So I've been living with the '04 H2 since June. Really liking the way this thing rides (my other car is a Boeing 757 so I'm a sucker for a solid ride!), even more with the coil springs in back. New Nittos and it just cruises on the hour and a half drive between Alamogordo and El Paso.

The issue is the hour drive in and out of the mountains. It's a 5000 foot elevation change each drive, including just local runs to Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, whatever. I hear guys talking about the '08-'09 tranny and its wanton desire to shift shift shift upshift downshift shift shift shift. But the '04 only has the four choices of gears. Combined with the weight of the truck and the lackluster power with the 6.0, there's not much gusto getting up the mountain. F250s and Duramaxxes blast past all the time, not an issue for them. If I stick my foot in and keep it in 2nd at 3k rpm it'll climb no problem, but then my water temp climbs dangerously high.

So I keep thinking I need to either trade for an '08 or '09, see about a tranny swap, bolt on some instant power or whatever else might work. Anyone doing lots of mountain driving in a 6.2 with a ride report? I know ryaleon just did a gear swap for those gentle West Texas mole hills he drives but for steep grades, what kind of shifting would I be looking at? I like the '04 but I'm stuck around 45-50 mph getting up the hill unless I stick it. That's pretty much the speed limit but hey, what's the point if a Congo line forms behind you cos noone can get around you on mountain curves? Sonner or later someone gets pissed and risks killing people to get past you. Seen it over and over again, so I'd like to be able to get up and out of the way.

In short, would a newer truck work, or just slap a turbo on it and go? Will the 6L80 tranny bolt up to the 6.0? Thanks for any ideas y'all got.

 

Gear swaps are going to be the easiest, but you'll lose some MPG.
I realize a lot of people will say that's fine, but it's going to hurt in the long run. You'll be filling up constantly if you're sitting at 7 or 8 mpg on the interstate.

The 6L80 won't bolt up directly. It's either a hair longer or shorter (don't recall right now) than a 4l65. Anything is doable, but for what price?

The 6.2 has 393HP/415 ft-lbs vs the 6.0 w/ 316HP/360 ft-lbs. The power is noticeably different (I've owned both an 03 & 09). The 03' felt like it would struggle up a decent incline where as the 09 can accelerate. The performance is night and day. The 08/09s have a manual option, but I haven't tried it. You can keep it in whatever gear of your choosing.

There's a ton of power upgrades for the 6.0L. It just depends on the amount of money you want to spend. From what I've read, a lot of people are shying away from used H2s with super chargers because they tend to wear out the engine. Also remember that your transmission will have to be rebuilt if you're putting out more power than it can handle (depends on the super charger, obviously).

The only question I can think to ask is how much are you willing to spend?
You sell drop a Duramax w/ an Allison tranny in there & have all the power in the world, plus better full economy. The downside is price.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, price IS an issue. I would trade for an '08 or '09 before spending tons of money on upgrades. I don't have the garage room for one thing, and this is my daily driver. Plenty of rocks and mud/ dirt where I live now, but I'm not looking to go wheeling for fun. At least not before I retire...

There's an '08 in El Paso with 142k on it, burnt orange or copper interior, they're asking 33k for. Still thinking about that one but not happy with the miles. Mine has 144k on it but it's an '04.

I'll put some more thought into it, but might see if I can find someone with a similar engine-tranny setup to see how it drives up the hill.

 

I ended up getting mine off of autotrader. I'm in a different situation as I had a lemon of a truck (Traded my H2 towards it & regretted it) that had to go & couldn't get anyone to warranty it. Long story short, I bought an 09 sight unseen & just assumed I'd have some things to fix on it. It had 106k miles & for the most part is almost perfect, short of a worn out suspension, which I've slowly been upgrading. It's also limited edition Silver Ice w/ every upgrade possible other than a heated steering wheel (those are rare, but I have seen them come up) so I'm ok with the work being done.

Just remember that there's added features like side air bags, anti rollover, far improved interior & a few other things here & there. Only really look for an 09 if you want/need captains chairs in the second row. I wanted them, so that's what I got. There were only 600 or so 09s sold. They are rare. The 08s are in the 1000s

Low mileage 08/09s are going to cost you the same price as a new Yukon Denail (50 to 70 grand). The price continues to climb too almost monthly. Autotrader is showing them at $26k and up.I remember seeing some in the lower $20ks with the same mileage at the beginning of the year when I was searching for a daily driver replacement.

To compare to the H2, just find a 2500 HD or Yukon Denali/Escalade w/ the 6.2L from 2008 to 2012 (I think, the range might be greater). Just make sure the year has simliar HP. The Yukons have 403hp & not 393 because of a design change in the tailpipe configuration. It's not much, but something to consider if you're driving a lighter SUV (by 1000 lb) with 10hp added. It'll scoot, trust me!

 

Im far from an expert in mountain but after driven the Smoky mountain a few times I can said
My 06 handle the hills just fine . Shift up/down isnt a big problem however it feels a little underpowered.
I heard the 08/09 got an issue with the shifting too but cant tell by myself

 

Thanks again for the replies. My cutoff is around 35k on price, and I see the same thing, prices on the increase. Damn you, cheap gas!!

Will have to sell the '04 first, or trade it (BOHICA!) which isn't appealing. Guess I'll keep my eye on CG and the local Autotrader scene, maybe something will come up. There is an interesting one up in Denver, might go take a look.

 

We're flat like you guys, so I don't have the opportunity to test it. By the time I hit the peak of the bridge over the industrial canal in NOLA, it's not hunting for gears, but it's 25 seconds at most.

Our Costco has it for $1.55 today!
I can't believe these prices.

 

Lived in Biloxi from '77 till September, miss that cheap gas. Don't miss the local sports franchise in NOLA. Black & Gold DIRECTLY led to my permanent shunning of all things sports. That was around the time I discovered The Playboy Channel too, though. Hmm...

 

I've had an 04 and have an 08 now. Have done gear and supercharger. Gears are the best bang for your buck. But even so the 6.2 is quite a bit more powerful over the 6.0. Price not being an issue go the 08-09 route put in the right gears and it fixes that nonstop shifting nonsense. In your 6.0 h2 the supercharger is probably the best way to go.

 

The hills here in PHX that you need to climb to get our of the heat are pretty severe. I got the '08 for the 6l80 and the 6.2 for towing. Pretty much anytime we drive our H2 on the freeway it's towing a 4000lb camper up some hills.

We use to have a 7.3 diesel excursion and only having 4 gears was dangerous on the hills. When towing, I was either doing 70mph or 50mph and always felt like we were going to get killed by someone weaving up the hill doing 75mph.

The H2 tows great and having the extra gears makes a huge difference. Sure I have to wind out the engine at 3-4k rpm but that's not really all that much for the 6.2.

Just this past weekend we drove up the mountain without the trailer (very rare). To do 65-70mph up the hills I was still at 3000 rpms. I don't have any temp issues but I'm sure that's because I installed the larger after market tranny cooler and bypassed the radiator.

One thing I will say, the gas mileage sucks no matter what you do. If I pull a trailer I get 8.5mpg round trip. If I don't pull a trailer on the same route I get 12mpg round trip. But no one buys an H2 for mpg, I just wish the tank was like 50 gallons