Driving down long steep-ish grades...

kressej

kressej

Member
We are heading to Puyallup, WA this July and have to head over several passes. We also have a new Mitchell underneath, stock ******. Do we roll down in third and retard the spark or what? I'd like to hear from some of you that do some mountain driving.

Thanks!
 
Are you going through Portland or Yakima? Really shouldn't have much of a hill either way. Best thing though is to watch that you don't lug the engine going up hills in Overdrive. Watch your temp gauge very closely.

I don't worry too much about going down hill, just don't go faster than you are comfortable with your brakes. Unless you have some really steep grades, use the OD and let your engine loaf on the way down. Otherwise just use straight 3rd, or even 2nd OD.

I had to learn to drive in the hills all over again when I installed my OD.
 
I think once upon a time there was a rule in Sweden that one should go down a hill in the same gear you went up it ; rather a good maxim. Having said that I have now come round to believing that gears were designed to propel you forwards and that brakes were made for slowing you down. I certainly no longer change down to drop the speed, but brake to a suitable speed and then change down.
 
You can put the gear shift in second and engage the Mitchell overdrive (Usually referred to as second gear overdrive) going down a steep grade and it will give you engine braking. leave your spark handle in your normal driving position. You can also use second gear overdrive for climbing a steep grade. In this case you might want to retard the spark slightly if you hear the engine pinging.

Tom Endy
 
johnbuckley said:
I think once upon a time there was a rule in Sweden that one should go down a hill in the same gear you went up it ; rather a good maxim. Having said that I have now come round to believing that gears were designed to propel you forwards and that brakes were made for slowing you down. I certainly no longer change down to drop the speed, but brake to a suitable speed and then change down.
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John, that is the rule of thumb when driving a Model T. If you think driving hills or mountains is tough in a Model A, try it in a T. I drive my A in the mountains because that is where I live. I drive mine just like a modern car but, make sure the brakes work as they were designed to.
 
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