Going Over The Grape Vine

You will be fine. I have done it numerous times towing a small SUV behind a Class A with the Ford V10.

Good practice for when you get to real mountains like the Rockies.
Use your gears and watch the gauges.

Grape Vine is no problem at all good road only problem is lots and lots of traffic. No need to watch out for the hill.. You need to watch out for the truck behind you and the truck in front of you and the truck on the side of you and well you get the idea.. The hill? No problem. :-)

Stay in the right lane and keep the speed down to conserve fuel and not risk overheating. It is a long pull so use common sense, gear down and spare the brakes on the descent.

Going north there is only one almost steep section early on and then a few rolling hills. 55 max and right two lane restriction when towing in CA. Just hang with the truckers.

The decent has a truck speed limit of 45 or is it 35? Does not apply to you however you will be on your brakes. Anyway just go slow on this section. Coast up to maybe 55/60 and then brake moderately firm down to maybe 40 and let it coast back up again. Repeat until you are down. Pull the lever to hold a lower gear and keep your rpm 3000 to 4500 for engine braking. Some gear should allow your speed and rpm to stay close to these ranges.

Don't ride the brakes to maintain a steady speed.

The grape vine has a truck bypass so you should be ok, do not attempt to go up doing 75 mph, gear down you might go on 2 gear and do not place the transmission in drive and go, a transmission that keeps hunting up and down will over heat really fast, down **** at the start and maintain a steady climb, you might get down to 45mph, that is ok if you go slower turn the emergency blinkers on to indicate that you are a slow vehicle, when you crest keep the slow motion with a gear try not to use the brakes too much it is better to go slow in gear than to smoke the breaks.

navegator

And, if it would make you more comfortable, disconnect and drive the toad up the grade separately.

I've never avoided the vine. Gear down as navigator suggests, and it is good practice for the Rockies as ppine says.

Twice to three times a year I tow my 15,000lb 5th wheel over the Grapevine with no problem. Down hill and up hill I use first gear and keep the speed down to prevent over revving the engine.

Downhill- I use the stab and release brake technique. You decide on the speed you want to maintain. Allow the MH to climb 5-10MPH above that speed and then brake until your speed drops to 5-10MPH below the speed you decided. Get off the brakes and when your speed creeps up above your limit the use the brakes again. This will allow the brakes to cool in between brake applications.

You may be able to use a higher gear than first to maintain a safe down hill speed. I had to use first due to the weight of my trailer.

Uphill the goal is to not lug the engine. You want to find a gear that keeps your revs around the normal (or a little lower) tach reading when you are in high gear on flat and level raod.

The first time you hit the Grapevine will be a white knuckle drive but as you get towards the bottom and realize it's not that bad you'll relax.

For those that done't know the Grapevine is I-5 north of Los Angeles as it crosses the San Andreas Fault towards Bakersfield.

I've towed over the Grapevine many times with no problems. Beware if you go during the winter, sudden snow conditions can be a hazard there.