Mountain Driving
Purchased Cass A Traveller motor home Ford V10 Automatic. Would like hints for driving/barking in mountains, passes etc, all help and suggestions welcome ??????
Forum Discussion
Dale.Traveling wrote:ssthrd wrote:
Be prepared for the hills by being in the right gear just before going up/down steep slopes.,,,
Best advice yet. Start out slow and get in a low gear before drop over the crest of a descent. Hit the top of a 3 mile, 8% grade at 65 MPH and your going to have problems getting the speed down later.
Best way to learn and get a feel is to stick with the 18 wheelers for climbs and descent. As a beginner I would advise you to manually downshift for now. Play with the auto shift on the gentler descents. For the climbs keep the RPM up, as high as 4500 RPM, on the climbs. The high RMP has the engine coolant/oil and transmission oil moving at a high rate which helps to keep both cool. The engine is electronically limited to 5250 RPM and won't let you do anything that will exceed that number including manual down shifts.
If you do have to brake be aggressive and get the speed down fast then get off the breaks to allow them to cool. Long soft braking should be avoided as you want to avoid - THIS
Agree....this is great advice. I learned going down the grade on I-77 going from VA to NC....not 8%, but steep enough. The first time I could smell the brakes at the bottom. The next year I started slow, had the tow/haul on, and was MUCH easier and less stressful.
Al
