High Winds - how much is too much?

slow down would be the advice I'd give. other than pulling off the road if it get to you

Looks. like you have a DP unit on an Freightliner chassis. You should be fine. Slow down especially for underpasses, overpasses, and at the tops of hills where they cut a channel in the hill for the road. Iti is common to have unpredictable side winds when passing through. Another thing is to not over correct. When you feel the side pressure on you coach gradually add steering input to keep in your lane.

Big_Blue wrote:
Heading tomorrow - weathe forecast is for winds are out of the WNW at 15 - 20 MPH. (May be over thinking, but with all of the issues over the past four weeks, my anxiety needs a rest)

The first part of the route will be into a headwind - 50 miles? State route, two lanes, hills and passing lanes

Then another 50 miles of side wind.

Then after that pure tail wind the rest of the way home.

Any advice, guidance, or ideas. (I would take another day off, but am running out of 2016 Paid Time Off..

doesn't matter what I or anyone else on this forum thinks...you're the only one who can determine whether you're in a mental and physical condition to safely drive. if you think you need an extra day or two of rest then take it. if you're on deadline well, then that's a different set of conditions.

I have a different rig than you, but anytime I have side winds gusting to 30+MPH, I park it.

1. Slow down to speed that makes you feel anxiety free. You might occasionally have to pull off the road to let other traffic pass you.
2. You can leave your tanks full instead of emptying them like most of us do when you are leaving to another destination. You can also fill your fresh water tank full, the extra weight might give you more stability in the high winds.

Head wind only really costs you speed and mpg's. Side winds are the worse for handling, because if it's a strong enough side wind, it'll blow your A.. over...

Tail wind is just a dream... :) Usually doesn't happen for me.. I always seem to be in some sort of head wind!

But for me, I've handled 30 mph side winds without blowing over... It was just a matter of going slower and just pushing thru it.. Don't really know what "my" limit would be until I FELT it on the rig at the time I was driving it..

There is no set wind speed that determines what works for the driver of the rig.

Good luck!

Mitch

TucsonJim wrote:
I have a different rig than you, but anytime I have side winds gusting to 30+MPH, I park it.

Not all RV's handle the winds in the same way when driving in high winds. With my 34' 5th wheel my tolerance level for winds is 35 to 40 mph. But equally important is the direction of the winds you will driving into. Side winds tend to make me pucker more:):)

Have had several segments over the last decade with 30 MPH head winds, secondary roads.

Just slowed down to 50 MPH in 5th gear. No problems. Not fun, but clearly not dangerous.

How much wind is too much depends on where the wind is coming from. Dead astern you can take a whole lot. I've handled 100MPH, but I stress DEAD astern, not 1 degree off. The Tumble weeds were going STRAIGHT down the road.

Headwinds.. I recommend against high wind. But so long as it is straight on you should be ok moving, but a motor home in a Head wind you do not ask MPG you ask GPM (ok, not quite that bad but not far from it)

Side winds... 50 MPH I'd be parked.. in fact. I just was, Friday night.

you have 60 MPH wind running across your rig as a matter of travel. Or what ever speed you are driving. the side winds are the only problem. Slow down, and see how it goes. I bet you will do better than you think