Toughest Tows In The Nation, Anyone?......

Ditto on the I-5 Grapevine, it's not so bad that it's steep, but that it's usually a hotter ambient temperature.
Loveland Pass is also a hill to watch for.

Anyone else ever go through Flaming Gorge North of Duchesne, Utah?
First time I ever hit a hard climb and rapid switchbacks at the same time was there.
A basically stock Intercooled '91 5 speed Dodge loaded to 22,000 can't seem to handle those too well.

Then there's West Virginia, talk about hard switchbacks on those back 2 lane roads!

The worst moment was back in '05 on I-70 in Utah, black ice, 1-ton loaded over 27,000, 4 cars on a 5% down, guardrail bound with locked up brakes, let out of the brakes at the last second, tires bit and she pulled back away.
The underwear got left beside the road at the bottom. :D

Mark.
 
Rosemont hill in Portsmouth OH is 16%. It's a 2 lane and I've heard of people stalling out about 3/4 way up.

First time I towed over Vail pass it was in a 91 F350 with a bad injector pump. Towing my Jeep on a 24' GN I was topped out at 10mph at the top.
 
I-40 is perty bad. I was following a friend until we hit the big long grade. He keep slowing down. When I hit 35 MPH i said forget it and passed him. Needless to say that 6.0 shot it's wad not long after.
 
I agree with Loveland Pass, also Independance Pass is a bit hairy sometimes.
 
West to big bend ranch

I was out there last yr, The long incline up that hill had 7 different trucks in various stages od duress!
 
Lane said:
Pretty certain there are no grades more than 6% in the lower 48. Not on a maintained road anyway, laws against it, only 12% I have heard of is on the haul road from Fairbanks to Prudhoe bay,(will be on it next month may update lol) But That has already been metioned, Dalton Hwy. Vail in Col. Wolf crk in southern col. Several good pulls between Durango and Ouray Col. A 6% grade can be pulled but when they are long they get you in trouble..... When it is 118* here in the valley in the summer the six mile grade going n I17 out of Black Canyon city can overheat Trucks and it is only 6% for a short distance
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There are afew 7 and 8% grades on secondary roads. The one coming out of Maggie Valley into Cherokee is 8% and inbetween there is one 7% grade I would hate to have a trailer on the truck on the downside.
I think the area just reecks asbestos continually.
 
JFlagg said:
I have to agree, Loveland Pass on 70 in Co is steep... And there are some good hills in Western NC and Eastern TN on 40. Pretty much most of 70 from Denver to the Eisenhower tunnel really. At least its paved now, lol. When my dad first started hunting out in CO he told me 70 was gravel. :O
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I had a buddy in the navy take a short cut through Colorado:lolly:. He called me to let me know this because I grew up in northwest CO. The first thing I said when he told me was there aren't any. He said I was right and that he found out the hard way. I want to say they went up red canyon road and over cottonwood pass. He had to stop every few minutes to cool back down. and of course it is gravel at the top.
 
Cabbage Hill just outside of Pendelton, Or, Snoqualme Pass, Wa, Homestake Pass outside of Butte, Mt, Sherman Pass between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wy are a few of my favorites.
 
dont have anything too crazy steep here most hills are between 5-7% grade but some are pretty long and there are some mountain roads that have alot of tight corners that make things fun especially in the winter when they are iced over
 
i can second cabbage hill every winter there are trucks spun out and in the summer they over heat, ladd canyon between baker and la grand is a good one just because of the corner in the bottem it gets people every year.
 
I think its highway 55 in Idaho that goes to Cascade it has a long steep sucker it seemed like we went 40mph forever pulling our toyhauler.
 
Smokin Monster said:
Cabbage Hill just outside of Pendelton, Or, Snoqualme Pass, Wa, Homestake Pass outside of Butte, Mt, Sherman Pass between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wy are a few of my favorites.
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Yup, I think you covered the ones I was going to mention (as well as the Siskyou passes in Southern Oregon). When I moved from Portland to North Carolina in 1996, I hauled 2 cars and a ton of tools in my 32' trailer, pulled by my 1982 Chevy dually with a 6.2L. All it had was a turned-up injection pump, and Sherman Pass was a whopping 7 mph ride. I was tempted to pull my Mustang out of the back and have the wife drive it in front and pull me up! I've driven my camper or my trailer (or both) all around the country, and those passes on the East coast are nothing compared to the Rockies and Siskyous.

Now for a real fun grade, come to my house. Two years ago I had the Dirtymax crew meet me there before a race, I still hear them complain about bringing the semi up that hill! They also griped about the low tree branches. The grade rises about 900' in about 1.2 miles, and is not an even grade through the climb (some sections more steep than others). Worse yet, there is a stop sign near the top! At the first sign of snow or ice the city closes that road and I have to take the back way home. The grade is an average of 14%, but there are spots that are at least 18-20%. Makes for a fun bicycle ride!

Regards,
Michael Pliska
 
I searched through my phone for some pictures. Just to give guys and idea, here is Loveland Pass(I70) where it meets the tunnel.

i70january.jpg


I7021-17-10.jpg


I70 can get really nasty with snow and ice in the winter.

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there is a couple nice hills on I84 in PA/NY/CT elavation is only 1000-1200' change..usually the grades are less then 2 miles long
 
kas83 said:
Steepest grade on any Interstate Highway is 9%. Any other highway has no limits. Some US routes out west have 13-14% grades, state routes a little higher, and local routes being even steeper.

I17 from Sun Valley to Flagstaff is no joke, nor US60, Salt River Canyon.
I70 west of Denver, I80 between Laramie and Cheyenne or outside Salt Lake are not that fun in a semi, I wouldn't wanna go through there in a pickup pushing gross without an exhaust brake. I don't mind slowing down going up the hill, it's the hauling ass down the other side when I want to go slow that bothers me.

US97 has some nice grades that slows semi's and pickups down. I remember last time I ran it, I passed a few OBS Powerstrokes, an early Duramax, and a couple 1st Gen CTD's going up a few of the passes. Each truck was puffing some smoke, and by no means did I fly by them, but I did pass them. Figured most of the drivers were taking it easy.
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I 17 to flagstaff puts a hurt on my truck.
 
Dragon's Tail over Deal's Gap...No a good ride with a 1993 IDI crew cab F350 dually pulling a 27 foot Coachmen bunk house bumper pull camper...We started out with chrome wheel simulators on the front and finished with black ones...

Climbing over the north side of Jellico Mountain on I-75 south...Especially if you start from the restg area on the bottom with the same truck/trailer combo listed above...I did this same exact climb with my 90 D250 and a 18 foot car trailer with a 2001 F150 extended cab 4x4 short bed on it...

Climb over Fancy Gap on I-77 north out of NC into VA...The worst part of 77 is in WV...I blew the brakes off a 1 ton single wheel chevy U-Haul van I was driving back from Florida...I beat that van mercilessly on that whole trip...
 
the teton pass between victor ID and jackson WY is pretty damn hairy sometimes, for about a mile its an 11% grade
 
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