Building an 04, need some advice specific to my driving type

GEM Forum
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I have an 04 that I acquired over the weekend that is in need of some TLC. The front end has some sort of bad vibration that I need to figure out, needs brakes and it needs wheels and tires, it has the 10:x ratio transaxle. Where my question comes in is around my driving area, I live on a very steep mountain road that is about 2 miles long. I want to make sure that I am not going to burn anything up and not drain the batteries just climbing one time up the grade. What would you experts recommend for a tire size based on this combination to have the right amount of torque to climb and still be able to do 30mph? I realize I may have to do a R4F motor to achieve this but still want to make sure I am not buying too small or too large of a wheel and tire.

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22 or 22 1/2 inch in diameter Max (stock is 21.5 - 7Hp motor - stock or RFF

Min Field current 70 or more for sure no less than 66 (The lower the number the harder the motor works)

Feather foot when climbing with a big load.

Next step would be 12.44 with RFF motor

Rodney

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HINT: The best tire for climability is probably the stock 165 70 12. Wide tires reduce contact pressure per square inch and want to slip on wet or gravely surfaces. The picture shows the stock tires on MAGEX rims. The contact patch is maintained but they look better because of the wider rims.

I have these on my car.

Before you make any mechanical changes bump the minimum field current (function 7) down to 65 and the speed limit Function 20) to 31 and see if it has enough performance for you with out getting a 41 code (over heat)

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[quote=OLD HOUSEBOATER;27806]22 or 22 1/2 inch in diameter Max (stock is 21.5 - 7Hp motor - stock or RFF

Min Field current 70 or more for sure no less than 66 (The lower the number the harder the motor works)

Feather foot when climbing with a big load.

Next step would be 12.44 with RFF motor

Rodney[/quote]

thanks, you really think a 12.44 is necessary for a E2, I could see it for the E4 or the truck but just moving 2 people? It does sound like the RFF motor is the way to go overall. Should I have the controller programmed in any specific manner other than the FC setting of 70? Oh and I found out last night this is a 05.

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Completely different ball game. O5 has 12.44 box and 5 hp motor, Should climb your hill stock with 2 people. If you want to pep it up, same settings for field and Max speed as above.

You cold swap out the 5 for a 7 and put on bigger diameter tires. and go to 35 MPH The advantage of a RFF over a stock 7HP is higher RPM capability therefor more speed. at a lot of bucks

Get a 6 pack and a big buddy and attack the hill before you spend any money. Tell us how it goes.

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ah interesting ok I will give it a shot, I figured the stock motor would overheat trying to climb the long grade. I will give it a run tonight (granted it is in the 30’s so overheating should not be an issue…

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Do you have the 10 inch or 12 inch wheels?

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I have the 10" but I also have a set of 13" with low profile tires that can be swapped onto it…

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With the 12.44 that would be no problem if they don’t slip while your trying to climb that vertical slope.

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so have made some progress on the rig…

I started to peel off the clear coating which has not been that big of a job until I got into curves and creases around the headlights etc. The heat gun seems to be a mixed bag of results depending on how well the adhesion was to start with. I have been trying to remove the adhesives used for the decorations on the vehicle which has proven to be quite a challenge as it seems they used multiple types as one did not stick they added another.

Instead of trying to patch two bolt holes on the roof I decided to go with a small LED flood which works well in the location without the weight of a full lightbar.

There seems to be something up with the battery charger as I am seeing 15.2v on individual batteries during the bulk charge state so not sure why that is happening and have not gotten the charger pulled out yet to see what type it is and what settings it might have.

I am going to have to do some rewiring of the headlights as the connector gets HOT and looks corroded so probably just replace with weatherpak connectors when I install the new LED headlights and turn signals.

I have a bad vibration in the front end of the car at speed that I need to figure out, I am going to replace the wheels and tires before I get too far into tearing it apart. I do see an old oily residue around the motor so I am wondering if it leaked out the oil and trashed the trans-axle so we shall see.

I still need to figure out the seat bottom cushion, it is trashed. Is it best to just buy a new factory cover or find an upholstery shop and have everything redone, has anyone purchased the replacement cover and if so was it as nice of a fit as the original? Going to add some seat heaters to it while I have the seat apart.

Going to add the stereo console so need to figure that all out, I plan to add my aux switches and map lights etc to that console.