Driving Down Cabbage Hill/I-84
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- čas přidán 24. 10. 2016
- This is what it is like driving down Cabbage Hill on I-84 near Pendleton, Oregon, USA. It is a six mile trip up, or down, this mountain at a 6% grade. It can be treacherous during the wintertime so take it slow and for god sakes don't play games with us truckers.
Just had to watch this video for nostalgic reasons. I especially remember the the end of this mountain pass, where the road straightens out almost to the horizon where I remember thinking if I put my truck in neutral and coasted I could hit a speed of 300+ mph before the steep grade ended. I ran 46 states for 3 years back in the early to mid 80's with a piece of S. Freightliner. No Jake break or engine retarder and always weighed close to 80,000 lbs. It might have been the Three Sister's where I came close to losing my brakes but Cabbage is also in the running. At night going down the pass in a very low gear at 25 mph in a 13 speed, I could not see the smoke coming from my trailer brakes and 2 times in my career I thought I would lose my brakes about halfway down the mountain. I did manage to stop the truck both times, barely, before a total loss of braking power and let them cool down so I could continue my journey.
My brakes were almost useless becoming VERY spongey, meaning, putting pressure on the brake pedal had almost no slowing effect. Unless you've driven a fully loaded semi truck down a mountain pass, like Cabbage, especially at night, without a Jake brake or similar you have no idea. And this video doesn't do justice to the steepness and length of the downgrade. It's much more severe.
I also drove heavy haul later on in my career, 105,000 lbs. which is on an entirely different level than 80,000 lbs. and luckily didn't have to go down any mountain passes. Those fully loaded heavy haulers on mountain passes have titanic sized balls even with the help of a Jake brake. The End Cheers
How did you slow down with no Jake?
You don't. You start off slow, in a low gear, and keep it slow with constant, steady pressure on the brake. If you don't keep the brakes applied constantly, but apply them then coast and apply again, you could bleed off your air pressure. @@harmonymartinez2954
I've driven down this hill loaded many times. Just go slow and use the Jake brake. My most vivid memory of Cabbage is going UP... on black ice, with cable chains on, of course. I had to weave in and out between the trucks that didn't have their chains on. I'm just lucky I didn't get blocked by them and have to stop. Thanks for posting this. It brings back old memories...
No problem. Don’t you just love it when some drivers choose to go barefoot on the roads when they’re required to put their cables on. At least you didn’t get caught up in their stupidity that day.
I just started truck driving and this hill and donnards pass scare this 💩 outta me 😂😂😂 I’m a southern man so seeing this was scary as hell in a 80,000 lbs truck
Do you mean Donner Pass? I-80 around Truckee, descending into California's central valley?
Love the cabbage hill. Been up and down this pig many times. Love it! Such a blast.
This looks so scary. All the trucks would be passing me too. lol
All those trucks are light
Well I have driven it and first time was starting to snow and night and it is steep.. you have to show it respect.. funny my ex husbands time always ran out both ways, and during winter time. So glad I got to drive it.
God I miss this drive, always enjoyed it in my Cascadia, came of the road 2 yrs ago, still cussing 4 wheelers left and right!!
I run outta Spokane WA down to just past twin falls every week. I leave Sunday afternoon and park at my first stop in lagrande . Start Monday morning at 730 and make way down 84 hitting usually 18 stops, deliver mostly to a chain of ranch supply type stores, its amazing the stupid stuff both 4 wheelers and semi drivers will on this stretch. With a name like je Deadman pass ya would think people would behave but no they don't. It's really fun with snow or ice or both and fog so thick ya think your driving through a marshmallow! It can make the super-ist of supertrucker air their seat off the floor. Up on the wheem like a nascar driver waiting for your trailer to pass ya! Be safe All.
I saw this video almost three years ago and I appreciate this video, but it doesn’t do this hill justice. The camera hides how steep it is at the start. The hill is steep. It’s about as bad as the hill after the Eisenhower tunnel in Colorado. I had a uhaul and was towing my car and I was a punk all the way down.
Good job.
Lovely road to drive along in a car, though from everything my father has said about his career in trucking, I can see how Cabbage Pass can be a bit of a pain if you don't know what you're doing.
I ran down this hill at 60 and 65 mph. Black mountain on I 40 in North Carolina is worse then this. Retired now but don't miss the rat race.
I have ran those to the worse in my opinion is the I90 in Idaho.
I live near that pass
Not loaded heavy you didn't.
That is one long hill
Sorry fancy gap in Virginia is way worse then that
Not that steep of a grade at all.. try going thru the mountains in west Virginia
It's not a contest. You gain/lose 2000 feet of elevation in those 6 miles and for inexperienced drivers it can be a surprise. A lot of accidents each winter in that stretch.
My bf drove 2 times in a row from Chicago. Tough guy was scared as hell. Lol. And it was at night. It was the fact that they had “run away truck” ramps that blow his mine.
Well said
When I first drove Cabbage in a Rig I was like ….what’s all the fuss about????if you screw up you got rocks to hit on the right ….a guard rail that might hold you on the left….
I have seen more treacherous stuff in California , Colorado and West VA and PA and upstate New York and Tennessee …where if you screw up your a goner …Cabbage is fearsome for new drivers …yes that is true …
Hitting rocks or a guardrail is not an option for a professional driver. You take precautions, (adjust your brakes, use your Jake and go slow) stay alive, and make delivery.@@xrtransportllc5179
Steep enough to take precautions. Try White Bird. That one is fun.