Driving Uphill

[jlroman2]

For those who live in the mountains and constantly have to drive uphill and downhill, do you have any tips for beginners? My buddy is driving his 13 JK through Colorado right now and mentioned that he loses acceleration power when going uphill, and drops to about 3 RPM. Would it be ideal to use the manual speed on the automatic transmission? If so, what speed is ideal. I believe he only has six speeds, but is lifted on 35s and has not regeared. Any input is welcomed!

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[nerubi]

I have a 3.6 and took a 5,000 mile trip to the northern Rockies last year. I let the automatic do it's own shifting and it did downshift to 5th gear going up some mountains at highway speed. It is better than my JK was in the mountains. Do you have the 3.6 or 2.0?
what do you mean it drops to 3 rpm? What gears does he have in it? If not a Rubicon and with 35s it is not going to be an easy rider in the mountains.

 

[OnlyOne]

For those who live in the mountains and constantly have to drive uphill and downhill, do you have any tips for beginners? My buddy is driving his 13 JK through Colorado right now and mentioned that he loses acceleration power when going uphill, and drops to about 3 RPM. Would it be ideal to use the manual speed on the automatic transmission? If so, what speed is ideal. I believe he only has six speeds, but is lifted on 35s and has not regeared. Any input is welcomed!

You’ll be fine with the 8 speed. Although in the mountains the V6 won’t perform anywhere near the turbo 4, it has plenty of power in the upper rpms to get you up and down just fine. The 8 speed Is far superior to the old 6 speed and compliments the V6 very well. When I had my 4 door JLUR V6 on 37s it was light years better than the JK. Drive it normally and expect a 20-25% Power loss in the altitude. You’ll notice the power loss but it won’t struggle too much.

 

[jlroman2]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm sure once we regear, we will be better off as well. My buddy with his JK was the one making the trip and contacted me for advice. But I'm sure ill be making similar trips soon with my JL as well.

 

[jdubya421]

I have a manual and when I drive in the mountains I just leave it in 3rd. He might try manually putting it in 3rd and leaving it there. (I am assuimg JKs had 6 speed autos).

 

[Mikefly562]

In addition to my 2020 JLU Willy's, I have a lifted 2013 JK 2-Door on 35" tires, with 3.73 axle ratio, and have not had any power loss issues, including going up and down though the Cascades. I just put the transmission in D and go. Never had any issues with power loss. Granted, I usually go with the flow of traffic at 65ish, so maybe at higher speeds it would be noticable?

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