Gonna have a lottery (1 Viewer)

[cruiserpilot]

So on Thursday I'm driving to Ft Nelson to pick up a Jetboat. I have a friend as second driver, heavy duty mechanic so we can solve any issues that
arise. All kinds of scenarios but in the end decided I'm taking the Tundra. I have a small boat trailer which may well have worked, but it's 3300 km
round trip and all basically as quick as we can do it. It's not a road trip, more of a Hotshot delivery. The jet boat is a Russian Inflatable called a
Strizh, so in it's current state we will deflate and store with motor in back of the Tundra.
So the lottery is, with a 2WD Tundra 4.7 litre gasser engine what do you guys think I should get for real life fuel economy?
We are not gonna run at 125 kph+ like the old days. Scott is all about cruiser control and fuel economy too.
So whoever guesses the closest to the 1/10th decimal I will buy a pint at next meeting. Looking for litres/100 km as a measuring standard.
If I can I'll send road trip pics as we power along. I will post pic of Tundra on scales empty and with the whole load so we can confirm exactly what
the boat/motor combo weighs. There will be cases of high speed, cause I'm impatient and don't tolerate incompetents in front, but overall trying to
keep fuel costs reasonable.
Winter high pass weather and local knowledge of the brutal grades that are on this route is why I'm not taking the 60. This isn't a vacation trip, it's
'git'er done' trip.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Congrats on the purchase!

I think the truck could achieve 12.5l/100km with ideal highway driving. But as you say, you may push it at times and there are some big hills, maybe bad traffic. So I'm going to place my bet at 13.8l/100km. When I borrowed your truck and drove between our houses I got 14.4l/100km, and that was with highway 1 crappy traffic lights, hot weather, etc. I'm assuming your trip will be more ideal.

Drive safe! Maybe put some weight in the back of that thing to make it solid in the snow you may encounter....

 

[seapotato]

I'll guess 14.5 just because heavy foot and mountains.

Hopefully you do better than that.


Got a pic of what you're buying?

I keep passing on deals because they're in Victoria. Ft Nelson is a bit of a hike

 

[cruiserpilot]

Strizh 480 Jetboat. Comes with Merc 25 jetpump. No trailer, but I have one here to use.
Strizh translated means Swift Bird from Russian. I’d originally wanted a Sibriver 480, which is
slightly larger dimensioned but the war and costs. This one came up so I jumped on it.
It will plane in 2” of water. I found a site from NZ, they are popular there as well. Slightly shorter
boat but same motor.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Mountain passes is one reason for the Tundra, love the 60 even the extra Turbo shot! But at the
end of the day it’s just not the right rig. Nick, I have thrown in a heavy conveyor belt piece in back and once I’m off the ferry I’ll put heavy tool bags and 20 litre fuel can in the back over the wheels. Scott is gonna throw in a set of chains for ‘just in case’, but the weight will help. Boat + motor is only 205 + 156 = 361 pounds total + access. So going with 400 lbs total. Cool part is, on a light trailer the 60 will pull this easy for my dual-annual trips up north.

 

[cruiserpilot]

On the ferry. Going to hang around Vancouver. But filled it last night and went to gun club meeting. It all counts.

 

[stevebradford]

 

[cruiserpilot]

Starting over. Had a long day in Vancouver. Back and forth for family obligations from north shore to south Richmond twice. So we leave within the hour. Plan is 3 fuel stops, will help break it up and just not sure about this thing. So re-zero here within 1 k of Scott’s place so from here it’s just gonna be highway.

 

[seapotato]

Oh sure... We get to to change our bets?

Kidding. Hope you have fresh wiper blades.
It was kinda gross out this morning.

 

[cruisedeisel]

20.1 Because toyota sucks at making v engines

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

20.1 Because toyota sucks at making v engines

His is the vvti 4.7 2wd single cab w/ A750; so one of the best of that era. If it was 5.7 4wd double cab I think I'd agree with you though...or even the earlier non vvti 4.7 w/ A343...

