Having never been on I 8 I wanted to have someone tell me about the passes there. I have the Mountain Directory that describes the grades etc. Are the passes there as bad as the book says. I read about all these passes going into California and wonder if I should even attempt them. Not too worried about the climb but the decent always worries me...not having a exhaust break I don't know how much breaking I will need to do. Is there a web site that gives more information about traveling these Interstate highways and the passes on them. Any information would be helpful in planning my route.
Terry and Jo said
02:23 PM Apr 14, 2013
Speedy,
If I remember right, your Tiffin is a gasoline engine model, isn't it?
I wonder if you might check on the capabilities of the transmission. The trucks with a "Tow/Haul" in the transmission will work much like an engine brake. Jo and I only drove two Tiffin Phaetons and both of them were diesels, so I don't know how the transmissions on a gasoline model are configured.
Terry
MarkS said
02:36 PM Apr 14, 2013
I8 has a pretty significant climb and descent. You should consider descending at a slow speed and a lower gear to minimize braking. I can't really characterize how much braking will be required because I never touch mine on the way down, even at 80K pounds. The descent isn't as long as Donner or the Grapevine and probably no more brake required than the long descents on I15 but it does wind back and forth more like a mountain road. The good news is that if you decide you don't want to go back that way you can cut north on I5 to I10 for the return trip without going too far out of your way. I wouldn't reroute my trip to avoid it. There are much worse even back east.
Speedhitch said
02:54 PM Apr 14, 2013
Yes I have the gas engine and the tow haul. I have driven diesels also with exhaust breaks but I still had to break some. I guess I should ask if anyone has driven over these passes in a Gas MH. I know back when we did not have diesel pushers all we had was gas and someone has bound to have driven over these passes. How many of you burned your breaks up?
bjoyce said
06:31 PM Apr 14, 2013
We drove our gas motorhome through all 48 lower states and it worked out fine. We had the 8.1 liter Chevy engine. Even though we did not take that motorhome on I-8, we did take it over the Rockies multiple times, down the 16 miles of 6% grade from Cloudcroft NM to Alamogordo NM and other long downgrades. What we were taught by RV Driving School is to go down at a speed you can control within 5mph. Say you start at 50mph and without using the brakes it goes to 55 or 60mph quickly, that is not in control. Press the brakes and go to 45mph and see how fast it goes to 50mph. Still too fast? Then try 40mph. Keep it up until you feel you can keep it within a 5mph range without riding the brakes, which might be 20 to 25mph. For a 6% grade we were in control at 35mph or so, which is what Diane took that grade from Cloudcroft. You brake solidly to go down 5 to 10mph at a time.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 14th of April 2013 06:33:50 PM
Raytronx said
10:41 PM Apr 14, 2013
The San Diego sides grade is fairly long and not too steep, the desert side is a little steep and winding but not that bad. The biggest problem is the winds especially on the desert side, they have windmills there for a reason and it can get gusty, making the climb a little harder. MY old 94 ford is no powerhouse and we made it over find, just a little slowly. :) I have no exhaust brake but my truck does a decent job in lower gear of holding the trailer load. I had no problems with the descents.
Ray
MarkS said
04:52 AM Apr 15, 2013
BJ, that grade from Cloudcroft drops 4000 ft in 16 miles or something like that, correct? We had a GI flip an 80K pound satellite com van on that road back in 1993. Blocked the road for hours. The jake brakes on the ford tractors couldn't hold them back well enough. That road can be white knuckle.
bjoyce said
05:11 AM Apr 15, 2013
MarkS: 4200 feet in 16 miles, with curves. Not a hill for whimps. But the one I really love is going down to Bullhead City AZ from Kingman, it is 12 miles of 6% but there is a stop sign at the bottom.
