As many of you know (and have been personally helpful with in various cities she's lived for college, etc!!), our daughter fell in love with Cruisers ever since she came home from the hospital in one of our 80s as a newborn. So when she needed a car for college, we sold her our 97 for the price of whatever parts I deemed necessary to keep it reliable thousands of miles away in Michigan. Free installation from the head mechanic and chief bottle washer, of course!
Now she's got 315 miles on "Lucy", she just got married and they are moving to Boise for graduate school. Last weekend we moved them down with our huge tandem trailer, and all their stuff weighed 4050lbs on the axles with 6300 on the cruiser axles. It was a very hot day, and I'd had some time to go over the old girl in the week prior - replaced a persistent RR axle seal leak (glad those are a 30 minute job!) for the 3rd time in a year, cleaned the air filter, topped off fluids, pumped up the tires a bit for a heavy hot tow. Oddly found I'd overfilled the A343 by a quart and a half somehow on the last fluid change, and drained that off. I put an orange triangle on the back of the trailer, knowing I'd be running 10-20 under the speed limit as I wanted to take it easy on her.
Had lots of time to think of all the memories we've had in Lucy as I drove along solo. Towing our boat all over hill and dale in Montana, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, Michigan and Maine with the family, many cross country trips, kids learning to drive in her. And the incredible reliable service that car has delivered. Never been to a mechanic. Never stranded beside the road, though once at college it wouldn't start at her dorm due to an EFI relay. Happily there was a spare in the glovebox (another spare is your horn relay, btw) and she changed it out via FaceTime in a proud moment for both of us.
The temp soared close to 100 as I started up the highest and longest pass. Flashers on and halfway up at 40mph, the A/C cut out due to the heat. I decided since she was suffering, so I could suffer to help her. Took my shirt off and pulled a sweat worthy t shirt out of my duffel, turned the heaters both on full hot, lowered all the windows and put in my Etymotic earplugs against the crazy 65mph din. Started pounding water, my body adapted after about a half hour and after this first pass I got a crazy urge to just do this the remaining 3 hours to Boise. Many of you have suffered in various ways athletically, in the military, from illness, injury and other ways, and will know the resulting sense of peace and defiance that sometimes combine to help a man settle into an odd "I got this" serenity in such circumstance. That's where I was. So there we were, man and machine brought together, suffering together, and performing a service grounded in love for another person. The heaters put out so much heat that the outside 93-100 degree air felt cool. I almost didn't want it to end, so exquisite and primal was the experience. Unlike our modern trips with windows up and a/c on, I could smell the crops I passed, the skunk somewhere off in the hills, the various truck cargos of corn, wheat, soybeans, and the newly mowed clover (the best) as I passed along.
My wife and daughter left after I did that morning, with the expectation they'd easily catch me later. A stop at the Pendleton wool factory waylaid them. My new son drove their new RAV4 straight down Idaho's 2 lane interstate (last one in the lower 48, I believe) as he has a pursuit that non 2A states like WA and OR do not approve of and wanted to remain in Idaho to move belongings. I ended up at their new house first. A quiet shady street and will admit to getting a mild emotional Cruiser reaction when I shut down the Big Toyota Twincam Six. I got out, and put my hand on the hot D pillar, looked at the scratches from dropped kayaks, a 10 year old dent from an encounter with a tree next to the driveway from a new driver, the 40th wheels I bought from a guy in Seattle 15 years ago who was kind enough to meet us halfway across the state, the faded LandCruiser Museum sticker I bought in SLC from CDan, forum member and curator, and kinda choked up a bit. I quietly said "Thanks, Lucy - job well done", gave her a couple pats and went off to find the hidden key.
This past week, I realized I haven't driven my 93 for months with all the deck building, getting the house ready for guests, the wedding and then prep to move the newlyweds. So I hosed off a winter's accumulation of pine needles, charged up the battery and have enjoyed daily driving her. I prefer mine as the 93 US model has the German 80 series suspension (springs/shocks) and has a much more controlled ride. Forgot how well the seats fit me with the side bolsters adjusted in, the lumbar maxed out, and the thigh support. And found all my CDs a welcome relief from too much AM talk radio lately, and popped in the Doobie Brothers best album. Gotta love these 80s.
Oh, and one nice reminder in the trip that having a highly capable vehicle pays dividends. With my son in law and the empty trailer, I found myself trying to exit a retail area that has a magnet for liberals (cough, Starbucks). I needed to go around a concrete curb center thing with the trailer, but every one of these fine folks just kept pulling up and blocking me, sipping from their green and white cups and ignoring the two savages in our gas hog SUV and the obvious predicament. I put up with it a heartbeat too long for my taste, muttered "hang on, son" and simply drove up onto the barrier, shoving the ARB in front of a white Prius, who immediately inched forward defiantly. The light changed, and I gently picked my way over it, let the trailer do the same, and left the honking libtards in my wake. A little kindness would go a long way, but in a world where we're not getting it, it's nice to be in a vehicle that works for me when the world won't play nice....
