Okay, who wrote this blog??

[Jaydrvr]

In the never ending debate between LGTs and HDTs, there was a reference some time ago to a blog by someone who experienced an absolute nightmare trying to survive a mountain grade in a pickup truck while pulling a fifth wheel. I remember they spent much of the afternoon part way down letting the brakes cool and then crept on down, finding out later that their brakes were completely destroyed. I'd like to pass this on to a newbie friend, but I haven't been able to find it, even though I've searched back over four years. I'm sure someone smarter than me can point the way.. TIA, Jay

[Al F]

While I have no experience with HDT's, my experience with pickup trucks that are pulling trailers that are not beyond the published capabilities of the pickup truck, is that it is the fault of the driver not knowing how to drive in the mountains, more so than the capabilities of the truck.

Note, in no way do I mean to say that the HDT is not much, much better and safer at pulling the heavy trailers.  Just that the pickup truck, as long as it is not overloaded will pull and stop the load w/o damage to the truck. 

Specifically, going downhill, SLOW DOWN, GEAR DOWN and let the engine do the majority of the braking.  That may mean you are going 25-30mph in 2nd gear, but this way you are not damaging the brakes in the truck.

[DJohns]

All sounds good in theory but when someone pulls in front of you, you don't have the luxury of just going slow and gearing down. That is what gets me about all the truck specs.

[Dollytrolley]

3 hours ago, Dan Johnson said:

All sounds good in theory but when someone pulls in front of you, you don't have the luxury of just going slow and gearing down. That is what gets me about all the truck specs.

Hummmmm .....  Seems my truck specs and ops manuals are missing the "L U X U R Y" option that you mentioned......

The "S P E C S" say......" Gear DOWN and SLOW DOWN before decending the grade........

The "Luxury" option of decending long steep grades at Max speeds is what causes me to watch my mirror (s) a lot when the latest super-pickup towing a fiver down the grade at warp 9 closes in for the pass ......on his way to eternity....

The "$pecs" for stopping a pickup with HOT brakes is well past where the pickup t-boned the sap that pulled out in front of fast decending RV.......

 

Drive on.......(fast decending into eternity......)

 

.

[runaway parents]

Going down a pass knowing your in control in a hdt a t the posted speed limit is a lot of fun. Going down a pass NOT in control and not knowing if your brakes are going to catch on fire. Fun not so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Al F]

9 hours ago, runaway parents said:

Going down a pass knowing your in control in a hdt a t the posted speed limit is a lot of fun. Going down a pass NOT in control and not knowing if your brakes are going to catch on fire. Fun not so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Others may be happy going down a long winding 7% or greater mountain grade, 3-7 miles, long at the posted speed limit of say 50-60mph in the 3/4 mile long straight stretches , then applying the brakes to slow down for a 40 or 35mph or even a 25mph curve.  However I wouldn't even in a HDT. 

But to each their own. 

[Jaydrvr]

Okay guys, all the random unrelated commentary is interesting, but I'm really just looking for an answer to my question. Not trying to reignite the flame war here.

[Dollytrolley]

22 minutes ago, Jaydrvr said:

Okay guys, all the random unrelated commentary is interesting, but I'm really just looking for an answer to my question. Not trying to reignite the flame war here.

Well..........Lot seems to have changed sometime ago when the forum soft-wear was ........UpGr A d E D...........parts of forum history seems to have gone .........poof........

At a fair sized aircraft cobble shop in Washington state we would say...........Hummmmmmm.......I B U..........Improved  Beyond Use........

 

Hot brakes fade away and lots of forum history seems to be.............poof...........non-history.....

 

Drive on.............(history often.......fades............ a   w      a     y................poof......)

[Al F]

1 hour ago, Jaydrvr said:

Okay guys, all the random unrelated commentary is interesting, but I'm really just looking for an answer to my question. Not trying to reignite the flame war here.

I have no info about the blog you are looking for.  However I sincerely hope you will emphasize to your friend the importance of coming down hills using engine braking as much as emphasizing the safety and easy of towing very heavy loads with a HDT.

To me, the information I am quoting below about using engine braking is far more pertinent than attempting to prove that just driving a pickup truck pulling a 5th wheel down a steep mountain road will automatically burn up your pick up truck brakes. 

Per your request, I'll drop out of this conversation now.

https://bigtruckdriverresources.com/handling-truck-heavy-loads-hills-dealing-curves/

Quote

Heavy Loads And Downgrades

This is another important thing to learn. At first, it can be difficult because you will be unfamiliar with all the roads you’ll be traveling on. Pay attention to the roads, especially hilly roads. The reason for this, especially when getting ready to go down a hill, is that, ideally, you want to be in a gear you need to go down a hill before you start your descent so you won’t need to shift while on the hill. You want to reduce the need for using your brakes as much as possible.

