Deals Gap sure is fun on a motorcycle! I didn't know Monteagle Mountain was the steepest grade of the entire Interstate system? I do know it's very steep and pretty long loaded to the gills with the Pacbrake screaming! and a load (31000lbs) of fresh Maple trees behind you! I made that trip down Monteagle to Atlanta 1 to 3 trips a week for about 6 months last year.

 

Oh yeah. Did it have the noise switch marked "engine brake"? Didn't slow you down at all, but it made more noise!

Let me guess 4rd gear if a 13 spd, 3rd if a 9.

 

You kidding.... going up that thing I ended up all the way up to first, you know, the one that you hold your breath and hope you don't screw it up. I was near the top and it got down to 1200 rpm, I was about to pull off and live with the cost of getting towed up the rest of the way when it started picking up again and crested. Going back down the Riverside end, I was in I guess third on the 9509 and it took a couple of hours to get down with no Jake. A lot of mad people behind AS I said, never again...

 

Don't know about steepest but pulled my 5th wheel up over Hogback in VT this weekend. This truck can pull! Went overon friday afternoon and had no one behind me or pass me, on the way home caught a Fud 250 pulling a fair size boat in the truck lane and went right by him. Cars behind me but I was keeping up with the caars in front of me.

 

This may sound stupid, but what's the difference between % and degrees? I've driven grades that range from 5-7%, but then I see above someone talking about 28 degrees. How do they compare?

 

Ok, I'll take a stab at it. The degrees are pretty straight forward. But % grade has to do with the rate of climb as compared to the forward movement. A 8% grade is alot steeper than a 8 degree angle. It sort of works like roof pitch.

 

8 degrees would be 8 out of 360 degrees, but what I have been told is that 8% is 8% of a full 90 degrees verticle. In other words 8% would be 32 degrees incline.

 

Wow I guess that wasn't such a dumb question. Tricky stuff. I'll stick to saying 'very steep' or quoting the sign

 

I'm glad you cleared that up. Thanks.

 

Not quite, 100% grade would be 45 degrees, or a 1 to 1 pitch.

 

Oh well, 8% is steep....

 

LOL haulin looks like we're on the same page now

 

8% grade on a road sign means 8' of drop (or rise depending on which direction you are going) per 100' of linear distance.