Best route to avoid mountains in WV

You need to learn how to drive an RV. Not the same as suv. You have gears learn to use them. You don't go down a hill faster than you went up.

X2 Plus stop and let the brakes cool.

Do you have a working aux brake on the Flex?

And have the RV brakes checked, perhaps over heated and may need repairs.

Would be interesting to know where you are starting and where you are going. Those mountains run from TN to NY. You got to cross them to get to OH. Was just up that way from NC to Ohio river last week. I would suggest using the interstate roads no matter.

First, what happened that you "lost the brakes". Were you riding the brakes and as they overheated, they started to fade? Or was it a catostrophic failure where they were fine and something failed suddenly?

Either way, it would be worth having them checked by a professional. Explain what happened, so they know what the issue was when checking it out.

If it was from riding the brakes, learn to use your gears. By sticking to a lower gear, the drivetrain will spin the engine at a higher RPM and the energy to spin the engine faster will help slow you down.
- There should be a tow/haul mode that should always be activated when you are driving (you don't run a MH without load). Generally, this will do a pretty good job picking an appropriate gear.
- If you know you are going to be going down a steep hill, you can override and pick a lower gear at the top of the hill. It's easier to keep the speed under control if you don't let it get going too fast in the first place.
- It's no big deal and wont hurt the engine if it's spinning at 3-4,000RPM but it will be providing a lot of braking power.

You should have a braking system for the Ford. That gives you 4 more brakes to spread out the load.

If you are geared down and you still feel you are going too fast, you want to apply the brakes hard, so you slow down by 10-20mph and then release and allow it to build up speed. That allows the brakes to cool down between uses, so if you do really need them, they aren't overheated already.

To give you an idea of what happens when you ride your brakes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4fQUMT0ul0&pp=ygUSYnJha2VzIGdsb3dpbmcgcmVk

Assuming you were taking the freeway across WV, it shouldn't have been a white knuckle ride. Learn and practice downshifting on more moderate hills, so you have a better idea of what to expect when downshifting.

There is no freeway in WV. Don't look like you have ever been there. Been many a western truck driver pulled off those hills and valleys because they thought that if they had conquered the Rockies that these little Eastern hills were a cinch. RVs its even worse. Like you say, start slow at the top and be careful.

ferndaleflyer wrote:
There is no freeway in WV. Don't look like you have ever been there.

Odd, I took I-64 to I-77 a couple years ago when doing exactly what the OP asked about.

When did they remove the freeways?

valhalla360 wrote:

ferndaleflyer wrote:
There is no freeway in WV. Don't look like you have ever been there.

Odd, I took I-64 to I-77 a couple years ago when doing exactly what the OP asked about.

When did they remove the freeways?

They aren't "free"ways. There are tolls. . . maybe that's what he meant.

For 15 years while we fulltimed, I drove from Indiana to Charlottesville, VA, back and forth and least twice a year to see our daughter and her family. We traveled I-64, I-77, or I-81. Sandstone mountain heading south is not for the faint of heart in a big rig, but like has been said, you must use your gears and I used the exhaust brake as well. You must manage the brakes, you can't ride them down the hill. We always towed, first a truck, then a Ford Flex. You also need an auxiliary brake on your toad. Going south I always stopped at the truckers' brake check lot so that I would be starting at the top from a stopped position, not from 55mph, then trying to slow as you speed down the hill. This is the only route and most direct route and we would have done no other in the RV. I do it now in my B+, a 25' Coach House and have no problem with the Ford TRansit chassis. Going uphill was never a problem even in the big rig, it was just slower. Incidentally, in those 15 years, we never had to install new brakes on the Phaeton. They were still in good shape when I sold her. You must manage the braking.

Mountain driving can be challenging, but you must "learn" if you are going to use those routes. Make sure you are not overloaded. The Flex is not a lightweight vehicle.

Dale

I never plan a trip - east or west - without consulting The Mountain Directory. I have the combined (east/west) version for Windows on my laptop:

The Mountain Directory

We have pulled (15K fifth wheel) through West Virginia many times without issues. And, yes, there are Interstate Highways.

Rob