Mountain Towing Advice
I live in Kansas and am dreaming of taking our 5er out to Colorado. The 5er is 35' and I drive a 3/4 ton, 6.0L Gasser. I just scaled the rig (~17K lbs) and I'm almost exactly at my truck GVWR full...
Forum Discussion
This is part of the why of ratings...the OEMs design to and test to their specifications that list the max weights at the worst conditions (ambient temps/humidty/etc, max incline going up and down, longevity, ability to manhandle that at max rating, etc, etc)
DO NOT ride the brakes going down. Get into the lowest gear comfortable for at whatever speed you wish to be at. When the speed goes above that speed...brake HARD and scrub off speed till about 10-15 MPH below that speed you wish to be at.
Then let the brake cool while it gains speed...to then brake HARD again.
Repeat till the bottom
You can also change out the diff gear ratios to a higher numberic. Don't know what you have, but going to a higher numeric diff ratio will both increase the rated GCWR and allow more engine braking in low gear.
That will eat into MPG, but IMHO, MPG is NOT of real concern vs safety/longevity/etc
DO NOT ride the brakes going down. Get into the lowest gear comfortable for at whatever speed you wish to be at. When the speed goes above that speed...brake HARD and scrub off speed till about 10-15 MPH below that speed you wish to be at.
Then let the brake cool while it gains speed...to then brake HARD again.
Repeat till the bottom
You can also change out the diff gear ratios to a higher numberic. Don't know what you have, but going to a higher numeric diff ratio will both increase the rated GCWR and allow more engine braking in low gear.
That will eat into MPG, but IMHO, MPG is NOT of real concern vs safety/longevity/etc
