Goose 1 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 First time to the fort. Previous post asking for tips and advice. Got lots of great stuff and have made our reservations and park plan. Now for the trip down. We will be heading from the North East most corner of PA. Got some advice on hear that avoiding the 95 route might be wise. Thinking 84 to 81......to 77......26 to 95. Dosent actually seem any further than the 95 route. And way less congestion. Thinking to stop on the way down twice. First leg leave Friday after work. Drive 5 hrs. Stop in shendahowa valley campground. Second day drive 7-8 hrs stop at new green acres. Sunday drive 5 hrs to fort. Pretty set on that barring any suggestions I get. On the return I think id like to do a little more the first and second leg so I have an easy third day. Anyone got anything good on that route. Side note. We collect campground magnets, I hate stopping at the weird ones that don't have a camp store, thus no magnet. Kinda a pet peeve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 When I saw your thread title, I thought you were heading down from the town of North East, PA....which is actually in northwest Pennsylvania, on the shores of Lake Erie. I grew up near there. Could've helped with the route from there....but not where you are coming from. LOL> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PGHFiend 140 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 We come down from Pittsburgh that way and run 79 to 77 and 26 to 95. Real easy drive AFTER you get down the fancy gap mountain in the bottom of VA. It is a 7 mile grade that once you hit the bottom, is a flat 70 mph 10 hour roll to the fort. It would save you from the busiest part of 95 but might be a bit hilly until you get to the bottom of said hill. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PGHFiend 140 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 When I saw your thread title, I thought you were heading down from the town of North East, PA....which is actually in northwest Pennsylvania, on the shores of Lake Erie. I grew up near there. Could've helped with the route from there....but not where you are coming from. LOL>Dave, we boated up in North East a few times, most would be surprised to hear it's wine country up there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bhall 115 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 We come down from Pittsburgh that way and run 79 to 77 and 26 to 95. Real easy drive AFTER you get down the fancy gap mountain in the bottom of VA. It is a 7 mile grade that one you hit the bottom, is a flat 70 mph 10 hour roll to the fort. It would save you from the busiest part of 95 nut might be a bit hilly until you get to the bottom of said hill. Must be nice to be able to do 70. Every trailer I have towed and has had ST tires and I attempt to even go over 65 has had a tire blow out. Yes, even the beloved Maxxis tires on the one trailer at work went kaboom at 70...Thankfully I wasn't driving. Hopefully my next trip down to the Fort will be in a new 5er that can accommodate larger LT tires. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 We also drive 26 to 95. We always stop in St. Augustine for an easy two-hour drive to the fort the next morning. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 When I saw your thread title, I thought you were heading down from the town of North East, PA....which is actually in northwest Pennsylvania, on the shores of Lake Erie. I grew up near there. Could've helped with the route from there....but not where you are coming from. LOL> Dave, we boated up in North East a few times, most would be surprised to hear it's wine country up there. Not me. I grew up on a vineyard....my Dad was a grape grower. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PGHFiend 140 Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Must be nice to be able to do 70. Every trailer I have towed and has had ST tires and I attempt to even go over 65 has had a tire blow out. Yes, even the beloved Maxxis tires on the one trailer at work went kaboom at 70...Thankfully I wasn't driving. Hopefully my next trip down to the Fort will be in a new 5er that can accommodate larger LT tires.I feel comfortable doing 70 with newer maintained tires. I know all of the china tires are grenades at some point, but when I bought my trailer I had to tow it home 500 miles with old, cracked sidewalls on a "hi-run" brand tire. I was so impressed they made it home, I put the same brand on it last year. We towed a few trips last summer and a trip to the fort last week at over 2000 miles with no trouble. I also use an infrared temp gun at each stop and the tires on the truck never got over 110 and the trailer tires 125 degrees. Also, I've read 75 is acceptable if you overinflate by 10 psi and don't go within 15 percent of max load. But that is something I won't do, only because it's out of my trucks power/economy zone.Not me. I grew up on a vineyard....my Dad was a grape grower.Very cool! It's really neat up there and very unexpected. My wife could drink the town dry. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
