Cuesta grade going down into SLO, and Cuesta grade LEAVING SLO,,

I say this only because I just ran it this weekend again taking the 5ver and family to Avila/Port San Luis Rey. I miss my 96 F350, the BD Exhaust brake was a Godsend. It is on my to do list on my 02 F350!! I could roll down the Grapevine and never touch the brakes with it on, even had to roll into the throttle a few times. It held Cuesta grade in check also!

 

There was one in West Virginia, can't remember the route, but it was a pretty good hill, still not on line with Bullhead-Kingman out west.

 

I did not think UPS trucks had brakes at all. Worst grade I drive around here is the TN side of Sams Gap on I-26. Too durn many curves to hold much speed. I was coming off of there when I-40 was closed through the Gorge and all traffic was routed across Sams Gap. A sleeper cab pulling a box went by me like I was setting still with smoke rolling off of the trailer and truck axles. I got to the bottom and he was pulled off the side with a fire extinguishher putting out the flames on his brakes. He mush have either missed a gear or was a flatlander who did not know how to gear down. Worst I have been on is I-70 out of Denver. Not so much steep, but that is the curviest stretch of Interstate I have ever been on.

 

That was the big rock slide about 10 years ago? And I70 out of Denver...once you clear the Lakeside exit you need to be on the gas.

 

Southbound Grapevine (i.e. Tejon Pass) was the first one I've had to pull over and cool off for a few pulling the fiver. Overhead showed 99 degrees outside. Made it about 2/3rds up before elevated (not overheated) temps suggested I pull over into one of the water stops. Fairly handy as it was time for a potty break anyway, so back to the fiver for a few while the engine cooled down.

Was pulling 2nd gear (auto, 3.73 rear) at about 40 mph at the time, EGTs in check at around 1150-1200.

Speaking of - we're heading east on I-40 from SoCal to OKC in the next week or two. What can I expect, grade-wise doing that route?

 

From Bakersfield it's an easy go...if you're taking I 15 north to I 40 there's a long grade not too big though...the only part of that ride that I don't like is I 40 just coming into OKC, cement and real rough, about the same as the beginning of rt 99 just north of the Grapevine. However that was awhile back and could have been repaired.

 

More on topic, my least favorite grade so far isn't an interstate grade (but some non-interstate grades have been mentioned thusfar), but a US highway grade.

US 321 north heading into Blowing Rock, NC. Currently two lanes, twisty and pretty much no shoulder or anyplace else to get off in places. They are working on widening to four lanes, but it makes the two-lane section a mess. Good thing the speed limit was 35, because that's all I could get out of the truck pulling the fiver up (8-10%?).

Fortunately, we got advice to use US 421 out of town, which is all four-lane and downhill (decel tune for the win).

 

I have to admit this thread is kind of humorous from my perspective. I have always loved challenging driving conditions, and this one reminds me of a load I once hauled into Signal Mountain, TN. I was a relatively new driver at the time and was hauling ~35,000 lbs of doors up the mountain on US-127, which is the only good way into and out of Signal Mountain. There was a construction zone which blocked the right lane of the narrow 4-lane road. I actually had to stop, block traffic, and wait for the construction crew to block traffic the other way for me to get around one of the corners. If cut to sharp the trailer would have gone down into a ditch and smack into the side of the mountain. It was one of my favorite experiences when I drove trucks, I had a blast!

My second favorite run was going up to the mine in Silverthorne, CO to pick up a load of molybdenum. The mine was remote enough that cell phone service was a wistful thought, and the only way up was a narrow, twisty road that carried me up past 10,000 feet. Empty was interesting, but descending back down to I-70 with 45,000 lbs of raw metal in the box was an absolute blast. That run wast the only time I had ever overheated my truck; I was a good 78,000 lbs heavy pulling up to the Eisenhower tunnel. At that altitude my cooling fan just couldn't move enough air through the radiator to keep temps from rising, and at the very top I had alarms buzzing and had to park it at the rest area to cool off.

It's stuff like this that makes me want to get back into professional driving. Unfortunately with two kids and one on the way it's not an option.

This was the truck I took to Silverthorne:

 

Once you clear Cajon Pass there's a pretty good pull between Kingman and Flagstaff. Then you have Albuquerque which is not as steep, but it's a long way in and out of that valley. 12 miles both sides if I remember correctly. Unless the wind is working you over it should a piece of cake.

If you want a thrill ride, take a side trip from Kingman to Laughlin.

 

Yeah, but the most scenic is through Oatman, but don't have anything longer than a 30 footer or you won't make the switchbacks. It's on old Hwy 66 and about as cool a side trip as there is in America. Make sure you stop in Oatman and feed the "wild" burro's with carrots or donuts. Claim to fame is where Clark Gabel snuck off and got married. Biggest Mojave Green rattlesnake I ever saw crossed the road above Oatman, must have been 6' easy.

 

We're pulling 40' and 15.5k, so I might skip the switchbacks.

 

Route 302 up through Crawford Notch in NH. 13% of twisty, turny, bung-hole clenching pucker factor. Only thing worse than going up, is coming down.

 

I did that grade a few years ago, when my wife was working in Hickory for 6 months. She had rented a small Nissan Versa. I called it a Pathetic Clown Car. Going up US 32, that gutless wonder was so underpowered we were holding up guys towing 5vers!

 

I've added a new waypoint on my next trip West.

 

while not an interstate, or even a major US highway, the best that I've ever heard was my grandfather and great uncle hauling a D7 cat on a lowboy over Oregon Highway 242 (the Mckenzie Highway).. the road was/is so sharp, they had to unload the cat, and make modifications to the side of the road, to get the lowboy around a corner. This was in the early 60's before Highway 126 was built, and was the only way from Eugene over the Cascade mountains at the time, without adding a few hundred miles to the trip.