Wind and driving

[jimrf]

40' gas on a 26k ford chassis. How much wind speed is too much for traveling?

[timetogo]

You will notice wind at any speed. When the wind scares you, find a place to park. Good luck.

[mbridinger]

If I stain my shorts, I pull over.

[Capt Steve]

Our 24' Class C is larger/boxier than most at 11'4" tall and 101" wide. My comfort level is anything under 35 mph. Above that it is just not worth the aggravation. If the wind is nearing 35 you can expect gusts as high as 50 and they usually strike without much warning.

[Smitty77]

Lot of factors involved here. With of course the both the strength of the wind, as well as is the wind steady in one direction.

One key factor for all coaches, is tail overhang. A forty foot Class A gasser on a F53 26K chassis, probably has a substantial tail overhang.

On our Bounder T28 on a 99 F53 18K chassis, we found great reduction in wind impact by adding Airtabs to the rear.

Even with the smaller sail mast of a 28' vs 40', and I had also overkilled the modifications to suspension along with the Airtab's - we'd usually avoid driving at 30-35+ MPH winds.

Our 40' DP with tags, I feel comfortable driving in 40 MPH winds. Due to needing to get to a safe place to stop, we've been in some winds as high as 50 MPH +. In the rain, and shifting rapidly changing wind direction too. We did not like that 30 mins it took to get to a place I felt safe to pull over and sit things out.

And a rule of thumb that I read on another board. When the truckers get off the interstates, probably a wise time to do so as well!

Best to all, be safe, have fun,
Smitty

[Tom N]

Depends on direction of the wind. I always appreciate a tail wind. A head or side wind, not so much.

I've delayed driving a day because of high wind weather warnings.

-Tom, W3TLN

[vsheetz]

My rule of thumb for any weather. If in doubt. Don't drive. Hunker down until better conditions.

[boater1217]

Great idea

[VAParrothead]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

My rule of thumb for any weather. If in doubt. Don't drive. Hunker down until better conditions.

Excellent advice.

[Scatterbrain]

Originally Posted by mbridinger

If I stain my shorts, I pull over.

This^

Some of this will be rig dependent. I have to drive through the San Gorgonio Pass to get anywhere and it can be pretty windy in the summertime. Driving across rt62 usually leaves me looking as if the alignment in my rig were way off, with the steering wheel solidly turned to the side. We were hit with a gust of wind over the winter that just about put the small C cab rig in front of us on it's side. While it wasn't nearly so dramatic for us it was enough to give me pause. The guy in the C cab pulled over for a bit, probably to change his shorts.
As Smitty says, if the freight trucks are getting off the road, you probably should too.

[pop-sicle]

One of the problems is like in my case I was driving along in Texas in wind I was ok with, then boom a gust, at the time I would have said the MH was 90 degree from where it was, whatever degree of misalignment it went to I not sure but it weren't FUN.

Be careful out there and make good decisions, arriving a little later won't hurt.

[KatieVL]

I live in S. Florida and often get tropical force winds each year. Buses stop running at 40 mph, emergency vehicles stop runs at 45 mph sustained.
Driving in a consistent wind is tiring but doable. It is the gusts that can be really dangerous.

[TonyDi]

Headwinds and tailwinds can be okay. But...Crosswinds can really be dicey. I don't like to drive in any winds over 35mph.

[dieselclacker]

Be aware of crosswinds down canyons while traversing mountain passes. You can sometimes find yourself in the next traffic lane without ever having steered the motorhome there. This is especially on the high mountain passes out west.