ike gauntlet - how would you do it?

Set cruise on 62 mph and let her go.
8k truck---14k FW......22K combined.

Purrr

the Ike is an extremely easy pull compared to many mountain passes. Moderate grade freeway with the only real negative being traffic. Last time I pulled it was with my current rig and the only thing I did different than normal country freeway driving was kick off the cruise control due to traffic. With only approximately 15k behind me I could accelerate to any legal speed easy enough although somewhat slower than on the flats. Grade is well within the engine brake capabilities to maintain speed on the downhills. Wide easy turns, grade doesn't ever exceed 7 percent as i recall.

I've never pulled the Ike but I've pulled plenty of big passes in the Rockies, Cascades and Sierras. Engage T/H and auto exhaust brake, put it in drive and go. Love the way my Cummins pulls. Love the way it holds speed on the downhills too. In fact that part probably impresses me more than the way it climbs.

I have never pulled Ike, but I have pulled long mountain passes up to 8,000 feet. I lock it into one gear, usually in 4th on 55 mph passes and 5th on 65mph passes. On diesels, The EGTs are lower at 2,800 RPMs in 4th than 1,900 RPMs in 5th. Even tho my Duramax is tuned, it still doesn't downshift early enough, so I put it in 5th just as I'm coming into the pass then in 4th if needed. I kinda have a routine in the passes I drive frequently. But I do like to go the speed limit so that's usually what I keep it at.

In any of the diesels I've run thru the tunnel, I drive by egt. When the egts get too high, downshift.
Every gasser I've driven over is usually with the cruise control on, unless towing, in which case it's floored hoping to not get caught behind an even slower moving semi.

I wouldn't do it. I'm comfortable with size of my equipment and my ego is fine as well.

Umm, there was nothing that special about driving it, at least going from Grand Junction to Denver. Longer than some stretches in other states, but grade is good, and curves are well planned to handle the speeds.
With the F-150 Eco, and the Jayco 26.5 RLS Fifth on the ups we just kept speed at 55. Easy to do, and no special gearing, etc. needed. Could have gone up faster, but there was no need, so didn't. On the downs, with tow/haul, the truck did a generally good job of down shifting by itself. If speed was picking up, a bit of brake would "teach" it what speed down I was trying to maintain and the truck would downshift to try and hold it. Yes, some stretches needed braking to avoid over speeding, but nothing excessive. Brakes got warm, but never hot.

Hwy 14 in the Bighorns of Wyo. was far more punishing in heating the brakes and dealing with 15 mph hairpin turns.

It a piece of cake for any properly setup modern tow vehicle. It's not even on the radar for the SAE towing test which is done in Arizona at Davis Dam as trailer tow is more engine oil, trans oil, and engine cooling specific. The big three do use it for engine calibration testing due to the altitude changes though.

The best way is to start at the bottom, crest the top and ease your way down the backside.....

I've driven this stretch of highway dozens of times. There is really nothing special about it other than it's a long, fairly straight and consistent grade of good asphalt that tops out over 11,000 feet. There are roads that are higher, steeper and curvier, but this chunk of road makes for a good test due to a consistent grade and relative straightness.

When my father was teaching me to drive and operate equipment, he said "You can work a piece of equipment as hard has you want, just don't abuse it."

This means you don't bounce it off the rev limiter, lug it unnecessarily, or slam gears, while keeping the EGT's in check and watching your gauges to see if anything is being overstressed i.e. overheating or otherwise.

There should be no problem with pulling this grade for a vehicle in good repair. It's very possible you could be doing 20mph on the way up in an older truck, but if you keep an eye on the gauges and "feel" what the truck is doing, you should be fine.

I should add, that it's almost an hour from the base of the mountains outside Denver to the top of Ike. Oh, and then you have Vail Pass another 20-30 minutes beyond that. Cresting the hill 10 mph faster won't get you there than much quicker. Enjoy the climb, it's a beautiful drive all the way to Grand Junction.

Adam

For me I'd run the pyro to about 1,100 and shift from there. Probably end up in 3rd gear at 45mph or so.