Steep Driveway October 08, 2020, 07:35:30 pm Any thoughts on a Lazy Daze making it up a steep driveway? Attached is a photo of my driveway:
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #2 – October 08, 2020, 08:14:32 pm The question being whether it can make the transition without bottoming out. No way to tell from your pic, but if you measure the grade of the driveway and let us know which floorplan and year you prefer, you can get an educated guess...Steve 1 Likes
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #3 – October 08, 2020, 08:18:06 pm Quote from: parussky - October 08, 2020, 08:11:39 pmHow long is your LD?My wife and I are still looking (since 2015), but the driveway could be a major factor.
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #4 – October 08, 2020, 08:32:41 pm As mentioned, the question isn't the slope (steepness) but how quickly it transitions. I'm not sure if a LD would clear that transition or not, but it looks like you might be able to add some gentleness at the driveway entrance and work something out. Rich
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #5 – October 08, 2020, 08:37:07 pm Quote from: Steve - October 08, 2020, 08:14:32 pmThe question being whether it can make the transition without bottoming out. No way to tell from your pic, but if you measure the grade of the driveway and let us know which floorplan and year you prefer, you can get an educated guess...SteveMy wife and I are going to have the driveway rebuild during a huge remodel project. The LD would be a new build, either a MidBath or TK. (We are on the waiting list for a new build.)
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #6 – October 08, 2020, 08:53:26 pm Would there be such a concept as the "maximum grade of the driveway," to allow a Lazy Daze Motorhome to make it up the driveway?
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #7 – October 08, 2020, 09:22:56 pm Wingersky, it sounds like your concern is the grade, rather than the transition. I suggest you look at both. As to the grade, I think Ford might be able to advise about the maximum grade that a 14500 lb vehicle could climb. If you can't get an answer from Ford, the factory might be able to nudge them a bit to help you.Now, to the transition. Most local civil engineers should be able to have a surveyor measure and plot the profile including the approach, the transition and the grade. They can then create a vehicle template using the wheelbase, the underclearance and the rear overhang. Moving that template over the driveway profile will quickly reveal if you are going to drag a little, enter cleanly, or hang up. If you are dragging or hanging up and want to correct that, I doubt that you would get permission to change the road grade, which in any case would be very expensive. The treatment would be to cut the driveway further into the grade until you will clear. The problem with this is that it will steepen the already steep driveway.Paying an engineer or surveyor a few hundred to address this on paper is a lot less expensive than building the driveway, having problems, and trying to retrofit it.Ken F in NM 1 Likes
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #8 – October 08, 2020, 10:26:05 pm My guess is that your tail will drag. One rather inconvenient way to live with it is to back up as far as you can go and then bring your gear down the hill from the house although I don't know what that distance is. You could use a vehicle as a shuttle. You'll have to determine how practical this idea is.... Frank
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #9 – October 08, 2020, 10:47:47 pm "...and the rear overhang."And therein lies the rub! (Pun intended)I'm not aware of the overhang on any Lazy Daze except the 30'IB and that is eleven feet. For that reason I'd recommend you go with a shorter model. At the transition your front wheels will be elevated and your rear bumper depressed, so to keep from bottoming out you need to reduce the angle on the transition. Is there a practical way to 'fill' that point, say with a built up section, triangular in profile, that will reduce the angle?Or is your only concern having enough horsepower to transit the incline of the driveway? Back in the day Model 'T' Fords were better at climbing grades if they were backed up!
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #10 – October 08, 2020, 10:51:10 pm Obviously the shorter TK would fare better making the transition. Is there any chance you can regrade the driveway into a zigzag pattern (switchbacks)?The new engine/ chassis combo will have more torque so that probably won’t be the issue.
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #11 – October 08, 2020, 11:43:13 pm Quote from: HiLola - October 08, 2020, 10:51:10 pmObviously the shorter TK would fare better making the transition. Is there any chance you can regrade the driveway into a zigzag pattern (switchbacks)?The new engine/ chassis combo will have more torque, so that probably won’t be the issue.Unfortunately, the only "fix" my architect came up with was to drop the new garage down three feet with the remodel. This will lower the grade of the driveway. I just like to triple check everything before the project is started. I believe LDs are lower to the ground than most other motorhomes?
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #12 – October 09, 2020, 02:02:49 am Quote from: Wingersky - October 08, 2020, 11:43:13 pmI believe LDs are lower to the ground than most other motorhomes?I don't think so. The profile is lower because the roofline is lower, providing less interior headroom for tall folks than most other class-C's. The E-450 chassis height determines clearance, and rear projections, such as hitch, towbars, etc...Steve
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #13 – October 09, 2020, 02:19:45 am Quote from: Steve - October 09, 2020, 02:02:49 amI don't think so. The profile is lower because the roofline is lower, providing less interior headroom for tall folks than most other class-C's. The E-450 chassis height determines clearance, and rear projections, such as hitch, towbars, etc...SteveThank you for the clarification.
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #14 – October 09, 2020, 08:08:08 am We have had much success with coming in at an angle. This is with a regular car at our steep transition home drive way. And with trucks and tractor trailers at our rural property. No rv just yet
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #15 – October 09, 2020, 08:15:37 am My moms house is up a very steep one mile long paved road not nearly as steep as that driveway. My LD barely kept moving forward up it and I never took it there again. JMO but I'd say that driveway is too steep and an LD won't climb it. You'll get halfway up and come to a complete stop as the transmission slips or if you do make it you have put incredible stress on the transmission.
