Downshifting vs. braking

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Conrad AlbertoJr

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I have a manual 5 speed in my trac. Its got about 54 thousand miles on it and still on the factory brakes with no sign they need to be replaced soon. Since i live in BFE arizona for the time being i dont make as many shifts as i do when im home in LA, but i downshift from faster speeds more often. My question is, will downshifting affect the life of my clutch once im home for good this month and i do alot more shifting? is that cost less than the cost of changing brakes more regularly?



Conrad.
 
There has been more than a few studies done on this. The general consensus is that replace the brakes under the routine maintenance is the better way to go.



You put extra load on the engine as well as extra load on the clutch. As you know, to work on the clutch is not cheap and is time consuming compared to brakes.



They both work fine as a slowing or stopping force. In a panic stop a combination of both is great,,,,, if you can do it in time....
 
yup, brakes 40-60 do your self, 1 hour....

Clutch 200+ for parts and many hours labor...

Todd Z
 
Well i know changing the brakes once will obviously cost less than the clutch, but reallistically in stop and go driving, after about 100 thousand miles or so you will go through 1 clutch over 3 or four sets of brakes. yes its wear on the clutch but the clutch can withstand a lot more than the brake pads/rotors. My question was about long term over years not just one specific change.
 
I also live in BFE Arizona and my ST has a 5 speed, my truck has about 52k miles on him. I think I use the gears to slow down as much as I do the brakes. We replaced the brakes at about 32K miles and plan to replace the clutch at 60K. When taught to drive a stick



We use the gears to control speed more when towing the boat.
 
Brakes are cheaper then a clutch. A clutch job at a shop is going to cost about $500.00.





Tom
 
I dont use the clutch and gears on my mustang for high speed slowdown. I do alot in 40 and below stop and go traffic.
 
kinbro, where in AZ? i go to school in prescott.



I didnt drive a stick until i got the st, so using brakes was more common place for me, but my roomate pointed out to me one day how much i downshift, so thats what brought the question to my head.



thanks for the advice guys.



Conrad
 
When I had a manual transmission, I only used my clutch for braking on steep downhill slopes in the mountains. Using clutch braking on a regular basis is a bad idea, because on a rear wheel drive vehicle you'll be braking with the rear wheels. Rear wheel braking can be dangerous on slick surfaces, because it can cause the vehicle to lose traction and go into a spin.
 
Engine braking also uses a LOT more gas. In a few tousand miles, enough to buy brake pads.



That is how I drive my car though - just to listen to the dual FM 40s when I drop to 2nd at 45 MPH. Sweet, sweet noises :D



grump
 
Nelson is spot on.



Consider this, brakes are engineered to stop and slow the vehicle, trannies are not. That said, I drove trucks equipped with exhaust brakes which were designed to use the engine compression to slow the vehicle. I could almost stop the truck that way, but keep in mind that is was designed for that use. Many small trucjk drivers downshift to slow becasue big trucks do it and they either think it is cool or it is an ingrained habit. As Grump says, it sounds cool too HAHAClutches and exhaust brakes in large trucks are extremely heavy duty.



Increased fuel consumption is minimal becasue the throttle is closed and metering very little fuel.



There are also other issues on higher mileage trucks including driveline lash due to normal wear in the u-joints, ring, pinion etc which could cause damaging loads when reversing the normal load on those items. Minor concern, but still there.
 
Not when you live 100 ft. from I-75 and the truckers weigh station is just 1/4 mile away!
 
Downshifting a manual transmission to slow the vehicle not only wears the clutch, and related parts, but causes excessive wear on the transmission and the engine as well as it wastes gas.



So it's not just a comparison of the cost of a new clutch vs a couple of brake jobs. You would have to include the engine and transmission wear as well as the clutch replacement cost, and you will still need to replace your brakes since they are getting some wear. Some parts like brakes will deteriourate with time. Brake hardware will deteriorate over the years regardless of milage or the number of stops made.



Also, think of it in terms of resale or trade-in value or if you were looking at purchasing this vehicle. While many people would not object to purchasing a vehicle that needed brake repairs, they would never consider purchasing any vehicle with clutch, engine or transmission problems.



You are just gambling that downshifting will save you more money on future brake jobs before premature clutch, transmission or engine wear will show up.



...Rich


 
Hi Conrad,

Take it from a guy who comes from the islands( where we love to downshift) ,but now lives in Florida and have a manual shift ST.(Love it by the way, bias view point, hate auto transmissions.) there I said it . Anyway, Downshifting in your ST is not recommended in normal driving, only for going around corners, down twisting roads and overtaking with confidence. I drive alot on I-95, South Florida and I would rather utilize the brakes, even when travelling at high speeds, BETTER for you and your ST in the long run. My mileage is 35k and still have a lot of meat left on the bone.



PJ.
 
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i have to admit i do like doing it also partially because of the way it sounds with my exhaust haha. thanks for the tips.



I agree with you PJ.This was the first manual tranny car i ever owned, so i pretty much learned how to drive stick in this. i love it so much more than an automatic now. when i drive my dads explorer, it feels kinda wierd not having the stick and clutch there lol.
 
It feels almost as weird to step from a truck with a stick to a car with a stick. When I was just out of high school I drove a 3/4 ton delivery truck in Houston to deliver truck parts. When I punched out every day I went out and got in my little Maverick. Stepping on that clutch after dealing with the truck clutch felt very strange, almost like the car clutch was held up with rubber bands! It always took me a few seconds to re-acclimate me with the car.
 
I don't know about your Maverick, but I didn't use rubber bands to hold mine together. I used about 40 lbs of bondo and some good bailing wire though. In the end, the rust won the battle. :(



For a first car, I loved my Maverick though. :D
 
Where I live it's very hilly so I downshift everything whether stick or auto on the hills. Not routinely on level or mostly level places though. Give it a little gas before you engage the clutch on a downshift to match the rpm so it doesn't slip at much, makes for a smoother shift for your passengers too. My feet are big enough to heel-and-toe almost anything. :lol: I put over 100,000 miles on every stick I've owned but one and never had to put in a clutch.



Here it would be cheaper to replace a clutch once in a while than all the brakes you'd go through over the long term if you didn't downshift. Ask my first wife. The second one isn't a lot better about it either. :rolleyes:
 

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