Advice pulling large up/down large hills?

[crocus]

"that have worn out the crank bearings from being lugged at a too low of rpm(old highway rig drivers)accelerating in 4th gear with a load at 1000 rpm"
===================
That is definitely taking "lugging" to the extreme!
As for those who think they need to rev the engone to get max horsepower, don't forget that it is the torque that pulls, not horsepower.
Oh, and Grizz, I love the mountains and am just jealous!

[Oakman]

The chevy 5.7 vortec V8 produces its maximum horsepower at 4600 RPM's.

[daddyntwins]

Originally Posted by ralphieadie

We live in STL and we're wondering what hill to which you're referring?

Heading down to Lesterville on Hwy 21. About 8 miles out of Lesterville, you make a right to stay on Hwy 21, less than a mile later, you begin a long uphill climb on a fairly narrow 2 lane.

[daddyntwins]

Thank you all for your replys. This year I will pay more attention to my RPM's as I drive up and down hills, and less to the "sound" of the engine.

[Bunkfamily]

put a nice muffler on it so it sounds sweet and drowns out the screaming. I once thought I was going to have to stop and complete a hill in 4x4 low, we LOVE off the highway roads and were surprized by some obscene switchbacks at rediculous grades towing a trailer that was at 110% of our trucks capacity. A little patience and 20mph we reached the top, never had to go LOW but 1st gear was the only one we used. Disclosure statement**** we rented a much smaller trailer, it was our first rv experience but by far not my first tow, when we went to pick it up the unit was damaged and we ended up going from a 20 ft roo to a 38 ft TT so I dont condone over loading

[Rod Johnson]

Lots of good info on here.

In addition to the transmission cooler, have the guy at the shop put in a shift kit. The kit itself is only $100 or $150. It'll raise the line pressure, firm up the shifts, increase your holding power.

I'm also towing a 5500lb trailer with a 1/2 ton Silverado, Palomar Mountain is halfway between me and my favorite camping area.

I drop it down to 2nd on the worst of the grades, keep it under 3500 RPM, and use the dips to get over the humps.

Yes, a 4WD diesel is on the 'want' list now.

[TURBS]

id put the hammer down and let er buck imo !
rpms is a gas engines friend .
lug a diesel and wind a gasser . enough said !

[Mountainmanbob]

Originally Posted by daddyntwins

So, how do you attack such a hill?

How do I come down this beast. I worry about the trailer pushing me down the hill and out of control in low gear

when going uphill ( a steep one)
we need to keep our RPM's up
not redline
but half way to red should be fine

coming downhill
usually in the same gear as used for climb
or even a gear lower (usually good)
and yes
with some occasional pumping of the brakes
brakes are made for this type of work

note
better to be a little on the slower side down
than letting that THING get away from you

if one's behind you want by
when safe
we pull over and let them pass

Mountainman

[RalphieAdie]

Originally Posted by daddyntwins

Heading down to Lesterville on Hwy 21. About 8 miles out of Lesterville, you make a right to stay on Hwy 21, less than a mile later, you begin a long uphill climb on a fairly narrow 2 lane.

Thanks for the info...Haven't been to Lesterville in years. On our to do list, so thanks for the warning.

[Sgt. Schultz]

A lot of good info.
looks like the 3k RPM is right on the mark for the OP's truck:
Engine Type V-8, pushrod ohv, sfi* Engine Size 5.7-liter/350 cid
Horsepower 250 @ 4600 Torque (lb/ft) 335 @ 2800
from: Chevrolet Silverado (1996)
.
little more on the truck at :Chevrolet C/K - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.
my suggestion to the op is to make sure your fluids are good - Trans, brake engine coolant & engine oil. as stated previously you should have a good transmission cooler. A good rule of thumb for running hills is to use the same gear down as used going up and around the same speed.Some good info from the interweb:
Rather than brake heavily at the last minute try to spread your braking over a longer distance. An emergency stop from 70 is sometimes enough to cause brake fade and these higher speed speeds a failure of the brakes can be quite lethal. So jab the brakes quite hard at first and kill most of your forward momentum, the speed you are travelling at will help the discs to dissipate the heat and then reapply the brakes more gently bringing the car to a stop. If you have made heavy use of your brakes always assume that fade will manifest itself for the next few minutes and increase your distance from the car behind and keep your speed down a little.
& from Brake fade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Happy camping

[08ramguy]

my two cents, hemi I kept it at 3000rpm, 6.7 cummins....yea trailer isnt there i can pull big hills no problem 1600rpm, thats with a 28ft toy hauler when loaded weighs roughly 11500....