Hey everyone,
I’ve recently returned from my first real off-road trip through the mountains of Albania (Balkans, Europe) and was really impressed with how my Rebel handled everything (stock tires and Air Ride suspension).
However, I ran into one issue on a long, steep downhill covered in snow and mud. I was in 4WD Low with ERS set to 2nd gear. The truck started picking up a bit of speed (as expected), but then at some point it felt like it “de-clutched”—the engine braking completely stopped and the truck started accelerating quite fast. I had to get on the brakes, and to be honest, it was a bit stressful because it felt like it was just running away.
I’m not sure if this is just how the transmission works, or if I’m doing something wrong, but I’ve noticed that when I use ERS for engine braking, the truck often seems to “freewheel” a bit until I touch the brake pedal—then it fully engages the gear and starts engine braking properly. Is that normal?
Similarly, if I am engine braking and then apply the brakes, it feels like it goes into a sort of “half-clutch” mode again and stops braking with the engine.
On regular downhill sections it’s fine—I can usually feel when it’s properly engaged and use engine braking effectively, with a little brake input if needed. But that one steep, slippery descent got stuck in my head, and I’m not sure what the proper approach should be.
There’s the Hill Descent Control feature, of course—but can it be trusted in those conditions? Will it stay active even on very steep slopes? I can’t imagine trying to stab the tiny “–” button on the shifter while bouncing down a snowy trail, trying to manually limit from 8th to 2nd gear!
And as far as I know, turning on HDC disables ERS anyway…
Do you guys have any proven strategy for steep, slippery downhills in these trucks?
Moments like that make me really wish I had a manual gearbox.
I’ve recently returned from my first real off-road trip through the mountains of Albania (Balkans, Europe) and was really impressed with how my Rebel handled everything (stock tires and Air Ride suspension).
However, I ran into one issue on a long, steep downhill covered in snow and mud. I was in 4WD Low with ERS set to 2nd gear. The truck started picking up a bit of speed (as expected), but then at some point it felt like it “de-clutched”—the engine braking completely stopped and the truck started accelerating quite fast. I had to get on the brakes, and to be honest, it was a bit stressful because it felt like it was just running away.
I’m not sure if this is just how the transmission works, or if I’m doing something wrong, but I’ve noticed that when I use ERS for engine braking, the truck often seems to “freewheel” a bit until I touch the brake pedal—then it fully engages the gear and starts engine braking properly. Is that normal?
Similarly, if I am engine braking and then apply the brakes, it feels like it goes into a sort of “half-clutch” mode again and stops braking with the engine.
On regular downhill sections it’s fine—I can usually feel when it’s properly engaged and use engine braking effectively, with a little brake input if needed. But that one steep, slippery descent got stuck in my head, and I’m not sure what the proper approach should be.
There’s the Hill Descent Control feature, of course—but can it be trusted in those conditions? Will it stay active even on very steep slopes? I can’t imagine trying to stab the tiny “–” button on the shifter while bouncing down a snowy trail, trying to manually limit from 8th to 2nd gear!
And as far as I know, turning on HDC disables ERS anyway…
Do you guys have any proven strategy for steep, slippery downhills in these trucks?
Moments like that make me really wish I had a manual gearbox.
