Backing up a steep driveway in 4WD Low gear?
Hi folks. I'm looking for advice on whether I can, or should, use 4WD low gear to back up my 25 ft. Microlite (7k lbs.) in low gear with my 2017 Chev 1500 5.3L. The standard reverse gear seems kind of...
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I have first hand experience with this. My driveway is 500 feet long, and 250 feet of it is about 27% steep grade.
I used to own a Holiday Rambler 32 foot travel trailer and I needed to back it up this driveway to park it.
On a truck with 2WD you will burn up the transmission.
Before I owned a 4WD truck, I would rent a 4WD Dodge 2500 with the Cummins and an automatic trans. In 4 LOW, it would back it up there just fine.
Then I bought and built up a 1988 Ford F250 standard cab longbed with the 460 gas engine, C6 trans, Borg Warner 1356 transfer case and 4.10 gears. I put a temp gauge on the trans.
The Ford does a great job in 4 LOW, backing it up to the top. The front hubs are manual and have to be locked, or the back tires will spin out on the concrete due to all that weight going uphill.
Also, in the 7 to 8 minutes that it takes to back it up there, the transmission temp climbs about 110 degrees. :E
When I reach the top, I let it idle for 10 minutes to let it cool off. I never shut it off right away. Sometimes I'll take the garden hose and spray the radiator while the engine is running to help it out.
I used to own a Holiday Rambler 32 foot travel trailer and I needed to back it up this driveway to park it.
On a truck with 2WD you will burn up the transmission.
Before I owned a 4WD truck, I would rent a 4WD Dodge 2500 with the Cummins and an automatic trans. In 4 LOW, it would back it up there just fine.
Then I bought and built up a 1988 Ford F250 standard cab longbed with the 460 gas engine, C6 trans, Borg Warner 1356 transfer case and 4.10 gears. I put a temp gauge on the trans.
The Ford does a great job in 4 LOW, backing it up to the top. The front hubs are manual and have to be locked, or the back tires will spin out on the concrete due to all that weight going uphill.
Also, in the 7 to 8 minutes that it takes to back it up there, the transmission temp climbs about 110 degrees. :E
When I reach the top, I let it idle for 10 minutes to let it cool off. I never shut it off right away. Sometimes I'll take the garden hose and spray the radiator while the engine is running to help it out.
