First time driving a 5er in the mountains

[edmojenks]

I've have owned a 35' 3150 for four months now. Been on half a dozen local camping trips here in the flatlands of Louisiana during that time. I drive a Chevy 2500 HD, w/ 6.6 Duramax. In Louisiana, when I hook up my trailer I set my trailer gain to 6.5.

In three days I will be heading to Colorado with the final destination being Breckenridge. I have driven I-70 about a half dozen times driving a 25-passgenger bus hauling kids to spring skiing. So, this won't be a totally new experience.

I know to not ride the brakes.....to let the engine serve to "slow you down" as much as possible. I plan on staying in the right hand lane on the steep grades. Mainly I plan on taking it slow.

Is there something else I am missing that I should do as a flatlander driving a fifth wheel in the mountains for the first time. I know that a bus and a fifth wheel are two different animals, so that is why I am asking.

[H. John Kohl]

The biggest thing I learned was to go down the mountain at the same speed and in the same gear or one lower that you did or used to climb the mountian. One hill I had to use 2nd gear and 15 mph all the way down.

Good luck and safe travels.

[bncinwv]

Eddie,
The only suggestion I can add is to read the part of the owner's manual that discusses the tow-haul feature and grade-braking that is built into the Duramax/Allison combination. The grade-braking in conjunction with tow-haul has been all I have ever needed on grades up to 9% in West Virginia. Granted, I am sure there are longer extended grades in Colorado, but I think if you know the capabilities of the Duramax/Allison, that it will be a major benefit and will provide assurance as well as comfort. There may be times when you will need to "reset" the function with a hard press on the brake pedal on steep and/or extended grades, but you should never have to ride the brakes, let the Duramax/Allison combination do the braking for you.
Bingo

[Tom S.]

Tow haul is your friend! While we have encountered mountains where an exhaust brake would have been nice, the down shifting of the trans in tow haul mode made even steep down grades very manageable. Also, for what it's worth, truck brakes are MUCH better than they used to be, so you can get away using them much more than in the past. Older vehicles had drum brakes, which weren't anywhere near as efficient as disk brakes, either in stopping power or heat dissipation. Unless you do something crazy insane (like fill the entire trailer with water??), you will have no problems.

[drknapp]

I just took mine up into our local mountains for the weekend. I have the same truck (2007.5 model). I did what you are discussing. Just took it easy and let the down shifting feature of the tow/haul mode do it's work. Everything went real smooth. I think you will do fine.

[BB_TX]

Flatlander myself living 35 miles north of Dallas. But we tow our almost 35 footer to South Fork Colorado every summer, sometimes twice. We go over Raton Pass and La Veta Pass. Raton Pass is not much except the last mile or so before the top, La Veta at nearly 10,000 ft is much more of a pull, especially the east side.
I just follow the speed limit signs going down, run that or just a little less, and have never had any problem at all. Never felt that was too fast. But only you can guage what is comfortable for you. As mentioned, I just use tow/haul to use the engine to reduce speed and bump the brakes a little if the speed starts to get up. Many non-interstate passes have two lanes going up, but only one coming down. But don't get concerned about holding up traffic if they seem to want to go too fast for your comfort. Just wait for a place to pull over and let traffic go by if need be.

[edmojenks]

Very good replies so far. I was reading a discussion on another site about using the tow hual feature on the open interstate where you can maintain hwy. speed. Some said they always use it and some said they didn't use it.

Here in N. Louisiana there are just enough hills that I always use the tow/haule and the trailer gain. One time I was pulling out of a camp ground and didn't set the trailer gain. The first time I hit the truck brakes as hard as I usually do, basically nothing happened. I learned right then just how good that trailer gain feature is.

Thanks again for all of your good suggestions.

Being new to a fifth wheel, I actually still have more problems with backing than I do driving down the hwy.

[bncinwv]

Eddie,
Can you clarify what you mean by setting the trailer gain. The reason I ask is that I have a prodigy brake controller and once I have set it per the set-up instructions, I have never touched it other than possibly increasing the Boost level when I am in city-type driving. I have never touched the gain knob (I assume that is what you are referring to?). The grade-braking feature when set uses the truck to hold the rig back on the hills without using the truck brakes or the trailer brakes. Am I confused about something (I have been known to be many times, but for the sake of myself and others if there is a better way, I would at least like to be informed???)
Bingo

[NCFischers]

Eddie,
Take your trailer one Sunday morning to a mall parking lot and practice backing up where you don't have a chance of hitting anything. Bring a couple of buckets or cones and back through them. Practice backing while turning. Grab the bottom of the steering wheel. If you want the rear of the trailer to go left, then move your hand left. Have one person guide with hand signals while the other backs and then change positions. An hour or two and you both will feel confident backing.
Jim

[boylanag]

We traded our gasser for a 2005 F-250 6.0 this winter in Texas. I had the same concerns you do about the diesel. On the 7%+ upgrades, we were at or near the speed limit and on the same % downgrades, Tow Haul kept it at a good speed, only needing a tap the brakes now and then to keep it from going too fast. I even used the Tow Haul mode when not towing in the mountains to keep from using the brakes too much on the downgrades. Just Tow Haul and enjoy the ride.