 

[bikersmurf]

I'll take 17.3 l/100km... Even my Ambo can at least get that on the highway (when sailing).

 

[cruiserpilot]

Oh sure... We get to to change our bets?

Kidding. Hope you have fresh wiper blades.
It was kinda gross out this morning.

No, the city thing was a big surprise. But the highway trip has as well. Just to let you know
we left Vancouver at 7:30 am, drove 1610 km to Ft Nelson in 17 hrs, with 4 traffic stops, 1/2 hr at the
Taylor Bridge included. Slept for a bit, picked up the boat, loaded and chatted for 1/2 hr or so. Left Ft Nelson
at 10:30 am. At 7:30 pm we have checked into a roadside in Hixon 50 k south of PG.
Literally dozens of straight up and down steep grades. Seems the new highway is a straight on thing.
Up the hills, down the hills. Mileage FYI has varied from 13.8 in one section to 15.1 as the so far worst
in one section. Tomorrow we get back to our starting point and I’ll add all the fuel receipts and then
list the total mileage. The Tundra took a brief run at 106 mph down the Pine Pass for about 20 km just
to kick loose through the curves. This is absolutely the most stable truck I’ve ever driven.
Zero under/over steer. It’s a rock at speed, a rock in the corners.
more tomorrow. J

 

[cruiserpilot]

Ok, didn’t take into account the a****** factor. Nor the 8 construction traffic lights. And
in CPR and BC gov’t’s infinitely cheap wisdom of replacing overhead railway crossing after
the big rains with traffic lights. End of it, look up to see the ferry schedule and there are no
ferries on Sat night after 5 something from Duke Pt on Sat nights. So we had to hustle hard
because gas is cheaper than another hotel in Vancouver, not by much but still cheaper.

So final numbers. Burned worst average Chetwynd north to Ft Nelson and back. Too many
steep grades, just non stop at times it seemed. Except the final run from Cache Cr to Horseshoe
Bay, drove fast and hard in bumper to bumper in order to not spend the night sleeping in
the cab at Horseshoe Bay. This was sad as it was really relaxing from Quesnel after breakfast
right thru to Cache Cr.

3264 kilometres total. 486 litres total. 14.8/100 total average at average 105 kph.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Seapotato wins. Ya got to go to a meeting to get a beer! LOL!

 

[cruiserpilot]

Note: 14.8/100. 19 mpg Canadian gallon. 15.9 mpg US gallon. Huh, still not bad.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

I think that is quite respectable fuel economy given it's a full size truck with a v8 and it wasn't an easy drive per se.

 

[seapotato]

Seapotato wins. Ya got to go to a meeting to get a beer! LOL!

I'm a winner. It's a proven fact.

I'll see if I can collect my winnings at the at the next meetup. Officially off for 12 now so I'll be around if it's sooner than later

 

[cruiserpilot]

Lottery - defined by surviving and just being lucky
Yesterday we took another hotshot road trip adventure in the Tundra. Left the Blaine border crossing
at 8 am heading down around Tacoma Narrows to pick up a parts motor. Mercury Verado 175.
Thing is huge, 500 lbs 6’ long. Needed the whole of the Tundra bed. Scott was joking about my
criss-cross heavy straps. I believe “Gravity is not an approved method of securing a load” as a
basic survival philosophy. So the motor was tight.
Coming home along the 405 around Seattle, unable to escape rush hour so it’s about 3:30.
We are cruising along left lane about 110 k. Directly in front of us a small idiot 4 door changed lanes
directly into the duallies of a short semi tractor trailer. Booted the semi from right to left in front of us.
What we really saw was a fully jack knifed semi, trailer wheels locked up and bouncing travelling from
right to left, cab pointing directly cross wise across traffic heading straight into the guard rail.
The embankment dropped about 25’ down to oncoming 5 lanes of southbound bumper to bumper traffic.
Scott max braked, the guard rail caught the cab and the trailer stopped with the main duallies of the trailer
3’ suspended in the air about 30’ in front of us as we stopped!
I jumped out ran long way around the trailer cause I couldn’t see if he had collected up another car or what.
I jump up into the cab steps and the full diesel tank ( enough to drive to Ft Nelson and back ) is puking out
2 giant tears in the aluminum. I pound on the door cause I don’t know how the driver is, he unlocks it.
Completely in shock, I tell him to grab everything personal and get the heck out of the truck. Fuel is
spilling by the gallon all over the batteries under the step. Poor guy grabs his stuff, phone and literally
books it 200 yds up the interstate! I grab the fire extinguisher, Scott is at the truck and I ask him to
disconnect the batteries. Understand, he’s a heavy mechanic, had a wrench in hand. So they were
disconnected in seconds.
This all took about 2 min maybe?!
Anyhow, after Scott got the truck out of the way a State Trooper showed up. I think within 2 minutes. We were
lucky he was just up the road on his way home. Scott checked the motor in the Tundra.
Max stop from over 100 k, nothing moved. Motor was exactly how I’d tied it. All the little parts were
still in same locations under my cargo net. So in that respect, it was very cool. Hard to imagine,
15 sec further up the road and we could have been swept up literally by a semi crash. Somehow this
truck and trailer came across 3 lanes of traffic sideways and didn’t hit another vehicle. Crazy!