psunexus 5 Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Goose, I'm in central pa and this is the exact route I take to goto FL. 81>77>26>95. Its technically a longer route than 95 but I prefer this route instead and it avoids the Washington DC delays. We are headed down in Aug and I plan to drive to the Fort in two days. Day 1 we'll drive all day till we get to 95 and find a place to sleep. The next day well finish the drive to the Fort. On the way back home I plan to detour a little bit and drive some of skyline drive and camp overnight somewhere. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Momoffive aka Loretta 34 Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 I do not have a TT nor do we tow anything. That said, when we travel back and forth from the Lehigh Valley to NC, we come down 81 to 220 thru Roanoke VA. 220 to 158 then catch up with 52/I85 South to 77 and 26. Hate Fancy Gap because of the grade and what it does to the breakes. 220 has hills and does have many curves but a much more preferred route for us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TN22.....Brady 22 Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 We reccommend New Greene Acres campground in Walterbors SC. Easy off/on to I95 and very inexpensive. All sites are huge pull throughs and several are full hookup if needed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Goose 1 Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 How bad is fancy gap area? I have a big TT, 10k lbs, but also a big truck 2500 duramax. With the diesel, exhaust brake, and tow haul features I normally don't balk at hilly terrain. It's basically all we have here. Should I be concerned? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TN22.....Brady 22 Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Fancy gap is not that bad. I pulled a 10K enclosed equipment trailer up and down in the fall with a F250 Gasser with no problems. The problem, IMO, is the fog and slow moving vehicles. It seems to always be foggy, and there are several twists and turns that can cause you to round the corner and have to stop quicker than normal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arthuruscg 34 Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Must be nice to be able to do 70. Every trailer I have towed and has had ST tires and I attempt to even go over 65 has had a tire blow out. Yes, even the beloved Maxxis tires on the one trailer at work went kaboom at 70...Thankfully I wasn't driving. Hopefully my next trip down to the Fort will be in a new 5er that can accommodate larger LT tires.Have you taken your trailer to the scales to verify that you are not over the load rating of the tires?Also, take a 8ft level to the side of the tires and verify that your axles are in alignment. Constant scrubbing raises the temp and can cause delamination of the tread. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
parrothead7368 aka Norm 101 Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 You also may want to check the rating of the tire, If it is a C rating and max pressure is 50#, that may be part of the problem. Both my pop up and hybrid have D rated tires and a 65 max pressure that I run at and haven't had a problem. The only time I had tires fail was my fault because of low tire pressure and that was on my open trailer. Best Regards,Norm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
disneylitch......Debbie 60 Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 We travel from northern Harford County Maryland and stop at South of the Border Campground. It's not fancy, but clean and easy to get in and out of. We have a 39ft MH and tow an 8ft enclosed trailer. Also, we go 695 to 95. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bhall 115 Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Have you taken your trailer to the scales to verify that you are not over the load rating of the tires?Also, take a 8ft level to the side of the tires and verify that your axles are in alignment. Constant scrubbing raises the temp and can cause delamination of the tread. You also may want to check the rating of the tire, If it is a C rating and max pressure is 50#, that may be part of the problem. Both my pop up and hybrid have D rated tires and a 65 max pressure that I run at and haven't had a problem. The only time I had tires fail was my fault because of low tire pressure and that was on my open trailer. Best Regards,NormI haven't taken any of the work trailers to the scales but 3 of my blowouts were while empty. All of the trailers are running 205/75/15ST LRC @ 50 psi Cold. I always put to Max cold pressure before going. It makes no sense to upgrade the tire to LRD though because D tires call for 65 psi Cold and all of the wheels are rated for 55 psi Cold. Wouldn't be able to run max cold psi for the tires. I now drive under 65 with the work trailers and listen to everyone complain but we haven't had a blowout since. Today, someone else was driving to a site empty and blew a tire out. He was going 70 with Maxxis and I checked the tire pressure before he left and put it to 50 psi Cold as the tire calls for. As for my campers, I don't recall what the axle ratings were on my old TT and what the exact size tires were but it was a Dutchmen 30L DSL w/16" LRD tires. After blowouts at 70 with the proper Cold PSI I upgraded to Hercules LRE tires and kept it at 65mph. Only kept that camper a year afterwards but no problem. Bought a 2011 Springdale 253 FWRLLS in July and that had a set of early 2009 dated tires on it. Size is 205/75/15ST LRC. The wheels also have 55 Max PSI Cold stamped on the inside. Didn't have a blowout with it but kept speeds under 65mph. Camping World hid the sidewall cracks by applying many coats of a tire glaze on them and I noticed the cracks back in October on our last camping trip as I was cleaning animal pee off of it. I finally purchased 6 new tires and an extra wheel (also has 55 Mas PSI stamped inside of it) in February for the trip to the Fort in March. I wanted 2 spare tires. I can't go up to the next load range 15" tire due to the wheel PSI limit not being high enough for the LRD tires. I've also looked for 15" wheels that could accommodate the LRD tires but we plan on a Camper upgrade soon. It was also almost impossible to find 16" wheels that were 5 lug. The GVW of the Springdale is 8215lbs. The axles are rated at 3500lbs each and the wheels and tires are rated at 1820lbs each. I will make sure I don't have this issue with the next camper we get (not purchased from Camping World either). