Hey there again everyone, Im still trying to gather all the info I can before the purchase of my FJ, and wanted to know what left foot braking is all about?? I was watching the trail team videos on toyotas web page and they mentioned about keeping your left foot on the brake and the right foot on the gas (bring rpms to about 13-1400rpms).
I was planning on purchasing a manual and obviously this would seem almost impossible to do swiftly with finesse on a rock bed. What type of situation would left foot braking be beneficial? If you had a manual tranny in the same situation what would you do different?
well, i went to the Trail Teams event a couple of weeks ago. they had a rock garden setup at the top of the challenge course for us to drive. i could not make it up the rock garden before i started left foot braking. Left foot braking is not something you learn to do quickly in the Manual (i drive a manual FJC) but once you get the idea of left foot braking a manual while going uphill, over rocks and many other situations it helps a lot. you learn how to drive through the obstacle. i am sure there are others on here that can help more as i am still a newbie to off-roading...
well, i went to the Trail Teams event a couple of weeks ago. they had a rock garden setup at the top of the challenge course for us to drive. Left foot braking is not something you learn to do quickly in the Manual (i drive a manual FJC) but once you get the idea of left foot braking a manual while going uphill, over rocks and many other situations it helps a lot. you learn how to drive through the obstacle. i am sure there are others on here that can help more as i am still a newbie to off-roading...
thanks for the input, how are you liking your 6speed in offroad situations? stall much? how many mpg's do you typically average?
well i havent been offroad too much, mostly fire roads around where i live. the only time i have stalled offroad was when i was trying to climb that rock garden. i have been averaging 18-19 mpg (50/50 city highway) with bfgoodrich mud terrains, close to stock size.
Left foot braking is a great technique that helps control wheel speed and torque. For troughs of us that use a Manual Tranny we have to control the gas and brake with the right foot and the clutch with the left foot. Its hard to do at first but once you get it down you'll be much smoother and confident in what you can do. This technique is best used when rock crawling and when going up steep hills.
That said the auto is 10x easier to wheel in but I still take my MT everywhere the autos go.
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Last edited by jeshua : 09-03-2008 at 02:06 PM.
Reason: added
Left foot braking allows you to build up engine speed (torque) without moving forward. Through the use of torque converters in automatics, you essentially mimic lower gears by multiplying torque. In a manual, you either have to ride the clutch or lug through an obstacle. Left foot braking offers more control.
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Re: Left Foot braking??
Really.. It mostly just keeps the slack out of the drive train. It helps you control your speed/rpm and keep the drive train loaded. At very low crawl ratio's, if you don't do it you'll just end up clanking the drive train back and forth and lurching around. However, it's a different technique than race car left-foot braking.. Ron
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thanks guys, the analogy of "keeping the drivetrain loaded" helped clear things up a bunch.
Joeuser
I would think that if the rpms were kept at a low enough rpm/speed but high enough to maintain torque that you would not burn the clutch if done correctly.
left foot braking help you load up the suspension to create a smoothe ride through the rough stuff. Try pushing down on the brakes, not too hard, but not let off the gas when you come to a bumpy area, you will feel the the vehicle start to squish into the suspension then let off the brakes a bit to free it up. Its is tricy to get and takes time but once you get the feeling you will be able to tell a huge difference in the ability to haul a$$ down dirt roads.
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