Speedhitch said
02:51 PM Apr 15, 2013
This information is really helpful. Thanks to everyone for posting. We Gassers appreciate your input. I too went down some grades that were white knuckle. Bob Cat Pass (out of Red River NM) was my first one. We were in our 1996 Infinity gas. No problems on that one but we did not speak one word on the way down! Maybe a gasp every once in a while. That pass has some hairy switch backs on it. I think we went down about 45 miles an hour. That was what the curves said was maximum speed.
bjoyce said
04:27 PM Apr 15, 2013
Speedy: 45 mph was way too fast for that grade, but you know that now. You would have been calmer at 25 mph. Grades are only a few miles long, you can go slow, be much safer and the 10 to 30 minutes longer it takes to go down is not a waste.
MarkS said
05:54 PM Apr 15, 2013
I don't think it can be said often enough: The safe speed signs on roads, especially mountain roads, are for cars! RVs of nearly any size and most especially the larger ones should negotiate these roads at much slower speeds. The Grapevine in California is a prime example; Cars - 70mph, trucks - 35mph. You can drive to the bottom of the hill many times too slow but, you only get one chance too fast.
Lucky Mike said
10:34 PM Apr 15, 2013
something else to keep in mind when decending hard grades if you have air brakes..........do not pull into a rest area at the bottom or zip off to take a break,and pull in and set the parking brakes.....hot brakes can stick and weld themselves to the drums and rotors and also transfer the heat to the tire rim and damage the bead on the tire!!
(First hand info from someone who learned the hard way!!)
Speedhitch said
11:02 PM Apr 15, 2013
I think we are all learning something here. Thanks to you guys who have been there done that. I look for some other gassers to pipe in here and give us some more insight on different passes and how they did with the gas powered MH. It is good to know that you don't have to have a diesel pusher to go to the west coast.
HighwayRanger said
05:12 AM Apr 25, 2013
The grade from Jacumba down to Ocotillo Wells on I-8 between San Diego and Imperial Counties is 13 miles long, and is about a 6% grade. It is not a big problem going eastbound (downhill) but when it is summertime hot, going westbound up the grade when it is 110 degrees can be taxing. We don't see a pile of RVs or big rigs at the bottom of the grade, so it must be pretty safe for most rigs. The grade coming out of Yosemite down to Lee Vining on US-395 got our brakes all hot and bothered though! Beautiful drive but tough on the brakes if you don't have a Jake Brake.
Roy
NWescapee said
05:25 AM Apr 25, 2013
Roy- we crossed Tioga pass last summer going from Yosemite to Lee Vining and then onto Mammoth Lakes with our prior rig (Toyota Tundra and TT), first time we ever saw our brakes smoke, literally. It's a beautiful part of California but it is not easy to drive.
Having never been on I 8 I wanted to have someone tell me about the passes there. I have the Mountain Directory that describes the grades etc. Are the passes there as bad as the book says. I read about all these passes going into California and wonder if I should even attempt them. Not too worried about the climb but the decent always worries me...not having a exhaust break I don't know how much breaking I will need to do. Is there a web site that gives more information about traveling these Interstate highways and the passes on them. Any information would be helpful in planning my route.
Speedy,
If I remember right, your Tiffin is a gasoline engine model, isn't it?
I wonder if you might check on the capabilities of the transmission. The trucks with a "Tow/Haul" in the transmission will work much like an engine brake. Jo and I only drove two Tiffin Phaetons and both of them were diesels, so I don't know how the transmissions on a gasoline model are configured.
Terry
We drove our gas motorhome through all 48 lower states and it worked out fine. We had the 8.1 liter Chevy engine. Even though we did not take that motorhome on I-8, we did take it over the Rockies multiple times, down the 16 miles of 6% grade from Cloudcroft NM to Alamogordo NM and other long downgrades. What we were taught by RV Driving School is to go down at a speed you can control within 5mph. Say you start at 50mph and without using the brakes it goes to 55 or 60mph quickly, that is not in control. Press the brakes and go to 45mph and see how fast it goes to 50mph. Still too fast? Then try 40mph. Keep it up until you feel you can keep it within a 5mph range without riding the brakes, which might be 20 to 25mph. For a 6% grade we were in control at 35mph or so, which is what Diane took that grade from Cloudcroft. You brake solidly to go down 5 to 10mph at a time.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Sunday 14th of April 2013 06:33:50 PM
Ray
(First hand info from someone who learned the hard way!!)
Roy