steep grades
Hi, being new to this forum as well as the RVing world, I wanted to get the best advise from the experts, so here I am. I will be picking up a trailer tomorrow Jayco 256RKS and within the next month,...
Forum Discussion
3 senarios:
- Long up grade: Either you have the power or you don't. If it's real steep, get in line with the semi's and trudge up the hill.
- Long down grade: Drop down into a lower gear at the start and let the engine help slow you. Use the brakes in short hard bursts only when needed so they have time to cool between uses (be careful of traffic behind you). I'll often use the seperate trailer brake switch for this effect to keep the bigger truck brakes fresh (also the truck brakes wear out much more often than trailer brakes so there may be a tiny cost savings).
- Quick up and down hills: I let the rig pick up an extra 5-15mph near the bottom of a hill to help carry me up the next hill. On the up hill, I gradually let the speed bleed off rather than putting the hammer down to maintain speed but avoid dropping below 45-50mph as that's usually when the truck wants to downshift. Do be careful of the effects on other traffic or horizontal curves when doing this.
- Long up grade: Either you have the power or you don't. If it's real steep, get in line with the semi's and trudge up the hill.
- Long down grade: Drop down into a lower gear at the start and let the engine help slow you. Use the brakes in short hard bursts only when needed so they have time to cool between uses (be careful of traffic behind you). I'll often use the seperate trailer brake switch for this effect to keep the bigger truck brakes fresh (also the truck brakes wear out much more often than trailer brakes so there may be a tiny cost savings).
- Quick up and down hills: I let the rig pick up an extra 5-15mph near the bottom of a hill to help carry me up the next hill. On the up hill, I gradually let the speed bleed off rather than putting the hammer down to maintain speed but avoid dropping below 45-50mph as that's usually when the truck wants to downshift. Do be careful of the effects on other traffic or horizontal curves when doing this.
