4wd going down steep hills

[Kaena Point]

Did a little camping trip this weekend at a spot here on Oahu where you drive from sea level to about 1500 ft in about 2 miles. On the way down I burnt the hell out of my breaks (you could smell it), to the point where I had about 50% stopping power at the bottom. Obviously, this isn't good.

I'm wondering: if I put it in 4wd and coast down the paved road to save my breaks, is there any risk of damaging my transmission or anything else related to the 4wd?

Thanks and aloha!

Matt

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/thumbs/peacock_flats.JPG ('http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/peacock_flats.JPG')

8 miles of dirt road to the campsite!

[Lucian08]

The VX is always in 4WD, and you can change from drive (D) which uses all 4 gears, to 2 or 1 on the transmission which would not allow the vehicle to shift up the first or second low gears and therefore slow you down; its called engine braking. If its really steep then switching the transfer case into 4L ( 4WD Low) would slow the VX down even more. This is usually perfectly fine for a transmission and is usually the safest way to get around when wheeling; using your brakes downhill is not as controllable and as you know can temporarily or permanently damage them. Its still not good to redline your engine in this fashion, but you will still use your brakes considerably less to prevent that. Usually shifting gears is what damages them, so just staying in 1 is usually a safe bet (usually; make good judgments). Ask anyone in Colorado (or another mountainous area) about driving down steep grades; there's signs everywhere about engine braking for larger vehicles and advice to shift into low gear. They even have runoff areas for when you don't heed the advice and blow your brakes.

That's pretty much the basics, but let me know if I rambled too much.

[Kaena Point]

Thank you for the thorough reply, Lucian! I didn't mean to sound that naive; I should have clarified that I meant 4L regarding coasting down that hill. I was 90% sure it would be okay for the transmission. I just figure it couldn't hurt to ask the experts! I'll try it in 4L, and hopefully it'll keep me going slow the whole way down the hill without having to brake. There's pretty much no traffic on that road so it won't matter if I'm coasting along 10 mph.

[Kaena Point]

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/thumbs/IMG_0633.JPG ('http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/IMG_0633.JPG')

The view from up top -- after I flipped!