First time mountain towing

[ricks99]

We'll be camping in the Grindstone Recreation in the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest over the July 4 holiday. This will be my fist time towing our HTT in the mountains (beach driging is a breeeze!).

Any hints or advice? I've scoured the forums and collected:
- Check all fluids & tires
- Take it slow and easy
- Increase the brake controller setting
- Enable tow/haul mode

[falconbrother]

I learned the uncomfortable way to start slow at the top of a mountain. It's easier to maintain than to slow down. I pulled up a mountain in the motorhome pulling the toad. I was feeling great about how well that thing pulled the mountain so at the top I was running 65 or so. Then, all of the sudden, I was staring at what looked like a vertical drop that went on out of sight. Lucky for me there was very light traffic. There was no stopping, just a butt clinched ride to the bottom. I so wish I had been running about 25 MPH at the top. From that day forward I start at the top of every long steep decline at 25 MPH or less and I gear down and keep it down. I'm over with the semi-trucks easing down the mountain.

[Hannibal]

That was good to read! Glad all is going well.

[LIKE2BUILD]

ricks99 wrote:
Well... we made it! Our motto for the drive was "Low and Slow," as in low gear -- slow speed. 🙂

The 4.5 miles of 8% grade on US21 near Roaring Gap was especially "scenic" with all of its switchbacks, but TV and HTT made the trip with no issues.

Good motto. It's not a race, just give yourself plenty of time and get there in one piece.

KJ

[ricks99]

Well... we made it! Our motto for the drive was "Low and Slow," as in low gear -- slow speed. 🙂

The 4.5 miles of 8% grade on US21 near Roaring Gap was especially "scenic" with all of its switchbacks, but TV and HTT made the trip with no issues.

[LIKE2BUILD]

ricks99 wrote:
Regarding the advice to use a lower gear... should I manually go to 2 or L (I have an automatic) or keep O/D off and let the transmission handle things itself?

Keep it in Tow/Haul mode. Listen to the engine on the uphill pull. If you hear it up-shifting, then down shifting again it's 'hunting' for gears. The ECM programming tries to make the engine run efficiently (aka lower RPM), but all that up and down shifting creates heat in the transmission.

If you hear it hunting, use the shift lever to lock it in the lower gear. Whether that's 3, 2, or 1 depends on the incline. Don't worry about going fast....this is truly a tortoise and hare scenario....slow and steady wins the race. Pay attention to what gear you're in and on similar downhill runs manually shift into that gear to maximize engine compression braking.

DO NOT ride the brakes. The reasoning has already been well explained. Coming down Teton Pass we were about choked out by hot brake smell. There was a Class C motorhome that was riding his brakes all the way down the 10% grade and he was smoking the front rotors. How do I know? I watched his brakes lights stay on almost constantly and I could see smoke rolling out from the front fenders. :S :h

Use the engine and lower gear as much as possible. Use the brake pedal to scrub speed then let off. This method will keep you in control and will not overheat the brakes.

KJ

[Lynnmor]

Grit dog wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
All brakes on a trailer are connected to one wire so they all get the same current. All brakes on the tow vehicle are connected to the hydraulic system so they get the same braking.

An air brake system has valves that open and light braking may not activate all brakes causing some to not share the load. A trucker may be pulling a trailer of unknown braking ability.

Keeping this old wives tale going is only promoting the idea that playing with brakes in some fashion will get an inexperienced driver to the bottom of the mountain safely. Causing cycles of high heat then no heat repeatedly is not going to do anything worthwhile.

Do you actually believe what you posted? You go ahead and ride your brakes down the mountain and I'll continue the preferred method of gettin on the hooks, dropping some serious speed and then giving them a rest for a minute before doing it again.
I'll know if who you are because I'll smell your brakes burning!

And if you have surge brakes on a trailer, you better giver a little gas after dropping speed or I'll be able to see your trailer brakes smoking!