So we both bought tickets to the Powerball in Blaine. Fingers crossed.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Lottery - defined by surviving and just being lucky
Yesterday we took another hotshot road trip adventure in the Tundra. Left the Blaine border crossing
at 8 am heading down around Tacoma Narrows to pick up a parts motor. Mercury Verado 175.
Thing is huge, 500 lbs 6’ long. Needed the whole of the Tundra bed. Scott was joking about my
criss-cross heavy straps. I believe “Gravity is not an approved method of securing a load” as a
basic survival philosophy. So the motor was tight.
Coming home along the 405 around Seattle, unable to escape rush hour so it’s about 3:30.
We are cruising along left lane about 110 k. Directly in front of us a small idiot 4 door changed lanes
directly into the duallies of a short semi tractor trailer. Booted the semi from right to left in front of us.
What we really saw was a fully jack knifed semi, trailer wheels locked up and bouncing travelling from
right to left, cab pointing directly cross wise across traffic heading straight into the guard rail.
The embankment dropped about 25’ down to oncoming 5 lanes of southbound bumper to bumper traffic.
Scott max braked, the guard rail caught the cab and the trailer stopped with the main duallies of the trailer
3’ suspended in the air about 30’ in front of us as we stopped!
I jumped out ran long way around the trailer cause I couldn’t see if he had collected up another car or what.
I jump up into the cab steps and the full diesel tank ( enough to drive to Ft Nelson and back ) is puking out
2 giant tears in the aluminum. I pound on the door cause I don’t know how the driver is, he unlocks it.
Completely in shock, I tell him to grab everything personal and get the heck out of the truck. Fuel is
spilling by the gallon all over the batteries under the step. Poor guy grabs his stuff, phone and literally
books it 200 yds up the interstate! I grab the fire extinguisher, Scott is at the truck and I ask him to
disconnect the batteries. Understand, he’s a heavy mechanic, had a wrench in hand. So they were
disconnected in seconds.
This all took about 2 min maybe?!
Anyhow, after Scott got the truck out of the way a State Trooper showed up. I think within 2 minutes. We were
lucky he was just up the road on his way home. Scott checked the motor in the Tundra.
Max stop from over 100 k, nothing moved. Motor was exactly how I’d tied it. All the little parts were
still in same locations under my cargo net. So in that respect, it was very cool. Hard to imagine,
15 sec further up the road and we could have been swept up literally by a semi crash. Somehow this
truck and trailer came across 3 lanes of traffic sideways and didn’t hit another vehicle. Crazy!

So we both bought tickets to the Powerball in Blaine. Fingers crossed.

That is just insane Jon!! Glad you guys and the Tundra/load are ok! What an experience. I've seen stuff like this almost happen so many times due to idiot little drivers around big trucks. I'm glad the truck driver was ok also. And good job tying down the motor in the back!