Road from Durango, CO to Grand Junction, CO

[DesertBen44]

Has anyone ever towed on rout 550 from Durango CO to Montrose, CO?

I have never been on this road, and next weekend am planning on pulling about 8k on a 18 foot carhauler from Durango to Grand Junction. Grand Junction to montrose is fine on RT 50, but Montrose to Durango via 550 is a mystery to me.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with this.

My plan is to head up to durango with the unloaded trailer on this route, and if it looks too crazy, come back by going 191 to Cortez, 491 to Monticello, Utah, then 191 up to I70, which will take me back to Junction. I have driven most of this route twice with a load, and it wasn't cake but not too bad. Will add an hour or two to my time though, which wont be fun.

Just curious if anyone has been around here and has any advice. Im relatively inexperienced towing any load this large, I know Towcat mentioned I need to load it on the trailer correctly, which I will make sure I do as well as possible. Other then that, just looking for tips.

I already know my nonturbo cant maintain speed up grades, which is fine, and the hydroboost along with electric brakes seems to stop this truck loaded EXTREMELY well.

 

[OLDBULL8]

If ya Google Earth and follow 550 out of Montrose, your gonna climb to 10K, looks like a lot of switch backs. Looks like 550 is a main route to Grand Junction. At that elevation, ya might run into snow, just know ahead of time what the weather is gonna be.

 

[gandalf]

I drove that road once, long ago, going south from Grand Junction to Durango. We were camping, so in no rush, which was a good thing. The only section which sticks in my mind is going south from Silverton. I seem to recall hills and lots of curves, with long drops. I was quite happy to take it slow and easy. Even then my wife was not happy. It's a pretty drive, but I'm not sure I'd want to be pulling a trailer, and I certainly wouldn't want to be in a hurry.

 

[rebel_horseman]

I've been on that road several times. Durango to Silverton isn't too bad. Silverton over Red Mountain to Ouray is a SOB in snow. It's pretty steep with a lot of curves. Can it be done? Yes as long as you take your time, say in a low gear and don't get in a hurry and have good brakes on the truck and trailer. But it's very scenic. Check road conditions before you go though...if it's snowing or icy they may be requiring chains over Red Mountain. Ouray north is flatlands.

 

[DesertBen44]

Hey guys, I figured I would update this thread in case anyone was curious;

It snowed on red mountain pass AND lizard head pass the night I left to do the deed, so I ended up taking 141 south all the way to Dove Creek, and main roads from there. Junction to ignacio and back roughly took me 14 hours or so, and was not fun, BUT 141 has pretty much no steep hills to climb on the return trip, so that was nice. Climbing out of durango I was in 1st gear at one point just to keep moving!