Click for larger image

A couple things to take into account are how steep the grade is and how long it is. If you can’t see the bottom, or there is a sign telling you it’s a long grade, being in the right gear is important before you start down. If it’s a short hill that you can see the bottom, the steepness of the hill doesn’t matter as much because you won’t be using the brake that much on the way down.

All trucks have engine brakes so, of course, you’ll want that turned on.

Ideally, you want the gear to be set in a place where the engine brake will slow your truck down while going down the hill and you’ll have to release it to let the speed build back up. This is possible even on the steepest grades with the heaviest loads. I’ve been down all the mountains in the west with loads over 40,000 lbs without ever touching the brakes. Even though it results in other drivers getting annoyed at you because you will probably be the slowest vehicle on the hill, it’s still a good way to do it. I didn’t care what others thought. I just concerned myself with my own vehicle.

Click for larger image

If you can’t get into the ideal gear, or don’t want to do it that way, the best way to go is to let your speed build up to somewhere around 5 MPH over the posted speed, hit the brakes to slow the truck down to about 5 MPH below the posted speed, then let go of the brake until it’s 5 MPH over again and just keep doing that all the way down. Do not attempt to ride the brake all the way. I had a trainee do that and it wasn’t long before we had smoke coming out of the brakes and lost the use of the brakes. There is no scarier feeling than stepping on the brake pedal and nothing happens.

If you feel the brakes starting to get spongy and/or see smoke coming from your brakes, pull over and stop as soon as possible. The next level will be no brakes at all and you don’t want to get to that point. If you do lose your brakes look for a runaway truck ramp. 

 

[NeverEasy]

I could not find any reference to your requested post.  This is a hint on searching with Google. 

enter this command before the search string:            site:http://www.rvnetwork.com find this

If you know exact words that are in a string together, put quotes around the search string. 

Example:     site:http://www.rvnetwork.com "find this" 

[Al F]

2 hours ago, NeverEasy said:

 

deleted reply.

[Jaydrvr]

2 hours ago, NeverEasy said:

I could not find any reference to your requested post.  This is a hint on searching with Google. 

enter this command before the search string:            site:http://www.rvnetwork.com find this

If you know exact words that are in a string together, put quotes around the search string. 

Example:     site:http://www.rvnetwork.com "find this" 

Thanks! I had forgotten that method. I'll give it a try.

[Jaydrvr]

4 hours ago, Al F said:

I have no info about the blog you are looking for.  However I sincerely hope you will emphasize to your friend the importance of coming down hills using engine braking as much as emphasizing the safety and easy of towing very heavy loads with a HDT.

To me, the information I am quoting below about using engine braking is far more pertinent than attempting to prove that just driving a pickup truck pulling a 5th wheel down a steep mountain road will automatically burn up your pick up truck brakes. 

Per your request, I'll drop out of this conversation now.

https://bigtruckdriverresources.com/handling-truck-heavy-loads-hills-dealing-curves/

 

Al F, thank you for your continued safety concerns. Those points are all extremely valuable. I didn't mean to insinuate that they weren't. Let me explain... In the last few million miles, I've been down virtually every major grade between the Atlantic and the Pacific, while grossing up to 80,000 lbs. I've never had a chargeable accident nor have I hurt anyone. I would personally never consider towing a fifth wheel bigger than a toy with anything but my daily driver, which is a 1999 Volvo. My "friend" is my new girlfriend, who is completely new to this camping thing and doesn't understand the forces involved. As we shop for our new part time traveling home (most likely a fifth wheel), I want her to understand why I'm stressing the need for enough truck. I doubt she'll ever drive the tow vehicle, but I need her to understand the life and death importance of using the proper equipment. The blog I remember left an indelible impression on me and I'm sure it would on her, too... If I could just find it.. Thanks again.

[Al F]

20 hours ago, Jaydrvr said:

Al F, thank you for your continued safety concerns. Those points are all extremely valuable. I didn't mean to insinuate that they weren't. Let me explain... In the last few million miles, I've been down virtually every major grade between the Atlantic and the Pacific, while grossing up to 80,000 lbs. I've never had a chargeable accident nor have I hurt anyone. I would personally never consider towing a fifth wheel bigger than a toy with anything but my daily driver, which is a 1999 Volvo. My "friend" is my new girlfriend, who is completely new to this camping thing and doesn't understand the forces involved. As we shop for our new part time traveling home (most likely a fifth wheel), I want her to understand why I'm stressing the need for enough truck. I doubt she'll ever drive the tow vehicle, but I need her to understand the life and death importance of using the proper equipment. The blog I remember left an indelible impression on me and I'm sure it would on her, too... If I could just find it.. Thanks again.

Sorry.  I misunderstood your reason for wanting the blog.

[Jaydrvr]

2 minutes ago, Al F said:

Sorry.  I misunderstood your reason for wanting the blog.

Completely okay. Thanks for contributing.

[noteven]

I recollect the blog was “Peel outta here” but I could be wrong. 

[duraduk]

https://www.facebook.com/Peelouttahere-373916019327430/