Now she's got 315 miles on "Lucy", she just got married and they are moving to Boise for graduate school. Last weekend we moved them down with our huge tandem trailer, and all their stuff weighed 4050lbs on the axles with 6300 on the cruiser axles. It was a very hot day, and I'd had some time to go over the old girl in the week prior - replaced a persistent RR axle seal leak (glad those are a 30 minute job!) for the 3rd time in a year, cleaned the air filter, topped off fluids, pumped up the tires a bit for a heavy hot tow. Oddly found I'd overfilled the A343 by a quart and a half somehow on the last fluid change, and drained that off. I put an orange triangle on the back of the trailer, knowing I'd be running 10-20 under the speed limit as I wanted to take it easy on her.
Had lots of time to think of all the memories we've had in Lucy as I drove along solo. Towing our boat all over hill and dale in Montana, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, Michigan and Maine with the family, many cross country trips, kids learning to drive in her. And the incredible reliable service that car has delivered. Never been to a mechanic. Never stranded beside the road, though once at college it wouldn't start at her dorm due to an EFI relay. Happily there was a spare in the glovebox (another spare is your horn relay, btw) and she changed it out via FaceTime in a proud moment for both of us.
The temp soared close to 100 as I started up the highest and longest pass. Flashers on and halfway up at 40mph, the A/C cut out due to the heat. I decided since she was suffering, so I could suffer to help her. Took my shirt off and pulled a sweat worthy t shirt out of my duffel, turned the heaters both on full hot, lowered all the windows and put in my Etymotic earplugs against the crazy 65mph din. Started pounding water, my body adapted after about a half hour and after this first pass I got a crazy urge to just do this the remaining 3 hours to Boise. Many of you have suffered in various ways athletically, in the military, from illness, injury and other ways, and will know the resulting sense of peace and defiance that sometimes combine to help a man settle into an odd "I got this" serenity in such circumstance. That's where I was. So there we were, man and machine brought together, suffering together, and performing a service grounded in love for another person. The heaters put out so much heat that the outside 93-100 degree air felt cool. I almost didn't want it to end, so exquisite and primal was the experience. Unlike our modern trips with windows up and a/c on, I could smell the crops I passed, the skunk somewhere off in the hills, the various truck cargos of corn, wheat, soybeans, and the newly mowed clover (the best) as I passed along.
My wife and daughter left after I did that morning, with the expectation they'd easily catch me later. A stop at the Pendleton wool factory waylaid them. My new son drove their new RAV4 straight down Idaho's 2 lane interstate (last one in the lower 48, I believe) as he has a pursuit that non 2A states like WA and OR do not approve of and wanted to remain in Idaho to move belongings. I ended up at their new house first. A quiet shady street and will admit to getting a mild emotional Cruiser reaction when I shut down the Big Toyota Twincam Six. I got out, and put my hand on the hot D pillar, looked at the scratches from dropped kayaks, a 10 year old dent from an encounter with a tree next to the driveway from a new driver, the 40th wheels I bought from a guy in Seattle 15 years ago who was kind enough to meet us halfway across the state, the faded LandCruiser Museum sticker I bought in SLC from CDan, forum member and curator, and kinda choked up a bit. I quietly said "Thanks, Lucy - job well done", gave her a couple pats and went off to find the hidden key.
This past week, I realized I haven't driven my 93 for months with all the deck building, getting the house ready for guests, the wedding and then prep to move the newlyweds. So I hosed off a winter's accumulation of pine needles, charged up the battery and have enjoyed daily driving her. I prefer mine as the 93 US model has the German 80 series suspension (springs/shocks) and has a much more controlled ride. Forgot how well the seats fit me with the side bolsters adjusted in, the lumbar maxed out, and the thigh support. And found all my CDs a welcome relief from too much AM talk radio lately, and popped in the Doobie Brothers best album. Gotta love these 80s.
Oh, and one nice reminder in the trip that having a highly capable vehicle pays dividends. With my son in law and the empty trailer, I found myself trying to exit a retail area that has a magnet for liberals (cough, Starbucks). I needed to go around a concrete curb center thing with the trailer, but every one of these fine folks just kept pulling up and blocking me, sipping from their green and white cups and ignoring the two savages in our gas hog SUV and the obvious predicament. I put up with it a heartbeat too long for my taste, muttered "hang on, son" and simply drove up onto the barrier, shoving the ARB in front of a white Prius, who immediately inched forward defiantly. The light changed, and I gently picked my way over it, let the trailer do the same, and left the honking libtards in my wake. A little kindness would go a long way, but in a world where we're not getting it, it's nice to be in a vehicle that works for me when the world won't play nice....
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