Mountain Driving

I keep a copy of both Mountain Directory East and West in the truck so I can get an understanding of what downgrades I will he facing in an unfamiliar route, or one In have not run in a while.

It is good to know before you get to it so you can plan your descent.

 

I prefer the up shifting method when desending a hill, I started off the top in too low of a gear. Just remember to shut your jake off when you shift. If your driving a HH tractor equipped jakes,trans brakes you never need to brake off the hills unless your over 60 ton.

 

All great advice, this might have been discussed or not? Each truck is different, just as climbing a hill you have a torque RPM range that performs best, so do most engine brakes.... its important to notice what works best before encountering such.

 

Each truck is different. After that each load is different and conditions can change at the time you take on a mountain pass, so the correct gear one time may not be the correct gear the next time. I agree that starting a hill in the lowest gear and if you need to then upshift is the best course of action. Do remember to turn off the jake for upshifting, it is possible to stall the engine.

Thanks to KMac for suggesting the Mountain Directory East and West. I've never heard of that but I'm going to keep my eye out to get a copy. Sounds like something that will be essential for trip planning in new territory for me.

One thing to bear in mind about mountain passes is that often there is more than one downgrade, there can be a series of downgrades. This is important because you can get lulled into a sense of security, thinking you have completed the major downgrade, upshift and gain speed, only to be faced with another downgrade. I'm sure this was an important factor in the infamous Donner Pass rollover fatality, because the location of that westbound incident is after a long flattish straightaway and slight uphill and after several downgrades followed by flattish sections. This is why I think it is important for all drivers to be secure in their ability to downshift going down a grade. Never try to downshift at a speed that will require you to get into the lower gear at a high rpm, use your service brakes to drop your rpm's down into sub 1000 rpm (think 700-800) in the higher gear and it will make it much easier to grab the lower gear. Double clutching adds confidence to the shift for me.

If you don't get into a gear and speed that the jake brake can hold, then you end up using the service brakes for snub braking too much. This can result in overheated brakes and a dangerous situation can unfold. My brother had such an incident northbound on the Grapevine just north of LA on I-5 about 30 years ago. His brakes heated to the point he had smoke pouring off the tandem brakes and he lost braking power. The jake was useless. He was on the air horn and CB and weaving through traffic with the speedometer pegged at 90 mph. He considered the last suicide ramp but that was out of the question as he would have had to cut between trucks to get there, instead he rode the pony down to the flats, trailing smoke out the tandems. When he hit the flats he road it another five miles until there wasn't any more smoke coming out the brakes. Never stop the truck when your brakes are smoking, it's a sure way to start a fire. If possible always stop after you've been able to drive without the brakes for a period of time to allow them to cool down with air flow.

 

WOW--here we go with the NEVER EVERS again--the only thing you NEVER EVER DO is make a blanket statement or say THIS is the ONLY way to do something---
Now the old skool adage has been--to go down a hill 1 gear lower than the lowest gear you ended up in climbing the mountian--
many folks today say with Today's aero type trucks--they feel it should be 2 gears lower--so use this as a general rule of thumb--BUT that is all
As for your 10speed--iit isn't so much a wquestion of your transmission--as it is your rearend ratio/weight of load--how it is loaded/distributed--and HP of your motor--more HP typically means a stronger jake--
So take your time--really get to know YOUR TRUCK--remember EVERY Load is different--
AND--like the old man said to me a LOOOOOONG time ago
"Son you can go to SLOW down a mountain forever! BUT you can only go down it TOO FAST ONCE!"
Just sayin

 

On a side note there's something to remember about running mountains in the west. Put a squeeze on your bottles before changing elevations. Remember that air pressure is less at high altitude than at low altitude. If you don't squeeze your bottles before capping them going up in elevation you may find that you have shampoo all over your shower kit...

 

The Mountain directory books are available here in both printed and eBook versions

http://www.mountaindirectory.com/

 

not to be a snob but why worry about a book.

hills go up. hills go down. some are curvy. some are not.

bottom line is the truck has to go up. and what goes up always comes down. but as far as the hill goes. it's the same routine no matter what hill your on.

but if it's a new hill to you. just go a little slower. like the rest of us do. our first time. cuz 99.9999999 % of us don't have a book.

and if a cop gives you a ticket for speeding. don't say i didn't tell you to slow down.

 

just out of curiosity What did your driving school say about mountain driving ?

 

To each their own... Information is information, one can use it or not as they see fit.

I also keep an truck Stop directory handy, probably another useless bit of information because hey, there either is one or not at the next exit. I'll be passing that exit anyway so why worry about it?

Oh, and my Atlas... another pretty much useless book, I mean hell the road is going where it is going and you know, there are signs and stuff that will point you in the right direction, the truck is going whichever way you point it anyway...

Those books are nothing more than another source of information I admittedly do not look at them often because a lot of the time I am on the same routes, but when I am getting off the main roads in say, Idaho, I find it helpful to know what I am facing as far as terrain. You obviously feel otherwise, that is OK.

I learned to drive in Mountains pulling missiles through the Alps back in the Cold War Days. I have no fear of Mountains... I do have respect for them. The $20 or so I spent on those books, to me anyway, is a small investment indeed when it comes to knowing the road ahead of me.