I-80 West bound

[Maxmosbey]

Next summer I want to pull a travel trailer from Iowa to Reno. I was talking to some guy about that, and I wondered how hard it was going to be to get over the mountains. He told me that while there was a gradual climb, I-80 was for the most part fairly flat, and that you don't really climb over the mountains on I-80. Is that true? If it is, how does that work?

 

[Clark1961]

For the most part it's true. There are a couple good climbs in the front range (near Laramie) and then after that it's pretty much easy going. Usually there are climbing lanes so if you're slow just pull over to the right and slog along. I-80 is a much better trip than I-70 with the climb to Eisenhower tunnel followed with the climb over Vail pass.

How does it work? Well from a geologic point of view there's a bit of a break in the mountain building/erosion. The uplift has occurred (of course) but the relief that resulted from erosion is more uniform. There's a huge shear zone to the north of I-80 that may have some influence on the local faulting & preferential erosion but not much work has been published on that possible relationship. Heck, the shear zone was only recognized a few years ago.

If you do the trip in the heat of summer then even going north to I-90 is an option. The trip westbound isn't too bad but trailer brakes would be handy for the ride down off the pass just east of Butte.

 

[CJones]

I had a group of buddies haul their Jeeps out to Moab, UT then up to Idaho Falls then Seattle, WA this summer. One of them had a new Cummins diesel Dodge pulling his Jeep on a trailer - he had no problems at all. Another guy was pulling two Jeeps on a trailer, using his F250 Dually gasser - he sucked wind pretty hard.

Depending on what you're pulling with, it could go easy.

 

[bbchien]

I-80 is a mobius strip.

Seriously, you have to climb from 500 msl to 6800 msl to get over the pass in Wyoming. It's a lot lower than 11,000+ via Colorado.

The Climb in western Nebraska is slow and steady from about 1000 msl to 4800 when it departs I-70; but you will need to climb steadily in southern Wyoming....Rock Springs is about 6800 msl.

An oil cooler is a really good thing here....

 

[tonycondon]

max your truck is a V8 right? I wouldnt expect any problems. transmission oil cooler is a good idea though...Matt michael has pulled gliders along that path with his Taurus.

 

[Teller1900]

This thread title, of course, makes me think of the Interstate 80 song.

 

[Everskyward]

I think the highest ground you'll need to cross is the area east and west of Laramie, WY. Laramie Airport is 7284' and it's in a valley. However, like others have said, the climbs are gradual and while there are mountains around you don't drive over any of them.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I-80 between Iowa and Reno, the highest elevation you'll see is around 7400'. The highest point on I-80 is actually farther west than Reno, Donner Pass in eastern California. Clark is right on - I-80 is WAY easier than I-70.

Trailer brakes are still an absolute must, IMO. But if you've got a right-sized vehicle doing the pulling, you'll have no problems.

 

[Ghery]

Just remember, as well, that crossing Wyoming on I-80 you will have a head wind. It doesn't matter which way you are going. You will have a head wind. Get off at an interchange and go the other way, you will have a head wind. Did I mention that the wind blows along that road?

 

[Ted]

I pulled a mid-50s F-250 (not a lightweight truck) on I-80 from San Francisco to somewhere in Iowa a few years back with my Dodge Cummins turbo diesel. Maintaining 70 mph actually required me to downshift to 5th gear and let the turbo howl pretty loudly (right near that 3,000 RPM redline). I'm not used to having to downshift.

If you're pulling a travel trailer with a gasser it should be fine, but do expect to downshift and likely not be able to maintain your 70 mph. Make sure you have a good transmission and oil cooler and you won't have any issues. If your truck is a 3/4-ton or 1-ton, you're probably good to go as-is, but a trans cooler would still likely be a good idea if you have an automatic.

 

[Anthony]

One of them had a new Cummins diesel Dodge pulling his Jeep on a trailer - he had no problems at all.

TURBO diesel makes a big difference. When Ilived in Colorado, some of the altitudes I drove my Jeep rivaled the altitdudes I'd fly the Tiger. Above 10K my CD player would start skipping.

