Across North America in Five Weeks!

[sggoat]

Roadtrippers.com

Ever heard of it? I had not, until this past week (Thanks Nicole D.!) Excellent website for, guess who, road trippers! Where most maps apps (like Google Maps) stop at 10 way points, roadtrippers gives you 60 (!), along with suggestions on places to see / visit within a 30-mile radius of your planned route. Check it out... really an excellent tool!

Below is a screenshot of my current planned track. A few changes, mostly on the 2nd half of the trip, and only after listening to your feedback as to places to go. Distance so far... ~5,800 miles... 33 days. An average of 3-4 hours a day on the road.

View attachment 1188770

General places of focus (very high level):

• West - National Parks - Olympic (WA), Jasper (AB), Banff (AB), Glacier (MT), Grand Teton (WY), Yellowstone (WY), Wind Cave (SD) and Badlands (SD). I am missing ID... may have to do something about that...
• Midwest - Places like Orange City IA (Dutch culture), Winterset IA (Bridges of Madison County), Amana Colonies IA (German culture), Kalona IA (Amish). Will drive Route 66 for a while (mostly in IL into St. Louis), also alongside the Mississippi River, and will visit Springfield (Lincoln!)
• South - Nashville! Louisville! Bourbon and Whiskey in TN and KY (distilleries... here I come!) Coal Heritage Trail and Mountain Shadow Byway in WV (these should be spectacular). Charlottesville (Jefferson!). Fredericksburg (VA), Alexandria (VA) and Gettysburg (OK, this is a bit North) for some Civil War History...
• East - DC, NYC and Boston.

I'm starting to get pumped up here! What am I missing? Willing to adjust here and there. Get ready for some spectacular pictures come June and July...




The 40 Story:

Extra Parts: Have by now extra hoses, belts, u-joints, etc. ready to be loaded up when the time comes. Also JB Weld, duct tape, fuses, jump starter, etc. I'll be ready on this front... no doubt. Will also have a list of contacts (which you guys WILL provide -)) for potential emergency purposes along the way...

Storage: bought four of these ammo storage boxes... they should fit great. I should get them this week... will post some pictures once they are in to show you the fit. May buy some army bags as well to latch onto the cage.

Comfort / Security Improvements:

• Seats - bought a set of 330xi front seats... thanks to your advise here. To be installed soon.
• Tuffy console and Metaltech singout bumper - also to be installed soon. Pictures within a few weeks!

Still to decide on the roof top tent and fridge.

Thanks for all of your commentary and suggestions... I am incorporating them as much as possible. Do keep them up!

Just for kicks, how my 40 looked ~ 5 years ago...

View attachment 1188805

Checking out for now...

Hector

Yellowstone---50 miles East is Cody, Wy. If you can get there, visit Buffalo Bill's Museum Of The West. It IS NOT a tourist trap! Everything there is authentic, Very well done. Go to the lower level--prob the largest firearm collection ever-my Brother and I spent the whole day there.

 

[drnekFJ40]

Cody,WY is a good catch...I want to go to that museum for years...I love old west guns...Now they have that old Winchester 73 they found by the tree being there for over 100 years..

 

[hecrod]

T Minus ~10 Weeks!

I've been quiet, but not idle. The 40 has been tuned-up, leaks taken care of (for the most part ), brakes / fuel / cooling / suspension / electrical systems given all the attention needed... mechanically, this thing is just about ready to go.

I also got some spare parts (belts, hoses, fuses), storage items (ammo boxes), camping equipment, and made some other relatively minor improvements (Hella H4's, Tuffy console). Lots of planning as well. The two most visible changes? New BMW 3 series manual seats and a Metal Tech Bumper!

First the seats. An awesome set of BMW (2012 330xi I think?) manual seats... and I'll tell you, they are a game changer for me. The ride is waaay more comfortable... frankly, the difference between the stock seats and these seats is just spectacular... I wasn't expecting it. I guess they just absorb a lot of the rough in the road on their own. The fact that they just about fully recline (in addition to going up/down and tilting as well), which is the main reason why I wanted them in the first place, has almost turned out to be icing in the cake for me.