Where did I say that I "ride" my brakes? There is no such thing as riding brakes, you either use the brakes or not. Brakes are a heat device and causing high temperature peaks by repeated hard usage is nothing I would do. I use my brakes very little but then I have the correct tool for the job and know how to use it. Suggesting to folks that want to learn that they should play a silly game with the brake pedal while being an annoyance to others is not a good idea.

[Hannibal]

Run with the real trucks. Not the one that's running away and headed for the sand trap lol! Slow and easy and enjoy the views.
Lynnmor is right. We're not driving OTR tractor trailers. Use a lower gear, drive slower, whatever it takes to keep from using the brakes to excess. If your '08 Ram doesn't downshift with a tap of the brakes in tow/haul mode, you might need to downshift manually to maintain your desired speed without having to continually hold the brakes. If you run in 2nd gear up at 4k rpm, you'll likey want to run in 2nd gear down at the same speed or slower. Truckers have likely run the passes many times and have experience with a lot more weight than we're dealing with. Run the speeds they run and you should be fine.

[BenK]

Braking and especially going downhill is something the specifications address...that too many have no clue of...

If over the ratings...sure the braking system(s) are NOT designed for that and will be over stressed to maybe fail on a long or series of downhills.

The max incline (both uphill and downhill) are buried in the specifications that all OEM's must design to, test to and certify in order to pass

Braking turns kinetic energy into heat and the thermal management system has rejection charactoristics designed in.

By braking HARD to reduce speed below where you want/should be and then allow it to coast (with the transmission in low enough of a gear) will have the thermal rejection stuff cool the brakes enough for the next HARD braking.

Cycle that and you will/should be okay. Repeat that if you are over your ratings...all the components/systems of your TV will be overtaxed and may NOT cool itself enough

and yes, EVERYTHING should be checked and maintained well

Over sized tires (dia larger than OEM), lifts and other after market stuff may affect the performance, so beaware of that

[Grit_dog]

Lynnmor wrote:
All brakes on a trailer are connected to one wire so they all get the same current. All brakes on the tow vehicle are connected to the hydraulic system so they get the same braking.

An air brake system has valves that open and light braking may not activate all brakes causing some to not share the load. A trucker may be pulling a trailer of unknown braking ability.

Keeping this old wives tale going is only promoting the idea that playing with brakes in some fashion will get an inexperienced driver to the bottom of the mountain safely. Causing cycles of high heat then no heat repeatedly is not going to do anything worthwhile.

Do you actually believe what you posted? You go ahead and ride your brakes down the mountain and I'll continue the preferred method of gettin on the hooks, dropping some serious speed and then giving them a rest for a minute before doing it again.
I'll know if who you are because I'll smell your brakes burning!

And if you have surge brakes on a trailer, you better giver a little gas after dropping speed or I'll be able to see your trailer brakes smoking!

[Lynnmor]

mkirsch wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:
Keeping this old wives tale going is only promoting the idea that playing with brakes in some fashion will get an inexperienced driver to the bottom of the mountain safely. Causing cycles of high heat then no heat repeatedly is not going to do anything worthwhile.

So you are saying we should ride our brakes lightly all the way down the mountain then?

Maybe we should just not use brakes at all?

I haven't seen you offer up a viable alternative.

Use a lower gear, drive slower, whatever it takes to keep from using the brakes to excess.

[coolbreeze01]

If you are using your brakes often enough that heat is a concern, you are in too high of a gear.

[BarneyS]

I would go to 2 or L manually if necessary. I wouldn't let the transmission handle it as it would probably shift up into a higher gear as soon as the speed allows. OD would most likely not operate in the lower gears so no need to turn it off.
Barney

[ricks99]

Regarding the advice to use a lower gear... should I manually go to 2 or L (I have an automatic) or keep O/D off and let the transmission handle things itself?

[mkirsch]

Lynnmor wrote:
Keeping this old wives tale going is only promoting the idea that playing with brakes in some fashion will get an inexperienced driver to the bottom of the mountain safely. Causing cycles of high heat then no heat repeatedly is not going to do anything worthwhile.

So you are saying we should ride our brakes lightly all the way down the mountain then?

Maybe we should just not use brakes at all?

I haven't seen you offer up a viable alternative.