Fear of Driving to the Mountains

[liquidspaceman]

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 (overheating/not working). I was planning a trip up to San Gorgonio Wilderness (which is near Los Angeles/Big Bear area). It's a 22 mile road up to this wilderness area.

I keep picturing myself going up fine and then on the return trip, I'm going down the mountain and suddenly my brakes are gone.

Can anyone give me any pointers/tips so that I can aleve my worries? What I've learned so far from reading online:

1. Use 1st gear going up the mountain.

2. Use 2nd gear going down but if I start to go really fast, shift back down to 1st and go about 20 mph.

3. Use hard/short bursts occasionally when needed to slow decline rather than riding the brake.

Are their any other tips you can give me? What should I do if I lose my brakes completely? Crash into the mountain or careen into the trees?

[nitrohorse]

Always watch your rear tires in the mirrors. If you see smoke, the brakes are too hot.

[Not_a_Clue]

Hwy 38 is a decent drive up and down the mountain to and from Big Bear. We have been up there several times with the rig in signature. We are headed back up there over Labor Day to stay at Serrano in Big Bear, lots of good advice here. Just take your time and don't drive over what is comfortable for YOU. There are turn outs that you can pull over and let traffic go buy if it backs up behind you. Enjoy!

[JiminDenver]

We camp in the Rockies and do a lot of steep climbs and descents every trip.
First thing is it isn't a race. If you feel like the cars are piling up behind you find a safe place to pull over and let them by. Never let them push into going faster.

Second The warning sign with a speed listed before each curve, you want to be doing that speed or slower BEFORE you enter the curve.

Third is I hardly touch the brakes. As I crest a hill I let off the gas and let the rig slow itself so I can downshift and let the tranny take us down. I never get going faster than the next warning sign because I'll just have to slow it down again.

Once you get use to your rig you will know at what speed a gear will hold you to in a descent. For us second will hold us to 45 mph on the steepest descent. It gets used a lot because the warning signs on the curves are often 45.

Last thing is if you or the rig is being pushed too much, don't force it, take a break. There are many rest areas, scenic over looks and places to spend your money along the way. Resting every so often will make it a much better trip. After you have done it once or twice you will find it is no big deal.

[Harvey51]

The way I look at it, the purpose of the brakes is to slow down so you can shift into a lower gear.
Recommend frequent stops to sniff the brakes and let everything cool until you are a veteran mountain driver. Likely the view will be worth stopping for, too. Do go sufficiently slow that you can easily stop in a pullout. And start out very slow at the top of the hill; waste of gas to accelerate when a downhill run is coming up.

[Bighorns]

Everyone has given you very good advice on this issue. One more thing to add is to not let vehicles behind you intimidate you and make yourself think you are going to slow. Better to be safe than sorry. There is always enough time for everyone to get where they are going no matter what. Have fun!

[wny_pat1]

mdamerell wrote:
In the semi we have a couple basic rules.....................


As one ole boy told me as I creped down the Rockies for the 1st time. "You can go down a hill too slow many times, you'll only go down it too fast, once."

Take your time and enjoy the view.

I went down one too fast, and made it. But it was a real trip. And I missed the bar at the bottom on the curve. I know a guy who didn't!!! He went right through it, bar, bar back, and the whole kit and kaboodle. But he did miss the gas station next door. Knew a guy who went straight through a church parking lot on a Sunday morning right after church had let out too. The last car had just pulled out of the parking lot. That hill is off limits today, they built a truck by-pass. But the one where the bar is, is still a major truck route.

[Gale_Hawkins]

In 2011 we did 8000 miles to Pacific Ocean by way of WY and AZ in our 1992 P30 chassis and never got into places where the engine braking was not all we needed for speed control going down mountains. If you find you are using brakes you need to down shift one gear going down.

I was upset that I had stressed five years over nothing.

[Allworth]

The first time you get a chance, you really should run it across a set of CAT scales at a truckstop to get an accurate weight. $10 well spent.

[liquidspaceman]

Thanks everyone. I am driving a 2004 Thor Motor Coach, Class C. I believe it weighs about 11000 pounds or so.

[More_To_See]

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.)

[mdamerell]

In the semi we have a couple basic rules
1- you go down a hill 1 gear lower than you went up.
2- save your brakes for an emergency, use the engine/trans to slow you down.
3- if you have to brake, use stab braking as described above.

