mountains with 6.0 gas

[1biker1]

looking for info on what to expect pulling 9800lbs fifth wheel on rt.70 from golden Co. to Utah border with a 4x4 6.0 gas pickup 4:10 gear

[1biker1]

Thanks to all for the helpful information

[RedRocket204]

cotrip.org - Road Conditions, Cameras, etc.

Just a FYI about the mention of Hwy 6 from Golden to Idaho Springs. There has been a lot of recent construction activity in the canyon so make sure and check before taking that road. It could very well be wrapped up by now but was at the intersection of Hwy 6 and Hwy 93 a few weeks ago and Hwy 6 was closed West due to construction.

As mentioned multiple times for the OP, you will be going slow. The good thing on I70 is where there are ascents, the right hand lane is generally filled with slow moving traffic; big rigs, RVs and other slow movers, some with flashers on. Best to stick to the right lane if you are moving at a slower pace.

[JAC1982]

Like others have mentioned, just hop in the lane with the semi trucks and you'll be fine. We do this drive once a year to head to Country Jam, and have done it with all variety of trucks. I would also agree that going downhill is the harder part 🙂

I would also plan out your gas stops before you get on the road. I use Google Maps with satellite and street view to plan out where we are going to go. Many exits have gas stations, but as they are in mountain towns, many of them are difficult to maneuver with a trailer. There is a Sav-O-Mat station in Silverthorne just north of the outlet mall that works pretty well for us, we always top off there even if we don't really need to since it's a ways before you get to the next easy to access station. There's way more options once you get past Eagle, but most of the stations in places like Vail are tight. There is a Conoco in Vail off the South Frontage road towards the west end of town that works OK, just depends who all else is there. There is also a Costco in Eagle with good prices, just a bit off the beaten path but easy to get to and lots of room to move around. This won't matter for you but if anybody else cares, they have diesel there too, one of the few Costco locations around that does.

Also, if you need it, there are free water/dump stations ran by CDOT in Edwards, Rifle, and Fruita, easy to access right off I-70. So if you need water at your destination, these are nice as you don't have to haul a trailer with a full water tank over the mountains. They also have truck parking so you can take a rest and stretch your legs. We do that at the Edwards location but use Rifle for filling up. I've never seen either one crowded, but Fruita can get busy.

[hotpepperkid]

You wont be the first one over the mountain nor will you be the last one either. Just relax and go for it

[4runnerguy]

downtheroad wrote:
You won't win any races and you will be able to watch you gas gauge head toward empty....

Yes, it's a race to see whether you gas gauge or your speedometer reaches zero first! :W

Eastbound I've always found the first big pull out of Golden up to Genesee to be the toughest, partly because it's unrelenting, partly because you're often in a lot traffic at that point. Not as high in elevation as you'll encounter further on up though. The last 1/2 mile or so to the tunnel gets steeper right at the end.

US 6 up Clear Creek Canyon is an alternative, but it's a two lane road with few passing opportunities if you get a line of people behind you.

FWIW, westbound the approach to the Eisenhower tunnel is the toughest. Again, unrelenting, but with a 7% grade at 10000'. The video link posted above by time2roll is from eastbound perspective.

[fanrgs]

Thom02099 wrote:
In addition to the Johnson/Eisenhower Tunnel climb and descent and the Vail Pass climb and descent, coming out of Golden there's a significant climb of about 7 miles, from I-70/CO-470 up to Evergreen Parkway area and not too far beyond that, there's a significant descent of Floyd Hill with a very sharp curve at the bottom where US 6 merges with I-70. The Floyd Hill descent in particular is interesting because you can actually see a lot of the descent ahead of you, and how steep it appears to be.

When I tow my 5th wheel west from Golden, I avoid I-70 and the Mt. Vernon Canyon-Floyd Hill grades completely by using US 6 up Clear Creek Canyon. The highway follows the gentle upstream grade of Clear Creek all the way to the bottom of Floyd Hill, where it joins I-70. I-70 then continues on the Clear Creek gradient all the way to Georgetown, where it has a very steep, but very short, climb up to Silver Plume.

[azrving]

I went west a few times with a diesel but did our first trip east and it seemed even worse.

[Lynnmor]

time2roll wrote:
I thought the speed limit was 60 mph on that part of the interstate. Possibly lower for trucks.
Yes plenty of vehicles going 20 to 40 mph. My old truck can't pull 2nd gear so I would be in low at about 28 mph and 3500 rpm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLSRVaqG5-o

While watching that video, someone with a good late model diesel pickup might wonder if there is some kind of problem.

[time2roll]

I thought the speed limit was 60 mph on that part of the interstate. Possibly lower for trucks.
Yes plenty of vehicles going 20 to 40 mph. My old truck can't pull 2nd gear so I would be in low at about 28 mph and 3500 rpm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLSRVaqG5-o

[Thom02099]

In addition to the Johnson/Eisenhower Tunnel climb and descent and the Vail Pass climb and descent, coming out of Golden there's a significant climb of about 7 miles, from I-70/CO-470 up to Evergreen Parkway area and not too far beyond that, there's a significant descent of Floyd Hill with a very sharp curve at the bottom where US 6 merges with I-70. The Floyd Hill descent in particular is interesting because you can actually see a lot of the descent ahead of you, and how steep it appears to be. Fortunately, it's 3 lanes most of the way down, but it is impressive. Once you get down, it flattens out quite nicely until you get to the climb for the Tunnel approach. Even steeper if you might want to go up and over Loveland Pass instead of using the Tunnels.

I've done this with an '03 Tahoe pulling about 6000lb trailer. I got in line with all the semis heading up, most of us doing 25-30 miles an hour with our flashers on. Got passed more than a few times by 3500 diesels pulling big 5ers. You WILL see you fuel gauge drop dramatically.

[KD4UPL]

My 2015 Chevy 3500 at work has a tool bed on it and weighs about 9,000 pounds with it. I had a mini-excavator on my flatbed trailer (about 11,000 pounds) behind me going up Afton Mountain one day. With the gas pedal flat on the floor it would only do about 35 MPH. It got me up the mountain with no problem, just a bit slow.

[downtheroad]

Good advice from fanrgs above...
You won't win any races and you will be able to watch you gas gauge head toward empty....

Have a good trip.

[1biker1]

thanks I have a 2013 with 19000 miles trans and brakes good

[fanrgs]

You will go through the Eisenhower Tunnel at 11,000 feet and over Vail Pass at 10,600 feet. Your truck will be starved for oxygen and lose 1/3 of its horsepower at those elevations. So you will likely not be able to stay at the 65 MPH speed limit going uphill. But neither will a lot of other RVers and truckers, so just do the best you can--it is only 15-20 minutes of a 4-hour drive.

More importantly, how are your brakes and transmission? They will get a harder workout than the engine. But be sure to use your gears and not your brakes on the downhill side or you might be forced to use one of the runaway truck ramps. That would not be any fun with a trailer!