Mountain Driving Tips

Heh, I know when I started for some reason I kept confusing Cabbage and Grape Vine.

But then again I have a plate in my head so I have an excuse...

 

Wow, Im with the other driver I got the two wrong too. I did the grape vine in Cal I did not know that was the name it was a tough one though. The cabbage patch is pretty in the summer. I saw a cow on the top of it when I was going up I had had two take a double take.

 

Winter will turn it into a whole nother kind of animal. You wont soon forget it I promise you that.

 

Gotta remember to call the folks at Rand McNally about that one as well, they need to update the MCA fast.

 

I hear ya. For some reason many reffered it to that. I never questioned why. To the other driver about the plate in the head. Maybe we all had that problem. Too funny....

 

When you scale your load, balance the load between your trailer tandems and your drive tandems. You will not pick up speed as quickly on the descend. This allows your brakes a little more time to cool.

Take the trailer tandem weight and subtract the drive tandem weight to get the difference. Then divide the difference by twice the amount that a single hole will transfer. The result is how many holes to slide the trailer tandems to increase the trailer wheelbase. If the result is a negative number [the drives where heavier than the trailer tandems], shorten the trailer wheelbase that number of holes.

There was an article in the "Truckers News" magazine several months ago about braking techniques on steep mountain grades. The newest information listed was to start your snub braking technique when rpm's reaches 1,800 to 2,000 rpm and slow the vehicle down to 1,200 to 1,500 rpm.

Snub braking is the only accepted braking method on steep mountain grades or long downgrades. Thermal imaging has proven that the snub braking technique produces lower brake temperatures than using the light steady brake pressure technique. That is why the light steady brake pressure technique is a wrong answer on the current drivers written exam.

 

Xcis, thank you. Whatever technique you all use, make sure it gets you down the hills. The technique got me thru 1 million miles even though science say`s there`s a better way. What you say sounds a little similar to what I did except I didn`t let it go down below 1400. The range went from 2000 down to that level, holding a steady 1700 is more difficult than said.

 

whats the opinions on the super 10 transmission? I am looking at a freightliner with a 500 detroit and super 10, I dont know much about the super 10...

 

"When you scale your load, balance the load between your trailer tandems and your drive tandems. You will not pick up speed as quickly on the descend."

I know you shouldn't be overweight on any axles, but I never heard this quote before.

 

In response to Jack Smithton, I am not trying to be a smart as but try balancing the load between the trailer tandems and the drive tandems. I mean if you are going to slide the trailer tandems anyway - - why not. Experiment for yourself and see what you think.

In my limited experience, a balanced load rode a little smoother and gave lower oil consumption on heavy loads. When going uphill on small rolling and steep grades, the temperature gauge did not go to 210 degrees as often and the cooling fan did not kick on as much. To me this indicated less strain on the engine. When going downhill, it did not seem to pick up speed as quickly. I would have thought that fuel economy would improve at least slightly but I never saw any change.

Look I am no engineer. I don't claim to be an expert. It just seems reasonable that when one end is significantly heavier than the other end, the heavy end is either pulling or pushing the lighter end down the grade. It may not be scientific but based on what I experienced that seems a plausable explanation.

I would be interested in hearing your observations if you try it.