Hill descent mode

[A 2]

I was out this weekend scouting camp sites on the north side of Palomar Mountain. I was with a buddy with a Tremor F250. Obviously a less, but impressively capable vehicle, I had to slow down because his wife was getting tossed around from the stiffer suspension.

As we started our descent to earth, I finally had a chance to put the Hill Descent feature to the test. Coming down High Point Truck trail is roughly 5 miles of rough downhill. The system worked well. I could control my down hill speed with the manual mode shifter. the only problem was it smelled like I was cooking the brakes. Almost smelled like a clutch burning.

I decided to just use the shifter and periodic brakes. Is this normal?

Pics for your viewing pleasure.

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[Labswine]

I thought the Hill Decent mode used more engine breaking and downshifting of the transmission than the brakes to control your descent. Yes some braking but, maybe not to the amount you are referring to?

I had it in my '08 Grand Cherokee Overland (Hemi) and it only worked in 4Lo. I used it quite often having to go down a very steep hill in the snow, and it worked perfectly in controlling my descent speed. Once at the bottom of the hill, I'd turn it off and go back to the regular Quadradrive II that I had in that car.

Now, in our Gladiators, I haven't had a chance to try mine yet so I haven't a clue (personally) as to it's effectiveness. I'm guessing that this version relies on brakes more than anything and, maybe you did warm them up a bit but still, shouldn't have been as much to get them smoking ?

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

Well…. I haven’t used or thought I’d need it yet.

It would be nice to know if it’s using engine speed or brakes though! That will make up my mind if I ever contemplate using it. ?

 

[Gvsukids]

Did you check out this thread?

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/hill-descent-control.26017/

 

[Artsifrtsi]

I like it for driving through river rock fields. I didn't like it for climbing, as it stalls the momentum when an obstacle is hit. Descending uses the brakes, and they will heat up a lot if it's a long/steep descent.

 

[MaysvilleStig]

Long steep downhill sections will definitely cook the brakes, it's happened to me before. Best to use 4Lo and 1st gear with periodic braking. You did the right thing.

 

[Snake Eyes]

From the manual

“The Auto Stick feature providing manual shift control, giving you more control of the vehicle. AutoStick allows you to maximize engine braking, eliminate undesirable upshifts and downshifts, and improve overall vehicle performance. This feature can also provide you with more control during passing, city driving, cold slippery conditions, mountain driving, trailer towing, and many other situations.”

“NOTE: When Hill Descent Control is enabled, AutoStick is not active.”

So I agree with the previous post, use 4LO with Manual mode (auto stick) and intermittent braking. The hill descent mode for that long will use more of your brakes which is what happened.

FYI, when in auto stick (manual mode), the vehicle will ensure you dont hose the engine by choosing the wrong gear…

”
 If a requested downshift would cause the engine to overspeed, that shift will not occur.
 The system will ignore attempts to upshift at too low of a vehicle speed.
 Holding the gear selector in the (-) position will downshift the transmission to the lowest gear possible at the current speed.
 Transmission shifting will be more noticeable when AutoStick is enabled.
 The system may revert to automatic shift mode if a fault or overheat condition is detected”

—————————————
The only place I could find a definition of hill descent control is in the Jeep Compass Manual where it does state that it uses regular braking. I think the only real purpose of it is to let you focus on the terrain for a short time if needed.. Again, I would go auto stick in 4LO for long descents like you had as auto stick is definitely engine braking. But as soon as you put on HDC you lose auto stick.

”Hill Descent Control (HDC) – If Equipped
This system maintains vehicle speed while descending
hills during off-road driving situations. HDC will auto-
matically apply the brakes to control downhill speed to
between 4 mph (7 km/h) and 6 mph (9 km/h) depending
on terrain. “

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Haven't checked the manual lately, but during the Jeep Adventure Academy days we were told that the Hill Descent Control system is basically a low-speed off-road cruise control. With the transfer case in 4L and the transmission in manual mode the speed is set by the transmission gear selection, with 1st gear being 0.6 mph and each successive gear adding 0.6 mph. It seemed to work that way on the trails. We were told it used the ABS system to control braking, and throttle application when needed. We were able to descend some pretty steep trails without touching either the throttle or the brake pedals.

 

[A 2]

Did you check out this thread?

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/hill-descent-control.26017/

?. There were a couple other threads I read through but none described the burning brakes smell. I should note that ambient temperature was about 90degrees.

 

[A 2]

Long steep downhill sections will definitely cook the brakes, it's happened to me before. Best to use 4Lo and 1st gear with periodic braking. You did the right thing.

Seems like a design flaw.

 

[MaysvilleStig]

Seems like a design flaw.

I mean maybe... It's just part of driving off road. Everything has it's limits.

From the manual.
The instrument cluster has an SSC icon and the SSC switch has a lamp which offers feedback to the driver about the state SSC is in.
--The cluster icon and switch lamp will illuminate and remain on solid when SSC is enabled or activated. This is the normal operating conditions for SSC.
--The cluster icon and switch lamp will flash for several seconds then extinguish when the driver pushes the SSC switch but enabled conditions are not met.
--The cluster icon and switch lamp will flash for several seconds then extinguish when SSC disables due to excess speed.
--The cluster icon and switch lamp will flash then extinguish when SSC deactivates due to overheated brakes.

I guess just because you can smell them doesn't mean they're at the point of failure. Probably a good indicator to lookout for though lol. I imagine your wheels don't help much with cooling either, they look awesome but that's the tradeoff, I guess.

No idea if this applies to the Manual.

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