I had to do this coming down Horseshoe Bend hill on the Horseshoe Bend, Idaho side. I don't know the grade, but going up it, I usually can only maintain 45-50mph, so it's fairly steep.
The incident occurred because I wasn't paying attention and was admiring the view of the valley. I looked up to discover that traffic in front of me had stopped for construction. I was driving a new-to-me 1986 F350 with my Lance and a 1988 Four Winns Horizon 210. The total package weighed about 18,000 lbs.. When I stepped on the brakes, there was almost no effect, and I mean close to nothing happened. I immediately started steering toward the ditch and hillside figuring that it was better to ditch it then hit someone. To this day I am grateful that I was driving a stick and that it had a granny gear. By double clutching and revving, I was able to get it into 1st gear relatively quickly and bring it to a stop. When I got out, my front left brake was smoking. I went back to town and had my brakes looked at. The truck had been siting for several years before I bought it and as a result, the brakes were not functioning. The rear brakes weren't engaging at all and the front right had a leaking wheel cylinder. The boat trailer brakes we completely non-functional. In other words, I had one fully functioning brake.
Needless to say, I now make sure the brakes work on anything I buy, especially if it has been sitting around.