[2Wanderers]

Hauled my new Moutaineer down I25 from Denver, through Raton, LaVeta, and down to Tucson and Corpus Christi this spring. Tow haul works great, especially with the exhaust brake. However, later this summer we were towing across Colorado on the two lanes and ran into some variations to our previous experiences. Came down off one pass east of Montrose with a long grade that required occasional braking and accelleration due to the terrain. Used the suggestion to brake occasionally to remind the transmission to downshift during tow-haul mode. Finished the downgrade and the engine shut down in about 3 miles. Great!!! Gave it time to reset, recycled the key and started up and returned to dealer to see what was up! Computer thought I had one foot on the accelerator and another on the brake. Wasn't the case, but I am learning. Started using tap shift to select specific lower gears to control downhill speed after that and every thing went just fine with all subsequent downgrades. Generally tow-haul does the job just fine, but extreme downhills may require some other approaches. Food for thought.

[Waynem]

When towing a Monty, I put it in Tow Haul and left it there, flats or hills. Never had a problem.

[edmojenks]

bncinwv - sorry for the confusion. When I used the term "trailer gain" I was talking about the integrated brake controller that came standard on my truck. You can set mine at any increment from 1 to 10. For me, a 6.5 setting allows me to slow down the trailer under normal driving conditions at about the rate I would expect. One time I forgot to set it and when I applied the brakes as I normally do basically nothing happened to slow the rig down. So, anything lower than 6.5 increases the distance I have to travel to slow the trailer down. I agree that this feature would not be the primary feature I would use going up and down a steep mtn. grade, but I can't imagine going down a steep grade with this turned off. I would feel like the trailer is pushing me if I ever did have to put on the brakes. I will have the tow haul button on the whole way on my trip and this is what I will mainly rely to gear down.

[Jdrobone]

Eddie,
I think the question was, and I too am curious, how do you "forget to set" gain when it is always "set" unless you change it?
At least that's how mine works.
Jerry

[Jdrobone]

Whew,

Just came over the mountains from Charlottesville, Va to Elkins, WV, yesterday. Encountered an absurd number of switchbacks and 9% (posted 9% anyway) grades, really thankful for tow-haul. That big 'ol F350 dually was WORKING. I had fans coming on a'roaring that I didn't even know I had - that bad boy performed flawlessly, both water jacket and tranny temps stayed down, brakes were solid, never felt uncomfortable with the rig.
I did, however, give some thought to calling my broker and increasing my holdings in Shell Oil. That 6.4 diesel sucked down some fuel. To do a lot of work requires a lot of power - a lot of power takes a lot of fuel - and like I said that motor was a-working.

Jerry

[bncinwv]

Jerry,
Glad you made it okay, told you that you would enjoy the route. Of course, I did forget to give the definition for enjoy. But at least now you have the knowledge and experience to tackle any road on the East Coast. I trust you took 33 instead of 250. 250 can be white-knuckle driving at times when traffic is coming the other way when you are in the switchbacks coming up the mountain from Monterey, Va. On another note, we are staying at Pegasus for Labor Day. We will have a campfire discussion of your stay there at the Virginia rally!!
Bingo

[CORattler]

I live in Colorado and do a lot of towing through the passes and at altitude. The exhaust brake is your friend as is tow-haul mode. Stay to the right and watch your speed going down a grade. Use the tranny to control your speed as well. Tapping the brakes occasionally is fine, just avoid staying on them and overheating them. Watch your temperature guage on both uphill and downhill. Be sure to idle your engine for 10 minutes or more after completing a grade (up or down) before you turn off the engine. Most of all, employ common sense. You'll be just fine. Enjoy your trip and welcome to Colorado!

[edmojenks]

I back from the mtns. of Colorado. The tow/haul "+/-" button was my friend. On the steepest grades (6% for several miles) I pretty much had it in 3rd gear with around a 3K RPM.

Regarding the question about my trailer gain:

1. I can turn if on or off.
2. Even when I turn it on, it could be set to "O" and act like it does when it is off.. I bump mine up to 6.5 and that seems to be the perfect setting for my rig.

[ray fischer]

I just crossed a pretty steep mountain in central Pa. The % grade wasn't posted but trucks over 21000 lbs were limited to 20 mph and low gear. I'm always in tow haul and I had to frequently mash my brakes to slow down. My combined weight is 19,500. Should I shift into low gear myself before decending? I thought tow haul would do it for me. Please advise.

[CORattler]

Yes, select your gear prior to descending the grade. This will allow your tranny and engine to control your speed. You can then use your brakes sparingly and not overheat them.

quote:Originally posted by ray fischer

I just crossed a pretty steep mountain in central Pa. The % grade wasn't posted but trucks over 21000 lbs were limited to 20 mph and low gear. I'm always in tow haul and I had to frequently mash my brakes to slow down. My combined weight is 19,500. Should I shift into low gear myself before decending? I thought tow haul would do it for me. Please advise.