Richard W (NSW) replied:

Pertrol or Diesel?
I don't have any problem with the Diesel.

Member - Doug T (W.A) replied:

Shawsie (Bris) replied:

Hi White Night, Try 'driving' down the hill by pressing the brake and then using the accelerator for control. Once you get the hang of it you can apply a lot of torque on the descents - it really works.

Member - bushfix replied:

g'day,

is it a petrol? what gear/range were you in?

if engine braking is not enough, you can use a technique where you "drive into the brakes", just braking enough with your left foot and gently accelerating. this requires a bit of confidence if you have not done it before and conditions are tricky. you want to keep all four wheels rotating. torque converter keeps going.

also, be aware of the air con. i believe with most vehicles, if the compressor kicks in the engine will rev higher which can catch you out.

Des Lexic replied:

Shawsie and Bushfix are correct in what they say. Another option is to apply the hand brake to the point where you can feel it restricting against the drive.
Turn the A/C off and keep your right foot pressed against the side wall to prevent lurching caused by the rough terrain.
Morgan is a great training place isn't it.
When I was doing some training, we had someone else drive our vehicle blindfolded around the quarry area and we had to give them verbal instructions on where to steer. That was interesting.

Member - Doug T (W.A) replied:

MORGAN

Sand Man (SA) replied:

This is a common "problem" with any Automatic transmission.

The only solution is to "ride the brakes" by applying pressure on the brake pedal or as been mentioned, applying the handbrake a little.

The latter technique is handy when desending a slope in slippery conditions, as only the rear of the vehicle is "restricted".

White Knight replied:

Thankyou to everyone that responded. Shall give the "driving through the brakes" techique a go. thanks once again. White Knight

RobAck replied:

The issue of ascents and descents in auto 4WD is not well understood nor well trained. Two issues are involved, apart from selecting the correct range, which would normally be LOW. As well drive the auto exactly the same way you would a manual and by this I mean using the same gear selection, so 2nd going up hills to reduce wheel slip and 1st going down hill to maximise engine braking.

But auto trans behave differently wth different manufacturers with some holding the selected gear and others continually kicking up or down. But this issue can be driven around with training.

Firstly you need to lock the torque converter into L. To do this select L just before you crest the hill so it is actually driving in that gear before you go down hill. If you make the selection on the way down it will take up to a vehicle length before the converter locks and that can not be a comfortable feeling at all.

Secondly their is a poorly understood technique called brake throttle modulation. Explaining it is difficult and training it is a touch harder but this technique applies to both manuals and auto's for a wide range of driving conditions. But as has been explained the technique relies on gentle pressure on the brake, using the left foot, and driving against that resistance and using enough revs to remain above the torque converters stall point.

Landcruiser 100 5 speed auto and Prado 5 speed auto are virtually the same transmission and the low range reduction in L is very good and well beyond the cotnrol provided by the older 4 speeders.

I know as I train on this stuff all the time and own an auto VX Prado V6 which gets used hard all the time as a training vehicle.

What I do suggest is joining a club and getting some of the training I have described above.

Regards

RobA