Strutting up a 7% grade towing 15K

[ACamilli]

Why would I bother to post a lie? I said in my post that I was surprised... my 99 2500 4x4 w/ a 4. 10 rear could never do that. I also said that if I dropped below 70 it settled down to a lower mph..... and again if I hit the hill 70mph or higher it stayed there. I also said my pre-turbo pyro was reading 1350'F and I thought the factory programming would defuel or do something to lower the EGT's. I am sorry you don't beleive me. . I have no motive to lie. I can't explain it... maybe I had the wind to my back. Regarding, "I love the mighty CTD's, but stock ones have there respectable limits"... I thought so too. I guess this is why I made the mistake of posting this... . I was surprised at the factory performance.

 

[MRosinski]

I'm not doubting you, just said the way my 05' was and based on the CTD's i've had/have stock, none of mine could do that. Maybe my dads 07. 5'

 

[Prairie Dog]

I believe you completely Heatherstonehealth. My 03 performs similarly when pulling my TT going up the Grape Vine in Ca. ~ I have to shift into 5th but it will do just about any speed even w/o the TST and I have less power and gearing than you.

 

[SnoKing]

Why would I bother to post a lie? I said in my post that I was surprised... my 99 2500 4x4 w/ a 4. 10 rear could never do that. I also said that if I dropped below 70 it settled down to a lower mph..... and again if I hit the hill 70mph or higher it stayed there. I also said my pre-turbo pyro was reading 1350'F and I thought the factory programming would defuel or do something to lower the EGT's. I am sorry you don't beleive me. . I have no motive to lie. I can't explain it... maybe I had the wind to my back. Regarding, "I love the mighty CTD's, but stock ones have there respectable limits"... I thought so too. I guess this is why I made the mistake of posting this... . I was surprised at the factory performance.

I am only questioning the 7 percent part. That is a serious hill at 7 percent. SNOKING

 

[MA2LA]

I have nodoubt that it did it. my 06 is much stronger than my 99 was. And with my 99 when i had the converter locked and locked out of OD with the 3. 55s and 33" tires i could pull my enclosed 24' trailer loaded with a jeep and alsorts of parts and supplys i could run up 81 through PA above 70, if i droped below 70 i was stuck at about 55 to 60 but if i kept the speed up and let that 24 valve run at 3k it would keep pullin. now what the egts were I have no idea but since it was stock except for an air filter and the mystery switch i figured it would be fine. the one thing that realy sucked was when a car would cut me off when getting a run up the mountin and i'd loose all boost and speed.

 

[SnoKing]

Is this the hill?????

"One mile into Virginia, I-77 begins to climb one of the best-known mountain grades in all of the eastern United States: Fancy Gap. It's not an especially steep grade, averaging 4% to 4. 5%, but at 6½ miles, it is one of the longest grades in the entire Interstate system. The elevation changes from just below 1,300 ft. (396 m) at the bottom to over 2,800 ft. (853 m) at the top, which is the highest point on Interstates in Virginia. The next 25 miles up to Interstate 81 are very hilly, with one long downhill that brings I-77 down to about 2,100 ft. (640 m) perhaps 10 miles south of I-81. The bridge over the New River was just re-decked and widened in the last couple years; the impressive engineering work that went into building it can be observed from U. S. Route 52 down in the valley below. "

SNOKING

 

[JMartynowski]

I know this hill well!
My 06 DRW G56 is stock. I hit that hill at 70 coming home from bike week this year, and I wasnt running no 76 on the way up!
Towing a 40ft Jayco Recon hitting the scales at 16,772.

I will be making a trip down that road next week to the smokies for two weeks. This time with a smarty. Gonna try setting three on the way down and see how the egt's look.

 

[ACamilli]

SNOKING, you are correct... that is the hill. A trucker on the CB told me it was a 7% grade, I had no way of knowing. JMartynowski... ... I pull a 34' fifth wheel at 14,900 lbs plus a 1,000 lbs +/- for a 60 gallon filled aux. fuel tank, firewood & SIGNATURE 18 Hitch. I think you are pulling more weight that I was.

 

[SnoKing]

SNOKING, you are correct... that is the hill. A trucker on the CB told me it was a 7% grade, I had no way of knowing. JMartynowski... ... I pull a 34' fifth wheel at 14,900 lbs plus a 1,000 lbs +/- for a 60 gallon filled aux. fuel tank, firewood & SIGNATURE 18 Hitch. I think you are pulling more weight that I was.

Well living in the NW and having done a 4200 loop in the west last fall, I know that going up a 7 percent grade at 75 is not going to happen at 23K Gross. I am putting down just under 600 ft lbs at the rear wheels, and know how 18-19K goes up hills of 6 and 7 percent.



Enjoy your truck.



SNOKING

 

[MAshley]

Just some experiance from yesterday



Hit bottom of hill, in 5th gear, floored 70 MPH almost 3K RPM

at top of hill truck was going 50 MPH still in 5th, downshifted to 4th higher RPM but still only about 50 MPH

Total load on scales 25,450 LBS

Sign on road said it was a 6% grade.

