Towing Uphill Question...

[SLightfoot]

Got a question.....



Have any of you been hauling a heavy load up a very steep long grade and have something die, like the transmission or a tire blowout, and force you to stop moving forward?



How did you deal with the trailer on an incline if you have to unhitch or such?



Just curious in case it ever happen to me.



Shawn

 

[Texas Diesel]

incline

I carry wheel chocks for the trailer. Place the wheel chock downhill, let the rig roll back to transfer the load to the chock. Done.

 

[Gunny]

Shawn, had this very thing happen to me less than two months ago. The wife and I were on vacation driving through Rapid City S. D. going up a very steep grade at least 7%, this grade had me slowed down to about 30 mph. When BAM! the transmission went balistic. Dumped all of the fluid, valve body, even the case split in too. All kinds of stuff running down that hill. I was carring a set of chocks, that I used whenever we would park for the night. You know the kind, the go in between the dual wheels on the trailer. If it had not been for those chocks I would have been in a world of hurt. They saved the day. Was able to unhook the fifth wheel trailer long enough for the wrecker guy to get the truck moved. I also had another guy waiting to hook onto the trailer. Bit I got to tell you it was a mess. My advice to you is to put those chocks somewhere, where they are easy to get to. Mine were not easy to get to, they were stored in the storage bin on the trailer. Next time they will be in the bed of the truck were I can get to them. Good Luck, and I hope that you never have to find out what that was like. Gunny

 

[merryman]

A buddy and I were going Elk hunting with a stock trailer with six pack animals in it on a good gravel road with just a few patchs of old snow here and there. We came around a curve into a fairly steep up grade in a shady canyon. All of sudden we realized it was like ice! Although we were in 4 wheel drive, we spun to a standstill. While it was my truck ('93 Dodge), my buddy was driving.

When we came to a stop, he applied the foot brake, but we started sliding backwards and towards the downhill side of the road. I jumped out and managed to get some large rocks behind trailer and truck wheels enough to stop the sliding. We were right in the middle of the road.

We did a record job of getting chains on as there was no room for a rig to get past us and max visibility of about 100 feet.

One jeep came down and when he hit his brakes he became a sled. The guy had presence of mind to just drive past in the uphill bar-ditch.

Right exciting for a while----keep those chocks handy, you never know when you might need them in a hurry.



Vaughn