Climbing steep grades...

pigman1 wrote:
Unless you're going up the side of Mt Everest or your fan clutch is inop, your rig will probably handle any slope you choose to climb, and without overheating. The trick is that you DO definitely slow down. On a slope, watch the temp gauge and as it starts up, downshift a gear. If it's still climbing, drop down another gear. Of course, when you keep dropping gears you also have to slow down to keep the RPM's in a reasonable range. We regularly drive to Alaska pulling an 8000lb plus pickup and don't have any problem on those roads with grades up to 9%. I am definitely going slower, however. I have been down to 10-15mph on some really steep back roads, but driving this way does work. If you want to fly up any grade, trade your rig for a 600HP Cummins (LOL)

Thanks, that’s helpful. I’ll just keep trimming gears until the fear subsides, LOL! It’s kind of what has become more and more apparent as I research this.

And yes, 600 ponies would solve the problem nicely!! :)