White knuckles in nc/tenn moutains

Lettikka · 05-03-2022, 03:54 PM

I ended up where I should not have been navigating from Pigeon Forge TN to Boone NC today. Roads were tight turns and narrow with no shoulder. Then we came up on a sign that said trucks were not recommended to go any further. Couldn't turn around and it couldn't get worse right? We pressed on, then the sign came that the pavement ended, we pressed on, gravel road on a varying grade from 10% to 30%. Engine and transmission got hot and I had to stop and let everything cool down before we used 4wd to get going again and get up to the top. TT is a little over 10,000lbs. I was in 1st gear and held about 2000 RPM but things still got hot. Any advise on what app to use to keep out of this situation again and is there a procedure I should have employed to keep the truck from getting hot? I am running a 2500 Duramax and have never had this vehicle heat up on me in the past, she is in perfect mechanical condition.

jsb5717 · 05-03-2022, 04:11 PM

You need an RV specific GPS. There are some phone apps that work...RV Life has one. Many of us use the Garmin GPS units. I have the 770. There are newer models that others have. They all use the same lifetime upgrade maps. You can plug in the specifics of your truck and trailer for size and tell it types of roads to avoid. Something like that will help alot to avoid that issue again.

**flybouy** · 05-03-2022, 04:16 PM

A 30% grade? That's a rise of 30 feet for every 100 feet of horizontal run. That's hill climbing folks due in Jeeps and 4x4's. There's nothing that would keep your truck happy pulling that much weight up that grade. I'm amazed it got enough traction to pull it from a stop.

App? Do yourself a favor and buy an RV specific GPS. They are much less expensive than a new transmission.

Lettikka · 05-03-2022, 04:38 PM

It was steep brother. I'm a land surveyor so I have a pretty good eye for grade. Where we stopped to cool down wasn't that steep. It was probably closer to the 10-15% realm. I would not have gotten going without putting it in 4WD. I was going about 20 mph before I hit the steeper portion and was able to keep it going. It was a butt clencher until we were down the other side of the mountain and all systems were functioning at the right temps. I looked up some of the phone apps. I'll definitely be investing in one of those if I can find one that is well recommended. If not, a Garmin unit will be in the rig.

Balvar24 · 05-03-2022, 05:37 PM

Anyone ever just use the good ole' fashioned Rand McNally Road Atlas? It never has led me astray. Always pays to evaluate the route before committing as well.

dmcc625 · 05-03-2022, 06:05 PM

You honestly were probably about 300 yards from my house. Where you near Hampton, TN? It sounds like you went across Dennis Cove Mtn. You definitely need an RV specific gps. That road is definitely not good for even a small rv or camper.

**flybouy** · 05-03-2022, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lettikka

It was steep brother. I'm a land surveyor so I have a pretty good eye for grade. Where we stopped to cool down wasn't that steep. It was probably closer to the 10-15% realm. I would not have gotten going without putting it in 4WD. I was going about 20 mph before I hit the steeper portion and was able to keep it going. It was a butt clencher until we were down the other side of the mountain and all systems were functioning at the right temps. I looked up some of the phone apps. I'll definitely be investing in one of those if I can find one that is well recommended. If not, a Garmin unit will be in the rig.

Sounds like a pucker factor of 10+

were going to Dollywood soon ans staying at "Up the Creek CG" . Our first time at that CG. Then we're going to Whispering Hills CG in Georgetown, KY for a couple of days before heading up to WV to spend a few days at Mountwood in Waverly, WV.

Glad I had my bearings & brakes serviced and a Garmin RV GPS!

rhagfo · 05-03-2022, 07:42 PM

A correctly configured GPS will normally give you a safe route. Fastest route, no gravel roads, should do most except for low bridges.

**flybouy** · 05-03-2022, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagfo

A correctly configured GPS will normally give you a safe route. Fastest route, no gravel roads, should do most except for low bridges.

My Garmin will route around low bridges, high entance/exit railroad crossing and even turning at intersections with extreme angles.

jxnbbl · 05-04-2022, 03:32 AM

I remember crazy (but driveable) roads going the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg KOA last year. Just those narrow switch back roads that are so steep/sharp they pitch the curve like a NASCAR race track.

Anyways even with the Garmin 780 that we have there was only one way in that was possible and we took the 'in town route' leaving on the other side of the ridge. I've found the device very valuable in the past year that we have owned it.

One feature that I found on the Garmin this trip was the ability to 'block out' entire areas. For instance, I do not like going through NYC and the GW bridge as well as don't like going through Washington DC. So I now built in rules by drawing a shaded square on the screen for these two areas. They now will be avoided unless a destination is inside the square.

Worked great.

Jay

gearhead · 05-04-2022, 03:45 AM

[QUOTE=flybouy;498053]Sounds like a pucker factor of 10+

were going to Dollywood soon ans staying at "Up the Creek CG" . Our first time at that CG. Then we're going to Whispering Hills CG in Georgetown, KY for a couple of days before heading up to WV to spend a few days at Mountwood in Waverly, WV.

Glad I had my bearings & brakes serviced and a Garmin RV GPS!

Good choice on "Up the Creek". We never have stayed there but drove through it a couple times.

