Two hands probably has given you the answer you're looking for. But if it was me I would just go down the grade. What are you towing with, is it a gas or diesel vehicle?
We will tell you to drop a gear or two to go down the grade without having to ride the brakes. That works well, but if you've never done is before you will probably not be comfortable without a tachometer (RPM gauge) on the dash to tell you that you're not damaging the engine. Here's what I would suggest if you do have a tachometer and a gasoline powered vehicle.
Go driving with just the tow vehicle and no trailer. Go find a bit of road that you can accelerate to 60mph without endangering yourself or others.
Safely stop the vehicle and pull the shifter down into the lowest gear. Accelerate until 15 - 20 mph and then shift up one gear on the shifter.
Can you drive 60 mph in that gear without getting within 500 to 700 RPM before the red or orange markings on the tachometer? If not shift up until you can drive 60 mph while still being below the red or orange markings on the gauge. The idea is to find the lowest gear (2nd, or 3rd) that you can drive at 60 without letting the tachometer get to the orange or red markings. Once you find this gear you know that you can downshift to this gear on a hill and not damage your engine.
Let's say your truck is like my Suburban that I can run 65 mph in 2nd gear without hitting the orange or red marks. When I crest a big hill like the grapevine I just slow down to about 50 mph. I then shift the transmission selector to the 2 position and take my foot off the accelerator pedal and away from the brake pedal and just start to coast down the hill.
As I go down the hill the speed will slowly start to increase. But, since I'm in 2nd gear it behaves like I have my foot on the brakes which I don't. When the speed climbs up to about 58 mph I put my foot on the brakes and firmly press to slow the vehicle down to 50 mph again. Once I get to 50 mph I take my foot off the brake and start coasting again.
I usually only have to touch the brakes three maybe four times for a hill the size of the grapevine. While it may seem like this is stressful it is usually just the opposite. With the transmission in a lower gear I don't have to watch the speed like a hawk. Instead it just goes down the hill as if I'm dragging a parachute behind me and only speeds up slowly.
Good luck with your travels whichever route you take. Remember sometimes getting there is sometimes half the fun of the journey.
We will tell you to drop a gear or two to go down the grade without having to ride the brakes. That works well, but if you've never done is before you will probably not be comfortable without a tachometer (RPM gauge) on the dash to tell you that you're not damaging the engine. Here's what I would suggest if you do have a tachometer and a gasoline powered vehicle.
Go driving with just the tow vehicle and no trailer. Go find a bit of road that you can accelerate to 60mph without endangering yourself or others.
Safely stop the vehicle and pull the shifter down into the lowest gear. Accelerate until 15 - 20 mph and then shift up one gear on the shifter.
Can you drive 60 mph in that gear without getting within 500 to 700 RPM before the red or orange markings on the tachometer? If not shift up until you can drive 60 mph while still being below the red or orange markings on the gauge. The idea is to find the lowest gear (2nd, or 3rd) that you can drive at 60 without letting the tachometer get to the orange or red markings. Once you find this gear you know that you can downshift to this gear on a hill and not damage your engine.
Let's say your truck is like my Suburban that I can run 65 mph in 2nd gear without hitting the orange or red marks. When I crest a big hill like the grapevine I just slow down to about 50 mph. I then shift the transmission selector to the 2 position and take my foot off the accelerator pedal and away from the brake pedal and just start to coast down the hill.
As I go down the hill the speed will slowly start to increase. But, since I'm in 2nd gear it behaves like I have my foot on the brakes which I don't. When the speed climbs up to about 58 mph I put my foot on the brakes and firmly press to slow the vehicle down to 50 mph again. Once I get to 50 mph I take my foot off the brake and start coasting again.
I usually only have to touch the brakes three maybe four times for a hill the size of the grapevine. While it may seem like this is stressful it is usually just the opposite. With the transmission in a lower gear I don't have to watch the speed like a hawk. Instead it just goes down the hill as if I'm dragging a parachute behind me and only speeds up slowly.
Good luck with your travels whichever route you take. Remember sometimes getting there is sometimes half the fun of the journey.
