Back in March of 2005 I bought this crazy property with a really steep driveway. It's 500 feet long and the the last 250 feet is about 27% slope.
My 32' travel trailer gets backed up the the driveway when I get home from vacation.
I found out quickly that my 2005 E450 Cube van cannot do this. Mainly because it is 2 wheel drive, but it's large size and weight also don't help.
Over the past few years I've been renting a new Dodge 2500 CTD Automatic 4x4 and it does the job fine but with a 15 degree increase in the engine temp guage before the top of the driveway while backing the trailer up there in reverse. The Dodge does a good job, but it costs about $110 after paying for the rental, fuel, taxes, etc.
I decided that I want my own truck to do this, plus I could have it around the property for other chores as well.
So what would be the best truck for this purpose? Well, I am a Ford guy and I decided on a 1988 F250, regular cab, 460 FI, C6 automatic.
1988 is the only year you could get a fuel injected 460 with the C6 trans. (Fuel injection is a must, and the C6 is strong and simple)
Regular cab (Shortest length and lightest weight F250 available. Great for maneuvering tight areas and I don't want extra weight when backing a trailer up my driveway.)
Borg Warner 1356 Transfer case (It is strong)
4.10 Gears (The correct choice)
Manual Locking Front Hubs (It's nice to have a choice of whether I want them locked or not.)
I set out looking for a truck that matched the above description all over the country with the internet...and there was only ONE for sale.
In Laurel, Montana sitting in a field since 1998, not running. The seller told me it had a rod knock and someone removed external components on the front of the engine in a atempt to repair it and never finished, and most of the bolts were lost.
I decided to buy it anyway, so in January of 2006 I rented a Big Tex 18' car hauler and drove up to Montana with my E450 PSD and picked it up and brought it home. I also bought a 1990 F250 "donor" truck that also had a 460 but it was 2WD. I flew down to Las Vegas, NV and drove it home. It was a beat up work truck, but had countless usable parts.
I hired a tow truck to come to my house and move the non-running F250 to the top of my driveway. He showed up in a Duramax/Allison flat bed tow truck that moved the F250 to the top with no probs.
Interestingly, I began work on the truck on Thanksgiving day 2006 and on the 4th of July 2007 was the day it first ran and I drove it!
I built the engine (used the core from the 1990 truck), I also built the trans with Red Eagle frictions and Kolene steels, heavy duty torque converter, overhauled the whole fuel system, brakes, among many other items. The cost was roughly about $6,000 total.
The first time I tried this I was a bit nervous, worried about what if I did all that work and the truck would not do it. So the first time I hooked the F250 to my TT was to bring it down the driveway to go on vacation and I simply could not resist putting it in 4-LOW to see if it would go back up. Someone suggested to me to try it with the hubs unlocked in 4-LOW.
Guess what? Won't happen! The driveway is too steep AND the trailer is too heavy. On the steepest part of the driveway the rear tires would get no traction in reverse. So, I'm thinking OK, get out and Lock the Hubs...nope, not on the steepest part of the driveway. After putting the truck in park and let go of the brake pedal the TT pushed the truck DOWN the driveway! It will NOT hold it there with just the rear wheels alone. So I then had to go further down the driveway where it's not so steep and then get out to Lock the Front Hubs. The first test run was successful!
Then when I got back from vacation, I put it in 4-LOW, locked the front hubs, and um...I even turned the A/C on too!
Down on the street I aimed the TT for the LONG STEEP driveway and away I went, all 500 feet of it, slow and steady throttle all the way to the top. I only had to stop a few times to make a correction in my path, keeping the TT on the pavement.
When I started the trans was not fully warmed up, it was at 120 degrees and when I got to the top it read 210 degrees. So it went up 90 degrees in the 6 minutes or so it took to back it up there, but went back down to 200 degrees after letting it idle at the top of the driveway. The engine temp gauge normally sits just below the halfway mark and it was just above the halfway mark when I got to the top. (About the same thing the temp guage in the Dodge did.)
SUCCESS!!!
The driveway looking up from the road
Looking up the driveway from the halfway point
My 1995 Holiday Rambler 32' TT
Looking down from the top of the driveway
The 1988 F250 Reverse Pusher
The trans temp guage in the F250
The Fuel Injected 460 I built
The C6 trans I also built
* This post was
edited 09/08/07 11:52pm by vacuumbed *
Nice job. Did you ever think of mounting a hitch on the front of the truck? Low gear, 4 wd lo, trans temps would be lower in forward gear and would be easier to maneuver and see going up that hill.
