GUTLESS up hills only (1 Viewer)

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joecat66

better out than in
Joined
Mar 31, 2015
Threads
34
Messages
127
Location
Hope Valley Rhode Island
My truck just seems down on power specifically when going up an incline. I just did a tune-up new plugs, wires, cap and rotor. The truck runs much better and seems to have a gained 20% more power on downhills and flat planes. She is still falling on her face climbing a hill...there is no bucking or sputtering..pulling out the choke has no positive effect...just a gradual draw down of oomph. I have a new rad (running cool) and good oil pressure. I just took it on a winding back road using 3rd gear w/the tach around 2500 and i could feel a kick in the bumper as long as i was on a flat stretch or a slight decline. Climbing it fells like it is the equivalent on an automatic stuck in overdrive that won't kick down or having a motorhome w/a 4bbl w/no secondaries.

Any suggestions or is the motor w/259,xxx and all it's smog stuff just tired or carbon clogged

regards
joe
 
Last edited:
Your "performance" going up hills pretty much describes mine and a lot of others experience.
 
Welcome to the club.
 
Add bumpers, winch, sliders, roof rack and 33" tires if you want to go a lot faster...downhill. Seriously though, you could re-gear your truck to 4.11's to make up for bigger tires and get a little more pep back into the old cruiser. Factory 60 gearset is 3.70:1. Additionallly, check to make sure your carb secondary is operational. A lot of folks run around with their secondaries not working and never even know it. Search for the "paper clip" trick to determine if yours is working or not and go from there.
 
Add bumpers, winch, sliders, roof rack and 33" tires if you want to go a lot faster...downhill. Seriously though, you could re-gear your truck to 4.11's to make up for bigger tires and get a little more pep back into the old cruiser. Factory 60 gearset is 3.70:1. Additionallly, check to make sure your carb secondary is operational. A lot of folks run around with their secondaries not working and never even know it. Search for the "paper clip" trick to determine if yours is working or not and go from there.

does this trick apply to my 87? i am intrigued because this is what it feels like
 
^^ what he said. (roadster6)

Best case for me: Run third gear up to 3000 rpm on hills ~45 mph? My experience is at 6-8,000 feet on 10% uphill grade... hauls ass downhill.
 
Add bumpers, winch, sliders, roof rack and 33" tires if you want to go a lot faster...downhill. Seriously though, you could re-gear your truck to 4.11's to make up for bigger tires and get a little more pep back into the old cruiser. Factory 60 gearset is 3.70:1. Additionallly, check to make sure your carb secondary is operational. A lot of folks run around with their secondaries not working and never even know it. Search for the "paper clip" trick to determine if yours is working or not and go from there.
i found the info on it
thanks for the suggestion
joe
 
Yup pretty much the same here. Check compression on your engine just to make sure everything is healthy, but really... Welcome to the slow lane while climbing!
 
wholly it appears these carbs on ebay are around the same price as the one in my lawn tractor...
anyone have any luck w/one mine appears original and not worth the time and effort to rebuild if
a new one is so cheap
any thoughts
 
Do you have to meet smog/emissions requirements where you are?
Racer65 is a vendor here on Mud, also do some research on carb rebuilding, there are some gurus around here....
 
If you can desmog I highly recommend the City Racer. I have one and it’s been the best upgrade thus far.
 
I could de-smog as i'm emissions exempt for inspection...maybe i'll try to fiddle w/the vacuum actuator and check the diaphram and the o-ring, if can find them for sale. Just really curious to see this thing run w/the other 1/2 of the carb!
 
i just flunked the test...my paper clip did not move, which is funny because that is exactly what I described in my
post. Here is the embarrassing part I assumed this thing was a one barrel the whole time!!
I want to make a suggestion, to improve your truck before you spend giant amounts of money. I had the same issue when I owned my gasser. Forget about the eBay carbs, those are Chinese knockoffs. you are better off finding a used carb and rebuilding it. Regardless, this is what i did to my truck back then with excellent results. Truck was flying uphill no issues. Replace all of your vacuum lines one by one. Then run seafoam through your carb. Pull the fuel line from the fuel pump with the truck running (the incoming line, feed line, whatever you want to call it) and stick it in a bottle of seafoam so it sucks it and sends it to the carb, rev the engine so it does not die. My secondary started working after I replaced the vacuum lines. Then I seafoamed the carb to make sure it was clean inside. Guess what, that thing was flying uphill, you could feel the secondaries open at full trottle and you could feel the truck pulling.
Anyway, I have some threads on here, I will try finding them so that you can read through. Good luck...
 
Yeah I have to agree w/ the above. I won’t say my truck flies uphill but it’s not gutless. City Racer, etc and it actually goes 45 and climbs in speed. I live on the top of a huge hill, one of two next to each other called the twin hills. And definitely don’t buy a cheap carb off eBay.
 

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