99 2dr
Full Access Member
Some of you may know that I recently installed a NV4500 in the Tahoe. I took it through what I consider to be the transmission gauntlet! I have pulled the hill with my old built automatic trans and oversize cooler a couple of times but was only towing the VW on a light trailer, 2200 LBS max, I would always have transmission temps in the 250 F range by the time I got to the top.
We pulled off interstate 5 in Castella California at Castle Crags State Park; from there we headed into the Trinity Divide. The road to the top is 12 miles and the elevation gain is 4000 ft; max safe speed is 10 MPH. Many many extreme grades with hairpin corners at the bottom. The outside temperature in Castella was 100 F.
My trailer is a Custom Carson Fun Runner that weighs just over 5200 lbs loaded with water, propane, ect. Overall the Tahoe did excellent! We made it up the hill in just under an hour and required no stops. The water temp got to a little over 210 one time and cooled back down. I cant say so much for the F350 that was behind me towing a Manx buggy and a Polaris ranger total weight 4700 LBS with trailer. The F350 is a diesel with a fresh built automatic transmission and large cooler; they had to stop for 45 mins to let the trans cool down. I'm still grinning and teasing him about how his 1 ton diesel is a real tough truck
and my half ton Tahoe couldn't pull a stump.
The trip back down the hill had me a little nervous all weekend long. The Trailer has electric brakes; however like I mentioned before many of the steepest downhill stretches have hairpin turns at the bottom. I started off the hill slow in second gear ( first is a granny gear) and let the engine run up to a max of 3500 RPM each time before using the brakes. This combination of braking worked flawlessly and there were no incidents, except for three different stupid women in mini vans who were driving in the middle of the road and shocked to see a car driving down the hill towards them.
The weekend ended up being perfect with rain and hail coming in late that night, then clearing out the next morning. We took the VW and the Polaris Ranger out on some trails until they were no longer passable and hiked from there to alpine lakes. Many of these hard to reach lakes are only visited by a few people each year due to the remote location and lack of roads passable by many jeeps.
I think that the next trip I will haul the VW and canoe inside the trailer; bringing my weight up to about 6500 LBS. NV4500 FTW!
Here are some pics from the weekend. I have a couple of videos of the VW in action that I will post later.
We pulled off interstate 5 in Castella California at Castle Crags State Park; from there we headed into the Trinity Divide. The road to the top is 12 miles and the elevation gain is 4000 ft; max safe speed is 10 MPH. Many many extreme grades with hairpin corners at the bottom. The outside temperature in Castella was 100 F.
My trailer is a Custom Carson Fun Runner that weighs just over 5200 lbs loaded with water, propane, ect. Overall the Tahoe did excellent! We made it up the hill in just under an hour and required no stops. The water temp got to a little over 210 one time and cooled back down. I cant say so much for the F350 that was behind me towing a Manx buggy and a Polaris ranger total weight 4700 LBS with trailer. The F350 is a diesel with a fresh built automatic transmission and large cooler; they had to stop for 45 mins to let the trans cool down. I'm still grinning and teasing him about how his 1 ton diesel is a real tough truck
and my half ton Tahoe couldn't pull a stump. The trip back down the hill had me a little nervous all weekend long. The Trailer has electric brakes; however like I mentioned before many of the steepest downhill stretches have hairpin turns at the bottom. I started off the hill slow in second gear ( first is a granny gear) and let the engine run up to a max of 3500 RPM each time before using the brakes. This combination of braking worked flawlessly and there were no incidents, except for three different stupid women in mini vans who were driving in the middle of the road and shocked to see a car driving down the hill towards them.
The weekend ended up being perfect with rain and hail coming in late that night, then clearing out the next morning. We took the VW and the Polaris Ranger out on some trails until they were no longer passable and hiked from there to alpine lakes. Many of these hard to reach lakes are only visited by a few people each year due to the remote location and lack of roads passable by many jeeps.
I think that the next trip I will haul the VW and canoe inside the trailer; bringing my weight up to about 6500 LBS. NV4500 FTW!
Here are some pics from the weekend. I have a couple of videos of the VW in action that I will post later.
![IMG_1389[1].jpg](/data/attachments/14/14440-90ce5bcf6bff9df9925f597123e61db9.jpg)
![IMG_1391[1].jpg](/data/attachments/14/14441-3dabd956b268d18156cd95291baa9827.jpg)
![IMG_1397[1].jpg](/data/attachments/14/14442-a136a8ea301f4640f650235753d826ca.jpg)
![IMG_1396[1].jpg](/data/attachments/14/14443-6ed915a40a6dbe742e5062c8e2a76430.jpg)
Priceless!
![IMG_1329[1].jpg](/data/attachments/14/14445-7d1fdc17a6f53bff2e44e7ae3b7c1ada.jpg)
![IMG_1337[1].jpg](/data/attachments/14/14446-6259335065e54eba1ba44f64b67ff6d4.jpg)
