steep grades

[taddyport]

Hi, being new to this forum as well as the RVing world, I wanted to get the best advise from the experts, so here I am. I will be picking up a trailer tomorrow Jayco 256RKS and within the next month, heading to see friends just sounth of Boise ID. I will be leaving from Wisconsin and as a newbee, steep grades are probably my biggest concerns. Does anyone have any good routes I should take, or is there somewhere (website) that will give elevation changes along the way or grade percentages on a certain stretch. Thanks in advance for all your help

[dcason]

Allstays Camp & RV

We use the allstays on our IPAD and that gives us grades plus a whole
lot more of useful things when travelling. They have phone version as well. You can program in:

rest areas, welcome centers, runaway ramps (that could be useful),
camping world stores, cracker barrels (if you like that), walmart/sams, truck stops/labeled with what brand, low clearance, overnight parking, public lands,state parks, koa's...for $10.00 a fabulous value IMHO.

[valhalla360]

If you have Google Earth, you can check the grades ahead of time.

Have it pull up the directions for the route, then right click and select "show profile. I wouldn't take it as Gospel but it does a pretty good job of showing steep sections along with an idea of the length of the grade.

[Redsky]

The interstate highways have cost taxpayers billions of dollars to provide as straight and flat a highway as possible for the benefit of the trucking industry. So take advantage of what our money has bought and is paying to maintain and stay on these interstates and you will minimize grades and elevation changes and save fuel.

I use Google Maps to get a "bird's eye" perspective on a route and it is easy to determine the terrain and elevation changes and select the "best route". I would just as soon avoid hilly areas if there is nothing scenic along the route as it burns more fuel to no advantage.

On the other hand I would rather deal with grades than dense city traffic if those are my choices for getting from one place to another. I go around the LA basin entirely for example and travel from central California to Boron in the northern desert for example when traveling to southern Nevada or Arizona or even the San Diego area.

[newk]

The main thing to remember is DO NOT RIDE THE BRAKES! If you can use your gears/engine to keep your speed in the safe range, that's ideal. It doesn't take much to overheat the brakes descending these mountains and have NOTHING.

I've been driving mountains for 50 years. I think nothing of it. But about a decade ago I found myself a brand-new wife. Who happens to be scared stiff of mountain roads. So as we're inching down a jeep trail in my old F250 4x4 back then, with a ton+ of TC camper in the bed, new wife is trying to mash her footsies through the passenger side floorboard. So I touched the brakes. And touched them some more. And some more. And about the next time I touched them, the brake pedal went to the floorboard and we were without brakes.

Luckily, we were very near the bottom of the canyon at that point, and I was able to find a little rise in the steep descent and pulled off the trail pointed uphill. I think it was the following year that an older couple in a motorhome was coming down the same mountain a few miles away on the highway (Hwy 16 near Buffalo, WY) and lost their brakes. They ended up inside a building in downtown Buffalo. He was killed.

These mountain roads are easy to drive when you stay on most of the major highways. But be mindful of the brakes overheating. They really give you no warning. Use the gears all you can, and when you need more, use the brakes firmly to slow rapidly, then get off of them and let them cool.

[dapperdan]

All very good advice. Another idea is if you have an I Pad or a smart phone consider getting the "All stays" APP, in there they have a filter option to show grades among a TON of other very useful info. We use the heck out of that APP. I believe it costs about six bucks but IMO worth every penny.

Dan

[Jim_Shoe]

Get copies of the Mountain Directory - at least the west edition. They're written for truckers and RVers. Going uphill is just slow, but going downhill can be an adventure. Driving thru the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming will get your attention, and if you ride the brakes, even in the lowest gear, its possible to boil the brake fluid and then you don't have any brakes until they cool. Routes 14, 14A and 16 all cross the Bighorns on your way to Yellowstone. And all of them have pull-outs with signs that say "Pull out to check your brakes". 16 is the easiest and 14A is the worst. Don't pass by a pull out. The long downhills have runaway truck ramps at the bottom, but then you're stuck uphill and buried up to your axles in sand.
Somebody will soon say that the scenery is beautiful and it is, but when the brake pedal goes to the floor, you won't be noticing the scenery. I caution you to ignore the "Hey, Vern - Watch this" crowd that say its easy. It isn't if you don't have mountain driving experience.
The West and East editions are each $17.95, but the West is the one to buy if you only get one. Best money you'll ever spend. And then you can decide for yourself if it was worth it or not. Frankly, I now avoid the Bighorns completely. I stay on I-90 and turn south on US 191 all the way to West Yellowstone, MT. Nice scenery on that route as well, and I don't have to pry my fingers off the wheel when I get there.