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Goose 1 Posted April 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Nearly every thread about campers somehow makes it back around to tires Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TN22.....Brady 22 Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Nearly every thread about campers somehow makes it back around to tiresNo wonder. I live near the Bristol Motor Speedway and this week we are inundated with campers from all over. In my daily travels over the last two days alone, I have passed 9 campers with blowouts on the side of the road. Everything from Motorhome, to 5'ers, and TT. Makes me think I should change my tires out annually..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bhall 115 Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Nearly every thread about campers somehow makes it back around to tires No wonder. I live near the Bristol Motor Speedway and this week we are inundated with campers from all over. In my daily travels over the last two days alone, I have passed 9 campers with blowouts on the side of the road. Everything from Motorhome, to 5'ers, and TT. Makes me think I should change my tires out annually.....Sorry. Same thing is happening around here to with Tourist/Camping season kicking in. I saw one today on U.S. 15 with a blowout that caused a lot of damage to the trailer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Momoffive aka Loretta 34 Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 To answer your question about Fancy Gap. Google it. If there is a chance of wet roads the day you plan to travel,consider the alternate down 220. Fancy Gap is a steep grade in good weather, and in bad weather it never fails to cause trouble. I believe it was last year there was the 30 or more car pile up coming down the mountain ( one of many). When the fog gets heavy and the road gets wet, it turns it into an auto slip and slide. I really don't think it would be so bad but people are just not thinking when they drive. It only takes one to get distracted and too many other trucks and cars get involved. Just not as easy to stop when you need to.. The view is spectacular on good days on a side note. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Disneyfrank 4 Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 We have made this trip several times from Scranton , pa area and have found 81, 64, 17 95 a nice route. However last trip there was a lot of construction where 17 joins up with 95 at Fredericksburg, va. We always hit some congestion at 17/95 and at Richmond, after that it is easy sailing. Have done the 81 77 26 95 route and found the other ride easier, but that may just be me, and no it was not the steep grades coming off the mountains onto the coastal flats. Newer trucks will hold a gear and we just coasted down at 55-60 barely touching brakes, just did not like this route. Day one we usually stop a Roanoke rapids, crossroads rv park, then savannah ga (mainly because I like savannah and her food) day three it is a 5 hr ride to park... we travel with kids and dogs and found a 6-7 hr day keeps everyone happy. Have funfrank Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Goose 1 Posted April 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Thanks frank. Good info. I think we are on the same page. Kids and pets also, 6 hrs is pushing the limit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fortpartyof4 108 Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 We have made this trip several times from Scranton , pa area and have found 81, 64, 17 95 a nice route. However last trip there was a lot of construction where 17 joins up with 95 at Fredericksburg, va. We always hit some congestion at 17/95 and at Richmond, after that it is easy sailing. Have done the 81 77 26 95 route and found the other ride easier, but that may just be me, and no it was not the steep grades coming off the mountains onto the coastal flats. Newer trucks will hold a gear and we just coasted down at 55-60 barely touching brakes, just did not like this route. Day one we usually stop a Roanoke rapids, crossroads rv park, then savannah ga (mainly because I like savannah and her food) day three it is a 5 hr ride to park... we travel with kids and dogs and found a 6-7 hr day keeps everyone happy. Have funfrank We are just NE of Philly and take this very route. Pretty out of the way considering 95 is 15 min. from our driveway but not worth the hassle of the large metro areas and their traffic and toll slow downs. Except we don't use 81, we cross over on 30 to Gettysburg and pick up 15 there. The only time we use 95 is if we leave late at night and do a "red eye" for the first leg, but not with our camper. We also liked the CG at Pedro's, super easy access, cheap, clean, secure. Crossroads another good one, and there's a nice Jellystone off of 95 near Emporia, VA. I am totally with you on the 6-7 hours at a time, especially since my husband is the only driver when we're towing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pixiesteno 2 Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 We used to drive from the southern tier of NY and we would go 15S to 81S to 66E (Winchester VA) to 17/39 to Fredericksburg VA to I95 and on down. We actually spent the last year and a half commuting to our home in GA via this route. There is some constructions as you are entering Fredericksburg area about 5 miles out from I95 but it can usually be manageable. If you do use this route the second rest area outside of Jacksonville FL has a section for RV parking and it allows overnight parking. From there you are just a couple of hours from the fort Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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