Good Sam Mountain Directory information
Hello All.
DW and I are starting out on a 6,000 mile month-long trip from Central PA to Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks. We have a new 2013 Jayco White Hawk 26SRK and tow it with a 2006 F150 5.4L with towing package. I have run all of the numbers and visited the CAT scales. We are good overall but with a small margin on some measures.
In preparation for this trip, we have taken a series of increasingly longer trips from our home. Last weekend was the longest, with a 3 hour drive each way. Everything went smoothly.
I do have a concern towing through steep mountains. In particular, I am concerned about high transmission temperatures. I have a Scan Gauge II installed, and it is reporting the transmission fluid temperature (TFT) via the built-in Ford sensor and communicated by the OBD II port. Towing on an 85 degree day on the flat at 60 MPH gives a reading of about 155-165 degrees. I monitored TFT on a long (7 mile) hill on I80 from Milesburg to Snow Show (in case you know the stretch) and it held at 178 degrees as a maximum. However, last weekend there is a shorter but much steeper hill in the "Seven Mountains" area on US 322 that is about 2 miles long. The truck worked hard at 45 MPH and peaked at 199 degrees at the top of the hill. In all cases, overdrive was off. I have had different answers as to what is a maximum transmission fluid temperature for a 2006 truck. Answers vary from the "anything above 175 degrees will lead to breakdown of the transmission fluid" to "Current truck/transmission/fluid combinations are fine for extended times at 220 degrees". This is also affected by where one measures the transmission fluid temperature. Which brings me to my question.
I used the Good Sam routing feature at their website and inserted the segments we will be driving out west. The Good Sam software identifies "steep grades" on a route. For example, the "Seven Mountains" section that I drove over the weekend is flagged by the Good Sam routing program as a "Mountain Directory Advisory". There are two segments that Good Sam has flagged for our trip out west. The first is traveling from West Yellowstone, MT to Moran, WY, where it gives a "Mountain Directory Advisory #WY4 14 miles in as one turns south on the Grand Loop.
The second is driving from Moran, WY to Colorado Springs, CO. 13 miles in on US 287, I get Mountain Directory Advisory #WY13. Later, 339 miles in while on I80 approaching Laramie, WY, I get Mountain Directory Advisory #WY18.
I cannot order the Good Sam Mountain Directory-West prior to departure and I am concerned that the hills/grades may be too much for us. I would be very grateful for comments from anyone who knows these particular sections of road or who is familiar or has access to the GS Mountain Directory.
Thanks for reading this long post.
Terry
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