Mountain RVing advice.
We're planning an extended RV trip for next spring that will put us in the mountains for part of it. Our Class C is a 1991 with a Ford 460 engine and automatic 3 speed (plus manual OD) transmission. ...
Forum Discussion
Trails And Tails wrote:
The best specs I can find for this combination is 245 hp @ 2200 rpm and 400 lbs torque @ 4000 rpm. Which of these specs should I pay attention to? I'm looking for the optimum pull for the uphills and I'm not sure what would be a good starting place (rpm) to start looking for the "sweet spot".
I think that you have this reversed, the peak HP should be at the higher RPM. You will get the most power at the peak HP RPM. There is so much talk about torque and it is pretty much meaningless. Usually you will get the most efficiency at peak torque but that doesn't get you up the mountain... HP does.
Some will tell you to do stab braking, but that too is without merit. If you have problems with brakes overheating, you are simply using them too much. Brakes are a heat device and going thru high heat and no heat cycles repeatedly only causes periods of even higher heat followed by no added heat. The only way to reduce brake heat is to go slower, use a lower gear or pull over to let them cool.