1345 Feet elevation at the top of the hill.

Sorry no pyro on the truck.



So I agreee something is amis about your #'s eithor the weight of the truck and trailer or the grade % or my truck has issues...

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Well living in the NW and having done a 4200 loop in the west last fall, I know that going up a 7 percent grade at 75 is not going to happen at 23K Gross. I am putting down just under 600 ft lbs at the rear wheels, and know how 18-19K goes up hills of 6 and 7 percent.



Enjoy your truck.



SNOKING

ABSOLUTELY! Some of the best western grades are over the California Sierra on Hwy 50 and 80 - long relatively steep grades that will really test a truck that's well loaded. I know Colorado has some killers of it's own, both with grade percentage and elevation. We have some dandies here in Oregon, but the road is only 2 lane most of the time, with lots of curves - so it's usually 45 MPH in 5th gear for me - plenty of power, just no road... The Siskiyou (sp?) grade at the California/Oregon border on I-5 will work the turbo pretty good too...



HearthstoneHealth did fine with a stock truck - just not quite as fine as he thought...

 

[SnoKing]

Just some experiance from yesterday



Hit bottom of hill, in 5th gear, floored 70 MPH almost 3K RPM

at top of hill truck was going 50 MPH still in 5th, downshifted to 4th higher RPM but still only about 50 MPH

Total load on scales 25,450 LBS

Sign on road said it was a 6% grade.

1345 Feet elevation at the top of the hill.

Sorry no pyro on the truck.



So I agreee something is amis about your #'s eithor the weight of the truck and trailer or the grade % or my truck has issues...

I think he acknowledged that it was a 4 - 4. 5 percent grade. That makes sense. SNOKING

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Gary K7GLD and SNOKING



My truck isn't exactly stock but what if I told you I did what HearthstoneHealth did, on the SAME hill, with the same weight, in an '01...



... at 1100 degrees pre turbo and 65 mph?



Would you beleive me?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Gary K7GLD and SNOKING



My truck isn't exactly stock but what if I told you I did what HearthstoneHealth did, on the SAME hill, with the same weight, in an '01...



... at 1100 degrees pre turbo and 65 mph?



Would you beleive me?

I wouldn't doubt a bit that a mildly modded truck could do that on a 4-4. 5% grade - but a *7% grade* has nearly TWICE the rise in elevation per 100 feet - and THAT was the bottom line issue...

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Yeah, your'e right. The sign says it's a 6% grade.



And I have'nt been mildly modded since '02. Every mod I did was for towing performance.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

And I have'nt been mildly modded since '02. Every mod I did was for towing performance.

YUP - my mods are primarily for towing as well - we're not nearly as heavy as some, about 15K fully loaded - and 7% grades are NOT an issue! :-laf

 

[ACamilli]

SNOKING was correct... from the Internet: One mile into Virginia, I-77 begins to climb one of the best-known mountain grades in all of the eastern United States: Fancy Gap. It's not an especially steep grade, averaging 4% to 4. 5%, but at 6½ miles, it is one of the longest grades in the entire Interstate system. The elevation changes from just below 1,300 ft. (396 m) at the bottom to over 2,800 ft. (853 m) at the top, which is the highest point on Interstates in Virginia.



AND FROM ANOTHER SOARCE: I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Fancy Gap area also. US-52 in the hill-climb area south of Fancy Gap is a fairly winding 3-lane highway with several truck escape ramps.



I-77 makes a six-mile hill-climb of over 1,500 feet, with a grade of not over 4. 5%, commencing one mile north of the North Carolina border, with a third northbound truck-climbing lane. The top of the climb on I-77 is a summit called Fancy Gap, and is over 3,100 feet elevation. The section from NC to the interchange a couple miles north of Fancy Gap was opened in 1977. The northern 6 miles of this section traverses heavily mountainous terrain, and involved over 18 million cubic yards of excavation, making it one of the largest excavation projects in the history of the Interstate system. Southbound on the long grade, there are 3 emergency escape ramps for runaway trucks.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

YUP - but you still did good - and it's ALWAYS satisfying to pass the smokin' Ferds and Genuine Mistakes... :-laf :-laf

 

[HighRanger]

I have run that route several times on my way to texas. That is a serious hill for the east coast. i don't pull half the weight you guys do but running that hill at 70 in my 04. 5 not uncommon to blow past the FERD's... . I love the crappy looks they give when I go rolling past loaded with my jeep and trailer while they are empty and smoking.

 

[ACamilli]

The Duramaxs I passed were not blowing black smoke... but the Fords really were. Don't know why. . maybe just tired engines or bad injectors. . or power settings set up too high?

Whatever I was doing... the pyro was reading 1350... . I got out of it then and dropped to 65 mph and the pyro dropped to 1150.

I did not think the factory would want their stock engines to get that hot. I thought they would defuel or cut boost or something via the trucks computer.