Planning to tow a 27 footer Duchtmen trailer (7000lb) from Vegas to Great Basin National Park.. with a Chevy Colorado. Is US 93 ok to take or is Interstate 15 through Utah better? Then Great Basin to Park City and onward to Yellowstone Park: I know Interstate 84/80 are nicer highways but going through Wasatch Range and Teton NP.. is that too many ups and downs with no cell phone coverage. I am mainly worried about the grade to climb with loopy turns with a 'big' rig!
Your worry won't be climbing, it will be going down. On the downgrades select a gear that will hold your desired speed. Start off 5 MPH below your target speed; allow speed to build to 5 MPH over target speed; apply brakes firmly to bring speed 5 MPH below target; get off the brakes and let them cool as speed builds again; repeat as needed. You'll be fine!
The roads are fine but there are grades on US 93 and on US 50 going east from the national park to I-15 that will be slow for you. However, the heaviest grade may be going from Baker up to the Lehman Creek campground at the national park. We were there last summer and decided to stay at the private Whispering Pines park in Baker. FHU pull-thus there were $30 for basically a shady gravel parking lot. But we decided we wanted to use AC on a hot June night and you can't do that at the no-hookup (plus $5 extra to use the dump) national park campgrounds. You can't drive in the West without encountering grades, so just try to make the best of it. If you are concerned about grades, one of the steepest you might encounter is going east on I-80 from SLC through the Wasatch Range. My recommendation would be to take US 50 to to US 6 to I-15 after leaving Great Basin NP. If you want the most scenic route from there, get off I-15 at Brigham City and take US 89 from there to Jackson to Grand Teton NP to Yellowstone. You will still have some steep grades through the mountains, but you will be away from the highly populated area and can cruise at a comfortable speed. We towed a 5,000-lb. travel trailer along part of that same route with a 4L 6-cylinder (non-turbo) Nissan Frontier pickup and had few difficulties with the grades.
Hey we travel extensively all over the US and have the logs to show it. Check out www.srfox.net Here you can find what grades you might have to be careful of. For our rig, a 17,000 lb DRV pulled by our trusty 73 Diesel dually, 6% and under is of no concern. More than 6% I just slow it way down. Pulling the Big Horn Mountains at 8% I was down to first gear and 20-25 mph both up and down.
If you do not have a hitch stabilizer, you should consider that. If your trailer becomes unstable going downhill or as a result of a cross wind, you can gently apply the electric trailer brakes (only) to regain control. If you do not have electric trailer brakes or a hitch with a stabilizer, get the saint or deity of your choice for the dashboard and practice your prayers.
FTing with our 42' Cyclone and 1T Dually, we are big and heavy. Two weeks on the road and my DH installed a Banks auxiliary brake system. Months later, when heading east into Jackson WY on the Teton Pass Highway we encountered a 10% downgrade. While the view is astonishing, there were moments I wanted to close my eyes and pray. The Banks handled everything perfectly. Living FT, we wouldn't be without it.
RBruce; What model and year of truck and what model of Banks do you have? I am considering installing that on ours. We did that same pass in the Tetons last year. It is truly a steep pass that should be well respected.
We have 2008 Chev Silverado 3500 6,6 Duramax. Installed Banks Speedbrake with IQ Dashboard PC. Be happy to chat with you about it if you have questions. Good information found here: http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/60A4460A0A0.aspx
I think you will be putting the Chevy Colorado pickup to task pulling that size trailer. You also need to consider passengers in your truck ( how many will travel in the truck ?) More that 2 your in deeper trouble. We just completed 5000 miles of travel thru Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Cody, WY and South Dakota. We were seeing consistent grades between those locations of 7 %to 10 %. I and my wife towed a 7500 lbs. GVWR trailer with my Ford F-150 super cab ,with 6.2 L V8, 3-73 rear axle, HD Suspension, increased cooling, trailer towing package, 6 speed transmission and after 3 weeks of pulling up grades and engine braking and some pedal braking on the down grades, believe me I would not have wanted anything less than my equipped F150. I spoke to several Ford F150 users pulling with the 3.5 eco boost engine and they all said on the 5 and 7 % grades they were on the brakes the entire time. Pulling up grades was not much of a problem. There was very little engine braking with that 3.5 eco boost. ( it simply does not have the cubes to provide efficient engine braking). I assume that Chevy Colorado has the 4.3 L engine? I had that engine in my Chevy S-10 to pull my 2800 lbs. boat and decided it did not have enough power for that application and traded it on a Tahoe with a 5 liter V8. I am being serious when I say, I do not fell you have the vehicle or power to attempt the trip you plan. Gary Reed