[TyroneandGladys]

Until you have some experience in driving grades use whatever the lowest gear you were in climbing a grade to drive down the grade.

[2oldman]

Mountain Directories..

Very handy books..detailed descriptions of all big climbs.

[valhalla360]

3 senarios:
- Long up grade: Either you have the power or you don't. If it's real steep, get in line with the semi's and trudge up the hill.
- Long down grade: Drop down into a lower gear at the start and let the engine help slow you. Use the brakes in short hard bursts only when needed so they have time to cool between uses (be careful of traffic behind you). I'll often use the seperate trailer brake switch for this effect to keep the bigger truck brakes fresh (also the truck brakes wear out much more often than trailer brakes so there may be a tiny cost savings).
- Quick up and down hills: I let the rig pick up an extra 5-15mph near the bottom of a hill to help carry me up the next hill. On the up hill, I gradually let the speed bleed off rather than putting the hammer down to maintain speed but avoid dropping below 45-50mph as that's usually when the truck wants to downshift. Do be careful of the effects on other traffic or horizontal curves when doing this.

[taddyport]

wow guys, I knew I came here for a reason. Thanks for all the great advice. After a little more thought last night, I remembered that it's about a 6% grade coming into the area where I live, so I guess I'll get a lot of experience with "grade" driving. I really appreciate all the input and look forward to more conversations, help and maybe at some point being able to pass on something useful myself. And by the way, I have a 2012 Ford F150 super crew with the towing package. I have used the towing mode before with my boat and truly believe that the engine will do most of the work going down grades.

thanks again

[Golden_HVAC]

Hi,

You can get a GPS program by DeLorme Topo 10.0 (or maybe 11 is out now?) that you can plan a trip, then click to get the elevation changes along the route. It will give maximum grades up or downgrades. It is simple to change a route, and check the elevations of the new proposed route, and adjust your travels as desired..

However I still wonder why the worry about the grades? I know I avoided some just to save gas, but others worry because of fears of speeding down the hills out of control. Yet that is easy to take care of with proper equipment, and slowing down and downshifting to 2 gear if required.

I have been up and down highway 120 into Yosemite from highway 395. The "Pass" is around 9,500 feet elevation, while highway 120 / 395 interchange is closer to 2,500' elevation. There is a long 6% or 7% grade in between, and we decided to unhitch our tow car (Honda CRV) while going back to 395 to avoid to much heat on the brakes. By going slow, and shifting to 2 gear, we slowed the RV to around 35 - 45 MPH while using minimal amount of braking while driving.

The car came down the hill without any problems. By going slower, you give the brake disks time to cool off. If driving say 55 MPH, then you are going down the 1 mile grade in only about 1 minute, while at 40 MPH you will take about 75 seconds. That extra 15 seconds will allow the brakes to run cooler.

On one especially steep grade, from highway 395 up to Sherman Pass (11,500' elevation) I stopped about 1/2 way down the hill, and got out and took some pictures. That gave the brakes another 5-8 minutes to cool off before continuing.

Keeping the motorhome in 2 gear (out of 3 in that case) only allowed the RV to reach about 45 before reaching the maximum RPM near 3,800 RPM, and then apply a little braking pressure before letting them cool a bit, and keep going. While moving at 45 MPH, the air is going about 75 feet per second across the brake shoes and disk brake pads.

Leaving the RV or even your personal car in overdrive while going down a hill means that you will have to ride the brakes. It is so easy to shift down one gear or two, as needed to let the engine provide much of the braking, without needing to overheat the service brakes or disks.

Fred.

[paulj]

Viola is in the SW corner of Wisconsin, right? The hilly 'driftless' part of the state? Practice driving in and out of the valleys around home, and you should be fine on any major highway out west. I90 heading west out of the Mississippi river valley will be as steep as anything you'll encounter in Montana.

[old_guy]

if you stay in the interstates the grade will be no more than 7%. federal law.

[Fresno_Tundra_D]

Hi. Welcome to site! Staying on the highways as much as possible is good advice. I think most max out between 5-7% max. I'm no tranny expert but I've always understood that most heat builds up in a transmission when it continually "hunts" up and down for the proper gear. Try to avoid this as much as you can by picking a gear like 2nd for example and leaving it in that gear while going up a long grade. Watch your RPM and you can stay in that peak powerband usually between 3000-3500. On the really steep grades don't be afraid to maximize 1st gear for a long stretch if needed just keep it below your redline. Avoid the "hunting" and you should be fine. If you don't already have a separate transmission cooler, you may want to put one on. Good luck!