Quick question for you guys, ive heard both yes & no answers...

Lets say you're cruising at 40 mph and you're comin up to a stop light....Can you drop the truck down to 2nd, then down to first yourself, in order to use the brakes less?? Or is this bad for the tranny?

Thanks in advance!

 

factory tech is gonna come in here and tell you to leave it alone.

 

I'm no expert, but what could you possibly hope to gain?

There’s no doubt that shifting the trany yourself would most certainly increase the wear and tear on your driveline. Probably not allot, but more than normal.

Also consider the logistics. What’s more expensive, a transmission rebuild or break pads?

I'm with you though. I try and avoid using my breaks whenever possible, but the fact of the matter is that they're there to be used.

 

I agree, just sometimes i get lazy, and i love the sound of the bassani when im in a low gear cruisin around town

 

It's all about the BURBLE, BABY!!! (in my best ****ie Vitale voice!!)

 

Here is a rule "Brakes pads are cheaper than transmissions". The computer upshifts much better than people can. Holding in gear depends how you use it. I autocross in 2nd gear manual most tracks. If you down shift from high speed you can mechanically cause over rev of the motor. If you are compression braking that is putting wear on the sprags and directional pieces of the trans. I broke a sprag one time by holding it in first jumping the front end up and down at the street races. That was in my old truck not my L. I tore the center out of the rear sunshell.

 

The computer will control the downshifting, so the over rev is
a smaller possibility.... I didn't believe this til I tried it "on-course"
and was amazed when I was doing 110 in first gear on the
gear shift ... !!!

 

use the brakes to slow your L. Brake pads are soooooooo much cheaper.



Unless of course you're in a tunnel and wanna drop a gear or to so you can hear your exhaust

 

i read in popular mechanics a few years ago (in their auto section) that this was ok...but i still dont trust myself when doing this, it just seems too risky

 

That's a novel idea, I got a tip for you. IF you ever rebuild the tranny, make sure you upgrade the intermediate band. YOu normally don't even have to replace it, it only gets engaged on the M2, but since you drive it hard in M2, and often, you'll want ot replace it and there are several high poerformance bands out there. It's not normally worth it, but in that case I'd suggest it. In the A2 gear, you're using the intermediate plates to stop the direct drum, in M2 you use the band, same end result, the drum stops turning because it's linked to the case mechanically, but it's entirely different how it does it.

As for using the tranny for a brake, don't do it. It prolly own't hurt anything, but it's certainly not good for it.

G