Community Forums

Tall Tex · 08-16-2016, 03:46 PM

All these posts are fun to read. I was hoping to invoke more discussion about egos vs HP in my earlier post.

Yesterday we climbed Wolf Creek Pass on Hwy 160 going east from Pagos Springs. The Anthem pulled it just fine. The road is very curvey and I ran flat out in 3rd gear most of the time on a few curves it went down to 2nd because of the tight turns. If I had 1,000 HP I could not have gone faster due to the pucker factor of the curves.

About half way up we saw a gas powered coach with an enclosed trailer that had to take to the run away ramp. It was not pretty, and I'm sure their pucker factor went off the scale of happy camper. We should all thank our stars for being able to have any Entegra coach that is so well made compared to most others on the road. Having a safe trip is very high on my list of RVing.

Gary.Jones · 08-16-2016, 04:32 PM

Larry

Been there and done that going from Creede and South Fork to Pagosa Springs but coming down hill rather than up. With the Jake, it was a piece of cake. There are two runaway ramps on that downslope, one about mid-mountain and one right before the two hairpin switchbacks. I hope that I never need to need one of those ramps, and with our Jakes, that should never happen, but I would bet that the poor inhabitants of that gasser did a lot of praying on the way down.... I can't imagine a wild ride with no brakes.... it is a long way down to that first ramp.

Soon after I started driving semi as a 21 year old college student, I had a pretty significant hill to descend in western PA. 12 speed stick, International cabover, first night on the job. Missed one of the gears downshifting and never could get it into a gear that helped any the rest of the way down the hill. Could smell the smell of drum brakes on the semi really burning as I had to ride the brakes the whole way down... when I got to the bottom and could pull over, I got out shaking, only to realize that my parents were in a car about 2 behind me and dad, also a truck driver during college, knew exactly what was wrong until I got to the bottom (he could smell the problem). From that point on, I gave any hill in a 40,000 - 60,000 vehicle a lot of respect and started the downgrade in an appropriate low gear rather than trying to downshift into a low range for the hill. Our 2 and 3 speed jakes are an amazing invention (my semi driving days were before Jakes were invented)

Gary

CampDaven · 08-16-2016, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tall Tex

All these posts are fun to read. I was hoping to invoke more discussion about egos vs HP in my earlier post.

Yesterday we climbed Wolf Creek Pass on Hwy 160 going east from Pagos Springs. The Anthem pulled it just fine. The road is very curvey and I ran flat out in 3rd gear most of the time on a few curves it went down to 2nd because of the tight turns. If I had 1,000 HP I could not have gone faster due to the pucker factor of the curves.

About half way up we saw a gas powered coach with an enclosed trailer that had to take to the run away ramp. It was not pretty, and I'm sure their pucker factor went off the scale of happy camper. We should all thank our stars for being able to have any Entegra coach that is so well made compared to most others on the road. Having a safe trip is very high on my list of RVing.

The safety and build qualities of several brands are quite on par with EC, some going back a couple of decades or more.
HP or BHP is relative to weight, and my downhill trips with just the engine brake and no service brake use is just as safe as any.
And comparing it to an overloaded gas rig is not relevant, IMHO.
No offense intended to your fine coaches.
Happy trails

Gasman 2 · 08-16-2016, 06:07 PM

significant hill to descend in western PA. 12 speed stick,

Gary sounds like it must have been a Spicer. I guessing you speaking of some time in the 60s that would have been a period when the 12 Spicer was used and a time International had a close relationship Spicer.

Richard

Gary.Jones · 08-16-2016, 09:03 PM

Spicers and Roadrangers, electric over hydraulic, Mack 5 (?) speed, Mack B61, etc. etc. Enjoyed them all.....

Gary

Gasman 2 · 08-17-2016, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Spicers and Roadrangers, electric over hydraulic, Mack 5 (?) speed, Mack B61, etc. etc. Enjoyed them all.....

Gary

And you could up a 7% grade @ 70 MPH in all of them.😃

Cruzer · 08-17-2016, 06:58 AM

When I worked in the truck garage as a diesel mechanic back in the 70s we drove lots of rigs with Spicers with two speed rear axles and Roadranger RT910 10 speeds and the RTO913 13 speed. My favorite was the 10 speed Roadranger. But most of our fleet trucks were 250 HP Cummins N series and we never could get them up to 70 MPH on a flat stretch when loaded let alone on a grade.

Gasman 2 · 08-17-2016, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cruzer

When I worked in the truck garage as a diesel mechanic back in the 70s we drove lots of rigs with Spicers with two speed rear axles and Roadranger RT910 10 speeds and the RTO913 13 speed. My favorite was the 10 speed Roadranger. But most of our fleet trucks were 250 HP Cummins N series and we never could get them up to 70 MPH on a flat stretch when loaded let alone on a grade.

Mark,
That's kind of my point. Folks that have never experience driving a heavy truck find it difficult to understand or have the patience when their coach slows to 45 or 50 on a grade. In the 70s we had 237 hp Mack coal buckets pulling 90 to 100 K lbs loads out the pits. They were a bit slow but never ran out of power.

These 450 Cummins in a coach are hot rods compared to the truck of the 70s and the 600 Cummins are rails.
Richard

Anthem46 · 08-17-2016, 09:15 AM

All I can say to all of that is I don't have the experience I'm driving a truck. But I certainly do enjoy my cornerstone it goes when I mash the accelerator and then slows itself down to a stop when I'm going downhill. The Alaskan Highway is tested it to its fullest. Most of the highways pick up here have been a lot like Wolf Creek Pass. Only did Wolf Creek Pass on my Goldwing motorcycle. And that was quite an experience. I thought to take a picture of the GPS yesterday, I wish that would have done it sooner.

Gordon Dewald · 08-18-2016, 09:41 PM

I just hope you guys sound your horn as you go screaming by us at 80. You will be going by me so fast that I may just step out to see if our tires are still turning!!! LOL

Mr_D · 08-18-2016, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cruzer

Yes, but that's a brochure for the new 2017 X15 performance series for trucks. They've made a few improvements to the ISX15 but even the 2013+ ISX15 has more than just valve timing. It has the pre-burn cycle programmed into the ECM which makes a difference. For the motorhome ISX15 (2013 and up) this is the brochure - https://cumminsengines.com/showcase-...s=100#overview - which still shows the 600HP engine braking capability.

I have the Cummins brochure for our twin cam ISX 650 and it shows 600 hp braking. They use the variable vane turbo to add to the engine brake.
Engine Braking.

Quote:

The ISX braking system (Intebrake) comes standard with
every engine and provides driver comfort and control while
reducing service brake wear. The combination of the Holset
Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VG Turbo), dual overhead
camshafts and integrated electronic control of the engine
fan results in up to 600 braking horsepower