AZ to WA avoiding steep hills

I would not advise northern I-5 this time of year. It is open 99 % of the time, but Siskiyou pass can be very slippery even when it is open. Chains required much of the time.

jidro wrote:

Mandalay Parr wrote:
Just curious why you want to avoid steep hills.
I just take them head on.
Gear down going up and gear down going down.
I've been all over the Rockies.

Thanks to all your responses. 2 reasons why I want to avoid steep hills but it really boils down to inexperience. 1. I am worried about going downhill with 31' bumper pull trailer on a snowy road. 2. Not sure if my truck can handle the load. I had a bad experience last time going downhill which scared me. No accident but either my brakes was burning up or my tires. Maybe I was going too fast at around 45 mph. I know I would need to get a better truck, a 350 or a 3500.

Again, thanks for everyone's response. To play it safe, I am just going to wait till summer to do this trip. I admit I am a wimp when it comes to driving thru snow in the mountains. I hate it when some a-hole is riding your tail when you are trying to drive slow downhill to be safe.

Better to be a wimp and cautious and be safe:) Make sure you have an "Exhaust Brake" put on your truck which will relieve 90% of your anxiety and fears by using your engine to slow the truck down all the way down the hill. I never drive in the snow, I had the optional "stop snow" put on my truck. If my truck gets within 1/4 of a mile from snow, the engine slows down until I turn the truck around and head in the opposite driection:):) Always carry chains.

Here's some good general advice:
1. If you're going to travel in the West, learn to drive in the mountains. Avoiding the Rockies, the Cascades, and the Sierras altogether is pretty hard to do.
2. Until you do get comfortable, make your major mountain crossings on interstates. Vehicles of all sizes and shapes deal with those mountain passes every day. You should be fine.

Don't sweat I-5 from CA to OR. Siskiyou Summit (and to a lesser extent, the stretch from Redding to that point) is the only place that can even be sort of dodgy. But given its bottleneck nature (you kind of HAVE to use that route if you're traveling from northern CA to Portland/Seattle), it's well patrolled, maintained, and plowed when necessary.

Getting over to I-5 is a doddle. Work your way over to Needles, then shoot over on I-40. The only obstacle on that route is boredom.

jidro wrote:
Thanks time2roll. Great advice. Like I told Donn, I will definitely follow your advice. You guys gave me some confidence. I do have a question for you though. Are you pulling a 24ft bunkhouse with your F-150 super crew? Because that is kind of what I have (2002), except it's a 31 foot. I have no problem driving flat here in AZ but once I am driving uphill, it goes really slow. I tried doing 4WD and I am not sure if that worked. I will follow your advice and shift it to the lowest gear. Again, thanks. I am learning every time someone posted. Great community.

Yes when I first pulled my combo I was a bit hesitant. Was pulling a pop-up but that is now 12 years ago.

Biggest issue was gearing that I resolved before the second trip. I changed my 3.55 ratio to 4.10 ratio. Both axles. I don't recommend 4WD unless you are on snow, mud, sand, dirt etc. My trailer is 26' and 7880 GVWR and I assume I am at that maximum. Yes I am slow at times going 26-28 mph in low gear depending on incline and elevation. I let the transmission do the downshift and then pull the lever to hold the gear. Overdrive is always locked out so just 3 speeds used in the old 4R70W transmission.

Worst was Nine Mile Canyon Road in CA off 395 at Pearsonville. 9 miles of 10% grade in 115 heat. Hard to get speed up with 15 mph curves. Just got back from Death Valley National Park with 8 miles of 9% with cruise control set at 3500 rpm in low gear and we just climb up and over Townes Pass. Down would coast up and hit 55/60 and then slow to 30 at least a dozen times and I did not experience any excessive brake heating or fade. Climbed over the Rockies on I70 many years ago about the same way...just more slow truckers to hang in with.

Twice towed in the snow. First was light and just went slow. Second time I needed chains to get out of Mammoth Mountain area. I carry link chains for both truck axles and light cable chains for one trailer axle when needed.

I don't hesitate to go anywhere anymore. Except I would avoid Ebett's pass and Sonora Pass in CA as they are about 25% grade and closed in Winter.

I don't have an answer but I would suggest that if you want to do mountains with an RV and are uncomfortable with hills you might want to reconsider. As long as your tow vehicle is rated to tow the load you have, hills are just a matter of slowing down and downshifting on down grades. Shouldn't be really scary. If it is, then you have the wrong set-up or have a sort of hill phobia and might want to quit. You didn't specify your tow vehicle. Super important to make sure it's hefty enough with both power and braking; possibly heavier duty than a half-ton pick-up. Assuming you stick to main routes not back roads.

A 31 foot trailer in the snow is not good. Avoid it all costs. The Highway Patrol will force you to put on chains. You need a break in the weather to make that run in the winter.

The West is full of steep. You cannot avoid all of it, but you can minimize the grades by staying on Interstate highways and the best State Highways.

The warmest route would be I-10 west to CA and then I-5. You cannot avoid the Siskiyous and the mountainous driving in so OR.

Dick_B wrote:
Get a copy of Mountain Directory West to help in your planning.

Thanks Dick B. I just looked it up on Amazon and it seems like a good book. I will check it out in our public library first. A member of this community gave me a good site as well, something "flatroute" .com It gave me the elevation and degree of slope for the whole route which is very useful but I think the Mountain Directory West might be more detailed.

Thanks again.

time2roll wrote:

jidro wrote:
2 reasons why I want to avoid steep hills but it really boils down to inexperience. 1. I am worried about going downhill with 31' bumper pull trailer on a snowy road.

10-210-134-101 to get through LA and then take beautiful semi-coastal 101 all the way up to avoid the snow and hills.

I agree with donn0128. Do not ride the brakes at a steady speed. Let it coast up to your max speed and then apply brakes moderately firm to drop 15 to 30 mph. Let it coast back up to speed.

This braking ensures all disks and drums will be utilized in proportion. Riding the brakes at steady speed will tend to overheat the front disks. Good time to have the trailer brakes checked and adjusted.

Thanks time2roll. Great advice. Like I told Donn, I will definitely follow your advice. You guys gave me some confidence. I do have a question for you though. Are you pulling a 24ft bunkhouse with your F-150 super crew? Because that is kind of what I have (2002), except it's a 31 foot. I have no problem driving flat here in AZ but once I am driving uphill, it goes really slow. I tried doing 4WD and I am not sure if that worked. I will follow your advice and shift it to the lowest gear. Again, thanks. I am learning every time someone posted. Great community.

Get a copy of Mountain Directory West to help in your planning.

donn0128 wrote:
Maybe you really should learn how to drive in the mountains. Take a truckers advice. So down the same or slowet speed what you went up. Lear down, dont ride the brakes. When braking is needed, brake hard get well below your desired speed and get off the brakes and let them cool.

Donn, thank you very much for your useful advice. I will definitely try that.