As one ole boy told me as I creped down the Rockies for the 1st time. "You can go down a hill too slow many times, you'll only go down it too fast, once."

Take your time and enjoy the view.

[rvten]

Just for info.. What are you driving.
Someone here may have same RV. Than can give even more info on how it handles in the MT's.

[DesertHawk]

The Key as many have said is Speed, keep it Slow (60 mph in the mountains coming down from Big Bear will get one killed, IMHO) and allow the Engine & Transmission to do the Slowing, not the Breaks. Use the Breaks very Sparingly. Do NOT Ride the Breaks. But you wrote that yourself. It is easy to allow the Heavy RV to get moving faster than it should, Keep it Slow early on.

Better to start going down very Slow once you get into the Curves & Steep Descents, Keep the transmission in a low gear. Depending on the Steepness, may need First Gear.

Try not to psych yourself out, Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself, however, it is good to be Cautious.

I'm not familiar with the route up to where you are going, often in mountains they do have emergency 'truck' ramps for out of control truck to run up onto to slow them down. Truck Escape Ramps

Otherwise, one can 'brush' into the side of the hillside to slow a vehicle down, in other words, rub the side of the RV onto the side of the hillside if you have lost the breaks completely. Which would be an extremely unlikely thing to happen, IMHO.

Not sure if you will need to use 1st gear going up or not, depends on the steepness of the highway & the power of your rig. Use whatever gear one needs to keep it moving upward.

Likewise, you which gear you need to keep it slowly going down safely. Might just need First. Use it if you need it. Forget you are from SoCal & take it nice and easy when you start down.

Have Fun & Don't Sweat It......To Much.

Post Edit:
Some wrote this about Escape Ramps:
"In steep mountainous areas,the brakes on large heavily loaded vehicles can become overheated and then fail to work on long downhill runs. The ramp is usually located on a curve of the downhill road. The road curves right or left and the ramp continues straight and up a steep hill. The ramp is an excavated trench filled with loose, round, smooth river rock. When the runaway truck enters the ramp, the effect is the same as when you try to walk through deep snow or in deep water in a swimming pool, substantial yet gradual resistance. This brings the truck to a safe halt with no assistance from the brakes.

Whatever you do, you don't want to mistake a ramp for a place to pull off to take a photo because once you're in the loose gravel, you'll need a tow truck to get you out."

I did a Quick Look on Google Maps, it looks like the route has many pull outs for viewing, etc. Be careful using any of them on the way down, one can be going too fast at times to really be able to stop in one of those. At least be very careful you are not moving too fast to stop safely, make sure you are going slow enough to use a pull off.

Best of Luck on your Trip.

My wife was Born & Raised in the San Gabriel Valley & we go out there a lot, but I have never gone up to the Big Bear area. Her folks lived in the Victorville area for a while, we drove the Cojon Pass many times, but never when up to Big Bear.

But I have driven in mountains for many years in NM & the West. Born & Raise a Texas Flatlander, but really like the hills & curves. Really fun to drive.

Oh, yes, I did have a C-Class from '97 to 2005; a somewhat short one, about 22'.

[skipnchar]

Now as the the actual BRAKING issue. The WORST thing you can do is to lightly RIDE the brakes to control your speed. This will make them QUICKLY overheat and opens up the possibility of warping your brake rotors (disc brakes) or burning your shoes (drum brakes). It's RARE for disc brakes to fail from overheating but you CAN warp the rotors which can be expensive to repair.

The solution is to use brakes firmly to slow down BELOW the speed you want to drive then get back off of the brakes and allow the vehicle to speed up a little beyond your preferred speed. Repeat this procedure and when combined with gearing, you should be able to use your brakes only about 10 to 15% of the time instead of close to 100% by riding them. Using this method should let you reach the bottom of the mountain with only slightly WARM brakes, no damage and no brake fade.
Good luck / Skip

[wbwood]

Go slow. It also depends on what you are driving/pulling.

We just came down a long hill nearby in our Class C without having to touch the brakes. The speed maintained at about 60mph on its own with me having to give it gas every now and then.

A year and half ago, came down same hill towing a 10,000 lb travel trailer with our f250 v10 (same engine in class c). It was a bit different then. The TT pushed on the truck causing it to pick up speed. I had to use the brakes every now and then.

The climb was also different. Truck pulled ok up it, but I could tell there was less strain when driving the class c up the hill