Hi,

I've had an '03 6.8 V10 Ex for about 4 years now. In that time I've only put about 30,000 miles on it but have redone all four disc brakes twice and redone the rotors once (second time I did the brakes because they were warped).

Given some of the brake maintenance I've already had to do I'm trying to be extra cautious about not warping the rotors.

There's a mountain road near where I live that descends about 2000 to 2500 feet over a five-mile run. I don't drive it very often, maybe a couple times a year. I've noticed sometimes that the brakes overheat on this road and I can occasionally smell them going downhill. The road has a number of switchbacks but also long straight stretches and some stretches where there's not very steep declines. Most people drive 35-40 mph on the road.

​​​​​​I normally do not downshift given the changes in speed required for driving this road but am wondering how much a little brake overheating may impact these rotors. My Ex only downshifts to second and first gear. Should I be driving this road in second the whole way or shifting back and forth or just keeping it in drive but lightly tapping the brakes (which I've been trying to do)? Wasn't sure how fast of a speed I could maintain while keeping it in second the whole time.

P.S. I don't drive this road while towing or with a heavy vehicle load.

Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks

 

You can push the overdrive off button. There's nothing wrong with using some engine braking.

 

Pushing the OD OFF button will downshift it to third gear. Moving the shifter to 2 will downshift it to second gear. Moving the shifter to 1 will downshift it to second gear until it slows enough to shift to first gear. Try turning off OD on the descent, and if that doesn't slow it enough move the shifter to 2.

 

My '05 V-10 EX is the dedicated tow vehicle for our 12,000 lb TT and I downshift on steep descents all of the time and even on the flats when I see a stop coming up ahead. Like was said above pressing the OD OFF button on the shifter knocks it down to 3rd gear then moving the shifter down get it to a lower gear, I typically haven't needed to go to first gear in our travels, but second sees some use. My brakes went about 60K miles before I replaced them, they were not fully worn out, I just wanted to go through the entire system and switch to Hawk LTS pads. We travel at just a whisker under 20K lbs and have been up and down nearly every mountain East of the big river, they may not be the Rockies but there are some very steep areas just not as long as some Western slopes. I have never had any overheating of the brakes or any issues with the transmission. Downshifting and using some engine braking along with short firm periodic brake applications is pretty effective for controlling speed on the down slopes without getting anything too hot.