 

[ScottM]

I dragged a trailer from Albuquerque to Chicago with a 1.6l Nissan Sentra in July. Getting over the mountains was the easy part. Top speed was 35mph, no air conditioning as the engine would over heat. I did wear out a set of rear tires on the trip and needed to get replacements somewhere in Iowa. If I could do that, I am sure you can go the other way. On that trip I learned the Iowa was not as flat as I thought it was.

 

[vontresc]

Heh Scott's story reminded me of this....

Actually that's Kinda how I felt about dragging my glider to Emira and back behind my Mazda 3

 

[ScottM]

Heh Scott's story reminded me of this....

Actually that's Kinda how I felt about dragging my glider to Emira and back behind my Mazda 3

Leaving Albuquerque is a long upwards climb of several thousand feet in just a few miles. I left early to get the benefit of cool weather and to still have time if I needed to call a friend to get me over the hump. I knew if I could get over the first ridge of mountains the rest would be easy. But I was still fearful that this was going to be me:

 

[gismo]

max your truck is a V8 right? I wouldnt expect any problems. transmission oil cooler is a good idea though...Matt michael has pulled gliders along that path with his Taurus.

A transmission cooler is definitely a worthwhile investment if you're going to do this more than once with the same vehicle but if you're willing to climb in a low enough gear that you don't need much more than half throttle (i.e. pretty slow) you should be fine without it, especially if you avoid hot summer days. It's especially important that you don't let the transmission cycle up and down as you're climbing or descending (it's OK to change gears when switching from climb to descent and vice versa, just don't let the tranny "hunt"). You'd probably be well advised to change the transmission fluid after (and perhaps before) the trip in case it did get hot enough to deteriorate.

You also want to make sure your brakes are in good shape before the trip and avoid "riding" them on any descent. Trailer brakes are a must and they should be checked for proper operation before the trip.

 

[tonycondon]

Heh Scott's story reminded me of this....

Actually that's Kinda how I felt about dragging my glider to Emira and back behind my Mazda 3

id bet that the smart car with cobra trailer is more stable than the mazda with big wood monstrosity trailer.

 

[vontresc]

id bet that the smart car with cobra trailer is more stable than the mazda with big wood monstrosity trailer.

I'd imagine your Alero Cherokee II combo wasn't that great either. BTW did you ever get that thing covered????

 

[tonycondon]

trailer work will re-start next week. in earnest. once the trailer gets covered at least parts of the glider get uncovered.

 

[tonycondon]

and the Alero did have a bit of oscillation issues pulling my trailer. worst was naturally in a strong crosswind. my recollection does not match up with Two Guns Kite's story of doom on the trip back from Elmira, though.

 

[vontresc]

I think Adam was greatly exaggerating the trailer dynamics of my towing rig. We only nearly died less than a dozen times

 

[gkainz]

Just remember, as well, that crossing Wyoming on I-80 you will have a head wind. It doesn't matter which way you are going. You will have a head wind. Get off at an interchange and go the other way, you will have a head wind. Did I mention that the wind blows along that road?

How are you so lucky? Every time I travel I-80 with the motorhome, I have a quartering headwind, so I have to fly in a slip/crab ... ball half a bubble out the whole trip!

 

[Maxmosbey]

The truck has a V-6, however the trailer is a 14' light weight with a single axle. I will put a transmission cooler on the truck before I go. The rig should be well within the published towing capacity of my truck, if you trust the math. My brother, who has pulled every kind of trailer imaginable for over twenty years, said that my truck should handle it fine. That said, I didn't want to struggle up steep mountain grades for thousands of miles. It sounds like I-80 is the way to go.

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

The truck has a V-6, however the trailer is a 14' light weight with a single axle. I will put a transmission cooler on the truck before I go. The rig should be well within the published towing capacity of my truck, if you trust the math. My brother, who has pulled every kind of trailer imaginable for over twenty years, said that my truck should handle it fine. That said, I didn't want to struggle up steep mountain grades for thousands of miles. It sounds like I-80 is the way to go.