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #16 – October 09, 2020, 11:20:14 am If this gets down to being very close on the drag, or scrap, on the back of the rig, keep in mind that a heavy rig (full tanks) will be lower and could make the difference between making it... and not. Frank
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #17 – October 09, 2020, 12:06:18 pm A neighbor has a driveway with a steep entrance that his 35' fifth-wheel cannot back into without laying down a few wooden blocks, designed to bridge the dip at the bottom.Enter or exiting or the diagonal can also help.As for climbing the grade, the new LD has lower gears and more power. Power should not be an issue, we have successfully towed the Jeep up 15% grades before (Shelter Cove Road).This summer, we drove the LD over Ebbetts Pass, with a 24-degree section. Chris has driven the same pass in his 30' LD, pulling a Honda CRV.Has the gradient of the driveway been measured?.Larry
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #18 – October 09, 2020, 12:58:41 pm "My LD barely kept moving forward up it"Out of curiosity, what year and what engine? I ran into a situation like this once at Villanueva State Park in New Mexico. Gertie (1985 twin/king; Chevy 350 carbureted V8) made it up the steep road to the upper campground once... but a year later, with full tanks, she just could not "make the grade." I had to back down and park in the more crowded lower area.
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #19 – October 09, 2020, 01:18:07 pm Looking again at the pic, it appears that the change in grade is not next to the road, but is midway along the driveway. This opens several possibilities. First, a longer vertical curve can be created between the flatter and steeper portions of the driveway. This addresses the question of scraping, but again, to know how much is needed, you need a survey of the driveway profile, and you need the measurements of your vehicle.Second, the driveway profile can be changed, increasing the slope on the lower portion and decreasing it on the upper portion. You should not have to change the elevation of the garage.Here is what we don't know. We don't know the percent grade. The pic makes it look steep, but that is a subjective, not an objective, value. Larry mentions a 15% grade and a 24 degree grade. A 24 degree grade is 44.5%. In roadway design, the interstate system uses a "normal" maximum grade on the order of 12%, and the I-70 grade approaching the Eisenhower tunnel is, I believe, 11%. Mountain roads, non-interstate, can have significantly steeper grades.Based on Larry's post, if your grade is no more than 44%, which means rising 44 feet in 100 horizontal feet (that is VERY steep), you should be able to pull the grade. I reiterate my prior post. You need actual data on the grade change from moderate to steep, the vertical curve length, the actual percent grade, and your vehicle dimensions.Ken F in NM 1 Likes
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #20 – October 09, 2020, 01:52:07 pm We live on an island in the Puget sound, there are times of year when the tides are so low that the bridge from the dock to the ferry sets an angle that makes it to great for our 98 ~ MB to enter or exit, thus we wait for a more favorable tide. The dock which the bridge is attached to does also raise or lower to make this angle less acute. The ferry also is higher or lower biased on the amount of cars (weight) on board. So depending on these factors the bridge angle is almost to much and many of the ferry workers don't care to go and raise or lower to adjust for this. I find the best is to come at the bridge at an angle and this works if you take it slow and have space, so far so good. A few times the school bus which may take a sports team has gotten stuck and has had to back on the ferry and wait till all of the traffic is off. Now those buses wait till all traffic is off and the bridge is readjusted, Live and Learn. . . Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA 1 Likes
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #21 – October 09, 2020, 02:06:32 pm We have a 1/2 mile very steep gravel driveway, 1/2 way up is asphalt and then there is a sharp left turn with the steepest up hill part. Yes, we live on top of hill with 360 degree views. Anyway, we have a Dodge RAM 1500 5.7 liter and we use to haul our 30 ft RV trailer up the hill all the time. The reason we were able to haul it up is because of 4 wheel drive. I have my doubts about bringing a LD up our driveway. We are on the waitlist for an LD and hopefully we would have sold our house before taking possession.
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #22 – October 09, 2020, 03:07:44 pm Hey, I tell people that our LD has Four Wheel Drive! all four wheels are on one axle! Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #23 – October 09, 2020, 04:01:20 pm Oops. Looks like I was way off on the I-70 grade. Checking with Google Earth, and with USGS mapping, it looks like 6%. For some good discussion on maximum road grades, take a look at Wikipedia on grades If anyone has a copy of the AASHTO Green Book, I would be interested in what it says about maximum Interstate grades and maximum special use road grades.Ken F in NM
Re: Steep Driveway Reply #24 – October 09, 2020, 04:11:49 pm Quote from: Andy Baird - October 09, 2020, 12:58:41 pm"My LD barely kept moving forward up it"Out of curiosity, what year and what engine? I ran into a situation like this once at Villanueva State Park in New Mexico. Gertie (1985 twin/king; Chevy 350 carbureted V8) made it up the steep road to the upper campground once... but a year later, with full tanks, she just could not "make the grade." I had to back down and park in the more crowded lower area.24’ 1997 with the 460As Larry said maybe the newer ones with the V-10 are more up to the job
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