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The Official Publication of the Toyota Land Cruiser Association.
Since 1976 and Still Going Strong. |
Tips From the Trails
Left-Foot Breaking
by Jay Tishler,
FJ Cruiser Trail Team Driver
The Trail Teams and I have truly enjoyed wheeling with you and participating in the unbelievable events you host. From the Lone Star Cruiser Roundup to the Glitter Gulch Gambol, we have had the opportunity to meet a lot of great folks out on the trails and have shared some amazing weekends of wheeling, food and laughs. With that in mind, we would like to bring you monthly “Tips From the Trails” to help you get the most out of your time on the trails.
The first technique we would like to cover is left-foot braking. By using your left foot to brake off-road, you will have quicker braking reaction time, smooth out the ride and retard suspension compression—and it works in both manual and automatic vehicles!
Basic Technique
Left-foot braking requires holding the left foot just over the brake pedal or “covering” the brake pedal. That way, when we need to apply the brakes we can do it faster and reduce the time it takes to slow or stop the vehicle. This technique is not recommended for on-road driving, therefore it will feel uncomfortable until practiced off-road. Remember that left-foot braking requires a smooth transition from throttle to brake and vice versa. The brake and gas should be modulated in a smooth manner, much like the gas and clutch pedals are modulated. The brake and the gas should not be applied so as to fight one another.
Off-Road Use
When you drive over rough terrain, left-foot braking will smooth out the ride! The application of the brake over rough terrain, such as a dry riverbed strewn with rocks or through a section of trail that is all potholes, will allow the vehicle to settle down off the rock or into the hole in a gentler manner. As the vehicle comes down the rock, engine braking or compression braking will not slow the vehicle down quickly enough and the vehicle will bounce. By applying a little left-foot brake, the vehicle will settle down in a more controlled manner. This will provide mechanical sympathy for the vehicle and also provide comfort to the passengers. It is important to drive so that your passengers are comfortable. When you have been on a trail for 8 hours, you do not want to feel like you have been in a car wreck the whole time. Over a long section of trail that is rough and requires left-foot braking, only slight braking should be used.
Left-foot braking will also retard suspension compression, which will allow you to maintain body and chassis to ground clearance. This can be very important when we talk about approach angle, ramp break over angle and departure angle. When driving on the trail and encountering a large rock or log that you can’t drive around or pass under the vehicle safely, the other option is to place your tire on the obstacle and drive over it. You should bring the tire up to the rock and feed in enough throttle so that the vehicle climbs up the rock at a steady rate. How do you know when you have reached the top of the rock? Watch the hood! If the hood is rising as compared to the terrain, you are still climbing. Once the hood stops rising, you are now on the top of the rock and you should feed in enough brake with your left foot to slowly lower the vehicle down the rock. The braking should continue until the vehicle is on the ground. By using left-foot braking, the ride is smoother and the body to ground or chassis to ground clearance has been maintained. This technique should be used when crossing a ditch or crossing a log. Also remember, when crossing a log or ditch to do it between a 15 and 45 degree angle. This is done so that only one wheel is in the ditch or on the log at any one time. This allows three tires to push or pull in unison.
Quicker Reaction Time
When we drive off-pavement, we want to drive as slowly as possible and as fast as necessary. We do this for two reasons: to preserve the vehicle and for passenger comfort. While driving, we want to protect the vehicle and all of the vital parts. For example, the front skid plate or the rear diff. If we use left-foot braking, we can reduce the reaction time it takes to apply the brake pedal when any part of the vehicle comes into contact with an object.
Toyota products come with diverse transmission and engine combinations. Each of these requires different driving techniques to get the most out of the vehicle. For example, an FJ Cruiser equipped with the 4.0L V6 and the 5-speed automatic transmission does not have as low a first gear as the 6-speed manual transmission. Therefore, the 5-speed automatic in first gear low range will not have the engine or compression braking that the 6-speed manual FJ Cruiser will have.
As you can see, the foot brake can do more than just stop your vehicle. Left-foot braking is a subtle technique that can help you negotiate surprisingly difficult obstacles. After you have practiced it for a while and mastered it, it becomes another valuable tool that an off-road driver can select for the proper situation.
The Trail Teams look forward to seeing you left-foot braking at your next event!