With something like that, I don't think you'd have any trouble with I-70 if you wanted to take that route (don't know why you would). Here in Colorado, you'd be looking at two climbs, totalling about 70-80 miles where you'd probably be going around 50 mph in the right lane (about 50 miles from Denver to the Continental Divide; and then about 20 miles from Frisco to the top of Vail Pass; both about 11K).

I'll put it like this - I've been stuck behind "that guy" pulling a U-Haul-like trailer with a Honda-Civic-like car in the middle of winter, without snow chains/tires, and "that guy" has made it through.

Depending on how much the trailer weighs (doesn't sound like much), I wouldn't even worry about a transmission cooler. Especially if you want to stop every so often to enjoy the views.

Just...use your gears going downhill. Burnt brakes aren't good for my lungs, and I will say to myself as I drive by, "don't these motherbleepers know to use their bleeping transmissions." And then put the air on recirculate, and forget about it within 5 minutes.

 

[SkyHog]

I would suggest I-40. From Amarillo to Albuquerque, you'll gradually climb to about 6000ft, and then you'll go back down again west of ABQ. Around Grants or so, you will start to climb again, but for the most part, its quite gradual.

Then, from I-40, take I-15, and whatnot. You'll wind up back on I-80, but only for a short time, and you will have a much easier go of it.

The hardest climbs are near Las Vegas, NM and Flagstaff, AZ. Seriously, I-40 is a cakewalk compared to I-70. I have not tried I-80, but it has to be more rough than I-40, since it is up near the high rockies.

 

[jnmeade]

Get the movie, "The Long, Long Trailer" starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and show it to your wife before you go.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I would suggest I-40. From Amarillo to Albuquerque, you'll gradually climb to about 6000ft, and then you'll go back down again west of ABQ. Around Grants or so, you will start to climb again, but for the most part, its quite gradual.

Then, from I-40, take I-15, and whatnot. You'll wind up back on I-80, but only for a short time, and you will have a much easier go of it.

The hardest climbs are near Las Vegas, NM and Flagstaff, AZ. Seriously, I-40 is a cakewalk compared to I-70. I have not tried I-80, but it has to be more rough than I-40, since it is up near the high rockies.

I-70 is the big mother of the east-west interstates through the Rockies, with one climb to 11,158 MSL at the Eisenhower Tunnel and another to 10,600 MSL at Vail Pass. I-80 east of Reno only gets up to 7400' and doesn't really have any single major climb. Plus, it's the most direct route.

 

[Tom-D]

Next summer I want to pull a travel trailer from Iowa to Reno. I was talking to some guy about that, and I wondered how hard it was going to be to get over the mountains. He told me that while there was a gradual climb, I-80 was for the most part fairly flat, and that you don't really climb over the mountains on I-80. Is that true? If it is, how does that work?

I pulled our 20' terry travel trailer from Oak Harbor to upstate NY, with a 5.7L Dakota, never again, I bought a 2002 Dodge cumins 5.9L Diesel. no more problems pulling the 25' Bigfoot in the mountains.

 

[AuntPeggy]

I would suggest I-40. From Amarillo to Albuquerque, you'll gradually climb to about 6000ft, and then you'll go back down again west of ABQ. Around Grants or so, you will start to climb again, but for the most part, its quite gradual.

Then, from I-40, take I-15, and whatnot. You'll wind up back on I-80, but only for a short time, and you will have a much easier go of it.

The hardest climbs are near Las Vegas, NM and Flagstaff, AZ. Seriously, I-40 is a cakewalk compared to I-70. I have not tried I-80, but it has to be more rough than I-40, since it is up near the high rockies.

In the mid-1950s my father pulled a 30 foot trailer behind a pickup truck on US 66 (I-40). Coming down into Albuquerque, he overheated and lost the brakes and then broke the universal joint. Of course, lots of things have changed since those days. The mountains have probably eroded away some.

 

[Maxmosbey]

In the mid-1950s my father pulled a 30 foot trailer behind a pickup truck on US 66 (I-40). Coming down into Albuquerque, he overheated and lost the brakes and then broke the universal joint. Of course, lots of things have changed since those days. The mountains have probably eroded away some.

I don't think that the mountains have eroded, but I think that the highways have improved. My trailer is only a 14', has brakes, and is pretty light. Very light in fact.