Fear of Driving to the Mountains
I was hoping for any kind of tips for mountain driving. Basically I've read that driving a large motorhome on winding mountain roads is a challenge that can cause overheating, brake issues (overheatin...
Forum Discussion
You should not have any problems at all using route 38 east of Redlands to climb up into the Big Bear area and coming back out.
It is not a straight climb / descent all the way so you will be in and out of various gears going up and down.
You are in the right gear going down hill if you only have to brake very occasionally. Ok what's that? Maybe every couple minutes or every 5 minutes or never. Depends on how the grade might change on you. Use the brake to scrub off maybe 5 or 10 mph if necessary and then get right back off the brake. The transmission should be controlling you downhill speed - not the brake. If you are in the right gear you should not immediately gain speed again after braking.
And when you do need to apply some brake it should not throw everybody out of their seat. Just get on it firmly for a bit and then back off. Five or so seconds maybe. Often times less.
So far as climbing a mountain grade, I always do that with the engine operating at the peak torque. For my rig, about 3200 rpm. Without a tach or experience that's not easy to know. You don't want the throttle floored if at all possible. That burns up exhaust manifolds and generally put some real stress on the engine. But keep the engine revved up at less than full throttle - not lugging.
Route 38 is probably about as good a mountain road as you could ever find to get some experience with mountain driving.
Don't worry about it. Go have some fun.
(edit: If you are coming down a steep grade and need to slow down for a couple of sharp switchback curves go ahead and use the brakes as much as necessary. It won't matter at all. 30 seconds or even a minute on the brakes a bit won't cause any problems.)
It is not a straight climb / descent all the way so you will be in and out of various gears going up and down.
You are in the right gear going down hill if you only have to brake very occasionally. Ok what's that? Maybe every couple minutes or every 5 minutes or never. Depends on how the grade might change on you. Use the brake to scrub off maybe 5 or 10 mph if necessary and then get right back off the brake. The transmission should be controlling you downhill speed - not the brake. If you are in the right gear you should not immediately gain speed again after braking.
And when you do need to apply some brake it should not throw everybody out of their seat. Just get on it firmly for a bit and then back off. Five or so seconds maybe. Often times less.
So far as climbing a mountain grade, I always do that with the engine operating at the peak torque. For my rig, about 3200 rpm. Without a tach or experience that's not easy to know. You don't want the throttle floored if at all possible. That burns up exhaust manifolds and generally put some real stress on the engine. But keep the engine revved up at less than full throttle - not lugging.
Route 38 is probably about as good a mountain road as you could ever find to get some experience with mountain driving.
Don't worry about it. Go have some fun.
(edit: If you are coming down a steep grade and need to slow down for a couple of sharp switchback curves go ahead and use the brakes as much as necessary. It won't matter at all. 30 seconds or even a minute on the brakes a bit won't cause any problems.)
