Coming off Eisenhower westbound at 2 a.m., that 6% for 7 miles will humble you. I don’t wait for the hill to teach me — at the brake-check I do a quick set for the hill. Engine brake to high, drop a gear before the crest, and I aim to let the truck hold 30–35 mph without me riding the service brakes. If I need to scrub a little, I do one firm stab and then let the Jake work. Two rules keep me legal and upright: obey the posted truck speed and stay in the right lane, even if four-wheelers stack up. If you smell brakes, you waited too long — take the next pull-out or a ramp, pride be damned. Winter adds the chain-law curveball, so I won’t race the clock into a grade near the end of my day. Better to stage and roll fresh at first light.
I crack the windows and kill the radio so I can hear the brakes; if I catch even a whiff of lining, I hit the next turnout and cool 10–15 minutes. At 78–80k on Ike I start in 8th at 32–34 mph, and if the tach sneaks past 1800 I do one firm 3–4 second stab to drop it under 30 and let the Jake hold.
I lock the transmission in manual before the tunnel and pick a gear that holds 1,800-2,000 RPM with the Jake on high; if I need a brake, it’s one firm stab to drop 8-10 mph, then off. Little trick that helps me: I crest 5 mph under my target so I’m not touching the brakes in that first minute when heat spikes.
On that 2 a.m. Ike drop, I use my brake application gauge as a hard redline — if it creeps past 15 psi to hold 30–35 with the engine brake on high, I’m too fast and I downshift before the crest rather than lean on the pedal. That rule saved me on a wet 78k last month; dropping the gear early kept temps calm the whole 7 miles.