Rich
Rich, Fern, Bethany, Justin. 2005 Ford F450,Lariat, 6.0 PSD,CC,DWR,4WD, Air Hitch, 100 Gallon Aux fuel tank.
2009 Cardinal 3802BH 5 slide, on order!
Our "Condo in the Woods"
Leave no roller coaster unridden!
Putting a hitch on the front of the truck would probably help.
However, pushing from the front or rear you're going to have the same results you've already mentioned. Specifically, that the truck won't do it because there's not enough weight on the rear axle.
About 500 lbs of pea gravel in sacks as far to the rear of the bed would be my advise.
I would also be concerned with locking the front hubs and going up that concrete driveway, frontwards OR backwards. I don't believe the concrete will allow the front tires to slip enough to avoid possible damage to the front axle/differential.
I had to do the same sack-o-rocks thing when I first bought my TV. With no weight in the bed, it rode like a bucking horse. Now that I have a shell, aux. fuel tank, and a generator in the bed, no problems at all.
Besides, 500 lbs. of pea gravel in 50 lb. sacks is WAY cheaper than ANY part that gets snapped due to the front hubs being locked on dry pavement.
And, if you ever find something or some way that works better for you, you can always use the pea gravel in the flower beds around the house.
BTW, great job on the rebuild! It sure does look good! I see you've also put new shocks on. I was wondering what kind of miles are on that truck. I can't really tell for sure from the picture of the dash.
* This post was
edited 09/09/07 06:35am by TankerDude *
2004 Ford F350 PSD 6L 4x4 Crew Cab.
2007 Jayco Eagle 322 FKS.
Camping with DW Terry,
Bobi-Sue and Billy-Joe,
Westhighland White Terriers
RPFAN wrote: Nice job. Did you ever think of mounting a hitch on the front of the truck? Low gear, 4 wd lo, trans temps would be lower in forward gear and would be easier to maneuver and see going up that hill.
Rich
This was my first thought too.
Super job on the old truck. Glad it worked out the way you wanted.
BTW, pretty fancy tires and wheels for never leaving your property.
05 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT SC DRW 4X4 CTD G56 373's CAI,Edge Juice/Attitude,Jake,Rancho9000x,Torklift tie downs,Superhitch,Stable Loads
04 S&S Avalanche 9' with slide 26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969.
BTW, great job on the rebuild! It sure does look good! I see you've also put new shocks on. I was wondering what kind of miles are on that truck. I can't really tell for sure from the picture of the dash.
I agree, nice job!
From the photo, the mileage looks like 51022.6, or 151022.6.
========================
Kevin & Darla
+ 4 kids (3 at home)
1990 Fleetwood Flair 29E/454 & TH400
2000 Mazda Protege
2002 Ford Explorer
Master Tow 80T Dolly w/Electric brakes
RPFAN wrote: Nice job. Did you ever think of mounting a hitch on the front of the truck? Low gear, 4 wd lo, trans temps would be lower in forward gear and would be easier to maneuver and see going up that hill.
Rich
I tried that with my van and it did not work. It got about 200 feet back, spun the rear tires and the engine temp guage was getting hot, and thats with 300 feet to go.
I'm not sure why, but I really had a hard time keeping the TT on the pavement while pushing it from the front. I kept having to make corrections. For some reason, I am much more comfortable backing in.
~DJ~ wrote:
BTW, pretty fancy tires and wheels for never leaving your property.
Thanks! When I got the truck it had really ugly white wheels and bald tires. I tried to find some nice used ones but no luck. I bought those wheels from Summit Racing for a total of $271. They are Cragars and are called Soft 8. I'll use the truck a little around town as well.
dodge guy wrote: AAAA! I`ve got a Ranger that can do that!
CPO wrote:
TankerDude wrote:
BTW, great job on the rebuild! It sure does look good! I see you've also put new shocks on. I was wondering what kind of miles are on that truck. I can't really tell for sure from the picture of the dash.
I agree, nice job!
From the photo, the mileage looks like 51022.6, or 151022.6.
I am certain the truck has over 100K, and it could be possible it is over 200K. I even have a carfax on it and there is not enough info on it to tell.
On the condition of the body and interior I lucked out. Because the truck is a 1988, and it has been parked since 1998, it only has 10 years of use on a 19 year old truck. The body is very straight with no rust. Maybe someday I'll have it painted.
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and I decided on a 1988 F250, regular cab, 460 FI, C6 automatic. 