**flybouy** · 05-04-2022, 04:43 AM

[QUOTE=gearhead;498071]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flybouy

Sounds like a pucker factor of 10+

were going to Dollywood soon ans staying at "Up the Creek CG" . Our first time at that CG. Then we're going to Whispering Hills CG in Georgetown, KY for a couple of days before heading up to WV to spend a few days at Mountwood in Waverly, WV.

Glad I had my bearings & brakes serviced and a Garmin RV GPS!

Good choice on "Up the Creek". We never have stayed there but drove through it a couple times.

Thanks, we were in Piegon Fordge 5 years ago and can't remember the name of the CG we stayed at. I try not to let negative things to stay in what little memory storage I have remaining.

I do remember breaking camp after a rain and had to literally shoo away the ducks so I could stand in ankle deep water to get to the wheel chocks and hook ups.

ljdriscoll · 05-04-2022, 05:22 AM

Look into a Garmin 780. You can set for vehicle only or vehicle and trailer with height and length.

Lettikka · 05-04-2022, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flybouy

Sounds like a pucker factor of 10+

were going to Dollywood soon ans staying at "Up the Creek CG" . Our first time at that CG. Then we're going to Whispering Hills CG in Georgetown, KY for a couple of days before heading up to WV to spend a few days at Mountwood in Waverly, WV.

Glad I had my bearings & brakes serviced and a Garmin RV GPS!

We stayed at "Up The Creek". Place was fantastic. First class place for sure. You will be glad you stayed there as compared to some of the others we saw in the area.

Canonman · 05-04-2022, 07:56 AM

Glad you made it safely and were able to enjoy the rest of your trip.
I can tell you that the Good Sam Trip Planner is not a good tool for roads and directions. They once had us taking Highway 261 in Southern Utah.
Not as crazy as the road you describe, but still needed FWD to keep the tires from spinning in the gravel. Here's a description from a State Tourist Guide:
""Moki" is a local term for the ancient Puebloan people who inhabited the Colorado Plateau hundreds of years ago. "Dugway" is a term used to describe a roadway carved from a hillside. The Moki Dugway Scenic Backway is a stretch of Highway 261 in Utah where the blacktop turns into a dirt road that drastically switches back and forth down the side of a cliff at an 11% grade."

The second photo was taken on a county road in the San Juans. No, we didn't take the Cougar up this one. I just thought it was humorous that they needed a sign at this point. The road for a mile before the sign was a rutted FWD goat track!

Customer1 · 05-04-2022, 05:34 PM

I'm very familiar with the area and would love to know what road you were on.

To answer your question get the GPS Copilot RV app. You can receive it free for a trial period and after that it's $40 a year. I've been using it for 4 - 5 years and it has never failed me.

jxnbbl · 05-05-2022, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

I remember crazy (but driveable) roads going the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg KOA last year. Just those narrow switch back roads that are so steep/sharp they pitch the curve like a NASCAR race track....

To correct my post....

My wife reminded me that this was NOT the place we stayed. The memory was from KOA in Lynchburg, VA (Lynchburg/Blue Ridge KOA). The road was Rt501...on the departure we went through Lynchburg itself. While visiting Natural Bridge.

For TN we stopped over at Buddy Bear Campground in Sevierville, TN

adeakins · 05-08-2022, 07:38 AM

You were very lucky. That said, I can empathize in that I pressed-on with Google GPS a couple of years ago and found myself on a rocky North Carolina logging road. (I live in Western North Carolina.) The difference in my experience from yours is that I didn’t have my RV behind me. That was scary enough and I set out to find a better GPS solution. I bought a Garmin 850 but found that to bring its own set of issues …. Mostly out west. Then I started working with the RV Life Trip Planner. So far, it’s been spot on and constant. You input the height, length, width and weight of your RV along with your preferences for roadways and it will lay out an “RV Safe Route” to your destination(s). I don’t use the Garmin anymore and I’ve been up and down the eastern corridors as well as western and eastern North Carolina and throughout the southern states and the southwest. Again, so far, so good.

drycamper · 05-08-2022, 08:09 AM

Benchmark maps are reliable out west, at least. They don't have bridge heights, though. And, you need to be comfortable reading and orienting maps.

daveinaz · 05-08-2022, 08:11 AM

I’ve been there. Once was going up the back side of of Mt Lemmon (just north of Tucson), in a FWD rental, in the snow, and was only 3/4 of a mile from the summit before having to do a once-in-a-lifetime 3 point turn and go back the way I came. It was okay on the sunny side of the mountain, but the other side was glare ice and packed snow. On the uphill curve, I had to go fast enough to maintain speed, but not so fast that I slid off the edge. Then when I got into the 6-10 of snow, I finally figured out to turn off the traction control so I could keep power to the wheels. Of course, I also passed the usual signage about 4WD recommended from this point, road not maintained, use at your own risk, etc. I still haven’t live that excursion down. But I have to admit that it was indeed probably the scariest event of my life.

But, not to be outdone, I went back a few years later in a 4WD truck and got to the summit via the back way.

Oh, and there’s the time when I was driving a semi and got to a new place at night, and the GPS put me at the back on the business instead of the front, on a narrow residential street, no shoulder with deep ditches, and then see a “Dead-End” sign. It was loads of fun backing that thing up for two blocks under those conditions!

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