

This weekend I went up to the Tillamook OHV area. Tons of good trails up there. The trails that I went on this last weekend were, "Ample and Alluring" and "Roger's Road". Roger's Road can be a little difficult if you don't have clearance. I bottomed out several times on my running boards. One time pretty hard.(Actually bent them) Ample and Alluring is just steep and rocky but a very pretty trail. I have also been on "University Firepower", "Brown's Powerline", and "Powerline". University firepower and Roger's Road have to be my favorites thus far. For my vehicle both are fairly challenging.

http://www.odf.state.or.us/AREAS/northwest/tillamook/tsf/rec.asp

Excellent link to find trails!

 

[kenr74]

Cool, thanks for the link. I drag my bikes over to Sand Lake all the time so I may have to stop there on the way and check it out.

 

[kfkodiak]

I know I'm digging up an old thread, but I'm having almost the same issue. I ws on a 12% downgrade today that lasted about 5 miles or so. It was on a one-lane dirt road with switchbacks, so I was trying to hold my speed to about 15-20 mph. On the way down, I shifted to first, but ended up on the brakes most of the way down. I never caught them smoking, but they smelled bad enough that I stopped a few times to let them cool down. 4LO wasn't much help either, and I know it's working.

Can someone give me an idea of how much engine braking I should expect in 1st under normal circumstances? I'm wondering if I need to check the valve body gasket.

BTW, never ever check the temperature of a brake rotor with your finger, even if they've been cooling for a while. Don't ask me how I know that.

 

[CDW6212R]

Often times people don't realize that brakes need to be broken in. Some people don't use their brakes enough to properly brake them in. Until they are broken in, they will not have as much brake power potential. Meaning that they are easier to smoke, and the pedal will get soft easier.

Brakes need to reach a certain temperature to brake in properly. It's easier to make the brakes smoke and smell when they are new, before they are broken in. After they are broken in, they have a much higher threshold before they will smoke or smell.

You do need to select a low gear when descending for a long distance. I bet your brakes will work better the next time, if you run that path again. Good luck,
DonW

 

[kfkodiak]

Good point, but my brakes have about 30k on them, so they're probably close to needing new pads. No break-in worries there. The real problem is the weak engine braking in first, which made it necessary to use the brakes as much as i did. There's one thing I don't know though. If you have to apply your brakes a lot, is it better to brake steadily, then back off (but not pump), or maintain steady pressure all the way down. I've always thought it was better to let up every now and then, but after today I'm not so sure. What builds more heat?

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Often times people don't realize that brakes need to be broken in. Some people don't use their brakes enough to properly brake them in. Until they are broken in, they will not have as much brake power potential. Meaning that they are easier to smoke, and the pedal will get soft easier.

Brakes need to reach a certain temperature to brake in properly. It's easier to make the brakes smoke and smell when they are new, before they are broken in. After they are broken in, they have a much higher threshold before they will smoke or smell.

I've heard about "breaking in" brakes before - but never heard how to do it, beyond making some hard stops to seat the pads. After I put on a set of new pads, what is the proper procedure to fully break in my brakes?