During my commute to work there are several hills with traffic lights at the bottom of them, some have stop signs. When I'm at the crest of the hill, I use the manual downshift button to drop into 5th, then as I come down the hill I generally use it to run down into 4th, 3rd, and 2nd. I find this adds some good engine braking, so that my use of the truck breaks are limited. As I run this route daily, I'm sure over time it will increase the life of my breaks.
I have 2 questions (perhaps some of you guys with good mechanical knowledge can answer). First, by doing this, am I putting undo wear and tear on the transmission and engine - thus, negating the gains I'm getting from not using the brakes ?
Second, would just hitting the tow/haul button at the creast of the hill be better. That would allow the transmission to decide how to apply the engine brake.
Any feedback or comments are welcome.
Thanks in adavance.
I have 2 questions (perhaps some of you guys with good mechanical knowledge can answer). First, by doing this, am I putting undo wear and tear on the transmission and engine - thus, negating the gains I'm getting from not using the brakes ?
Second, would just hitting the tow/haul button at the creast of the hill be better. That would allow the transmission to decide how to apply the engine brake.
Any feedback or comments are welcome.
Thanks in adavance.