"...Rte. 50 heading east to Virginia, which of course took me through West Vriginia..."
�
We recently drove this stretch�from western Maryland�through WV and became quite well acquainted with the smell of burning brakes.� Being able to downshift�with confidence�is a definite asset at times like that.
�
Earlier on the same trip heading west on U.S. 33 we stopped�because of�a traffic accident�and I must have left that scene with the E-brake on a notch or two and had my first experience with fade shortly thereafter.� When the brakes go away, you tend to notice it.
�
Stephen

--- On Mon, 9/29/08, J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET> wrote:

From: J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Dot 3 brake fluid question-Now Brake Fade
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 12:32 PM

>>...A  person would have to be clueless or dense to get heavily into
serious
brake fade...<<

   I drive in the Smoky Mountains quite a bit, and it's my experience
that there are plenty of cluless people out there- you can smell them.
 <EG>   They're often seen parked in the turnouts staring at a
smoking
wheel.

Ahhh, yes, reminds of the one and only time I have experienced it. It was back
in 2002, had just bought my first Vanagon Westy, an '84 with an automatic,
and I bought it on Ebay. Had to go from Virginia to Lancaster Ohio to pick it
up. After meeting the seller and going to the DMV to transfer the title and get
temporary plates, the seller then tells he had rebuilt the trans himself-his
first time ever working on a transmission. From Lancaster I went down and picked
up Rte. 50 heading east to Virginia, which of course took me through West
Virginia. In West Virginia I encountered some pretty steep grades, and in a
vehicle I knew and trusted I would have downshifted to use engine braking, but I
was afraid to manually shift this trans after he told me he had rebuilt it. I
could just picture ATF all over the highway with parts falling off. Had to ride
the brakes more than I would have liked to. Made it home, though, and the trans
never did give me any problems-just about everything else
 did, but not the trans!    Jeff