What gears for grapevine. 10spd

Yeah, the uphill is worse than the downhill.

You could be loaded max gross weight and still gain on some other truck going 15mph slower than you. You want to pass but there is some other truck in the passing lane that can't even pass them. or some 4-wheeler that doesn't know they can just move over a lane and go around all of it.

I just try to go with the flow and not cut people off. There is so much stupid on that stretch I often question if it even matters.

Just give it some time, you will get a feel for it.

 

grapevine downgrade has 35 mph limit

 

Grapevine 35, CASTAIC junction 45 or whatever it is before you get there. I’ve edited 3 times already. Go figure

 

Joe don't worry about uphill. Drive as fast as you can with full loaded trailer max you can get will be around 30-40 mph.
BE CAREFULL ON DOWNGRADE.

 

WTF kind of facility is that??
That quite disturbs me..
what kind of instructors are they supposed to be give us your money we don't know what we're doing either??

 

North bound it’s 35mph.

Southbound after the break check area the speed limit is 40mph for trucks.

 

Relax, that's the most important thing you can do. Every truck is different so nobody can tell you what gear to be in. To answer your question about going uphill on the southbound side, in my truck i would let the engine pull me down to about 1200-1300 rpm then downshift. I would keep downshifting until the RPM's stay at a certain RPM then just pull the hill. That was loaded up to about 110,000 lbs. Going up empty I would watch the speed limit and do the same. Coming down the mountain is a lot different. Usually 35 mph is about where you want to be when you're loaded. It all depends on the truck and the mountain on how fast you want to be going. In an ideal situation you want to be in the gear before you're in the steep side of the downgrade and not be in a position to where you need to downshift. Anyway stay relaxed and learn every time you go up and down the hills and don't let anyone push you or talk you in going down the hill faster that what you're comfortable with. Be your own boss and stay alive.

 

Uphill mash the accelerator and keep downshifting. The weight and truck will find the sweet spot. Watch your coolant temp as well.

Downhill:
I’m assuming you’ve been over the grapevine before. So you should have an idea where it gets steep and flattens out.

Set your target speed at 35mph in 7th gear right as you crest a steep part. Have the jakes in stage 1. Foot off the accelerator. Then “feel” how the truck begins to accelerate. Quickly add jakes to hold it back. You only use your service brakes to scrub off 5mph or so in a nice progressive push (some say stab). If you slow too much use less jakes. As you gain experience you can play with your gear selection.

CHP is still writing a #### ton of speeding tickets on the downhills there. Be aware of that.

“You can go down a hill a million times too slow, but only once too fast.”

I read that here on TTR. Words to live by.

 

Going uphill. If you miss a gear. Drop two gears. Truck will slow down so fast. That is the only way you'll catch it. Don't let it get away from you.

 

7th gear full jakes should keep you at 35 mph.