Seats in upright position:

And reclined:

As you can see the Tuffy Lockable Console is also in. A meaningful improvement on its own. Cup holders... and an arm rest! The simple joys in life...


The Metal Tech rear bumper is more of a extra gas storage deal at this point. It looks solid... the quality of the construction is top notch.

Will be shipping the 40 out to Seattle in 7-8 weeks, with the trip actually starting in early June... ~6,000 miles Seattle to Boston coming soon to a thread near you!

Hector

 

[Jetlander]

Sounds like an epic trip! A couple of questions though... What lift is installed on your 40? Also what size tires are you running?

 

[sterling]

Jelous of the trip for sure.

On the seats did they bolt up or did you have to modify the seat rails?

 

[hecrod]

Sounds like an epic trip! A couple of questions though... What lift is installed on your 40? Also what size tires are you running?

4-inch lift... with 275-75R17 Mud-Terrain tires...

 

[hecrod]

Jelous of the trip for sure.

On the seats did they bolt up or did you have to modify the seat rails?

Hi Sterling,

Not a straight up bolt-on. Some brackets were fabbed...

Front to back brackets on each side:

And support base left to right (both on front and back of course). No welding, all bolt-on.

 

[Lycent]

Hey Hector,

I can't really add anything that you are missing. The things I always seem to need/use on long journeys are either unforeseeable breakdowns which usually involve new parts that I would have NEVER carted along for the whole trip (no much you can do about these other than do as much as you can beforehand which you obviously are doing) OR stupid simple stuff like I needed rope or assorted zip ties. Even some flexible tubing in case you need a temp fix to get to the next town.

If it were my road trip, I would probably go from Calgary down through Salmon, ID and then over to Yellowstone because that drive through Missoula and down to Salmon is absolutely beautiful. Have a blast!

 

[brian]

you pass through pa, will be right past me.

 

[sterling]

@hecrod Thanks for the reply.
Looking forward to the journey!

 

[edwjmcgrath]

I've driven cross country a half dozen times and have seen every state except ND on my travels. Nothing is perfect, but I like the route you've chosen. It should be a great one.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

First the seats. An awesome set of BMW (2012 330xi I think?) manual seats... and I'll tell you, they are a game changer for me. The ride is waaay more comfortable... frankly, the difference between the stock seats and these seats is just spectacular... I wasn't expecting it. I guess they just absorb a lot of the rough in the road on their own. The fact that they just about fully recline (in addition to going up/down and tilting as well), which is the main reason why I wanted them in the first place, has almost turned out to be icing in the cake for me.

Where did you score the seats from? Craigslist, Ebay?

 

[hecrod]

Where did you score the seats from? Craigslist, Ebay?

Craigslist... 6 Benjamins. The previous owner wanted a heated set for his Beemer... Shipping costs could be an issue, in my case, the gentleman was in Albany, me in Boston, we just met ~halfway in Springfield and completed the transaction there.

You can find them on eBay as well. Most of them however are powered, so you may have to wait a little for a set of manual seats to become available, if that's what you're looking for.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Thanks, I was figuring that you scored them on CL.

 

[hecrod]

T Minus "a Handful of Weeks!"

Two major upgrades in the last few weeks to report on:

1. Dual battery setup, and
2. Cruise Control!

Oh... and a Viper alarm... but not much on that...

Dual Battery setup: a Shuriken SK-BT75 glass battery installed right behind the driver's seat, along with a power inverter installed behind the passenger seat. The inverter has 4 12V outlets in it... enough for the ARB cooler, computer chargers, and other stuff.

The Cruise Control: a "Global Cruise Electronic Cruise Control" unit... and it actually works! What a great feeling to be able to set a cruise control on this kid... the cruise control and the BMW seats, flat out awesome upgrades.

Check out the book reading lamp (what could that be for???)... and bluetooth hands-free microphone... and the blue-faced watch on the right (velcroed-in)... cool little things that I've added on over the years, and which make a difference! Everything here meets basic needs...


See actual cruise control unit in bottom right of picture below...

Awesome professional installation by the folks at Krank It Up! in Medford MA.

The 40 is now ready to go... it will be shipped to Seattle in the next 2-3 weeks!

 

[FJ40|RUNNER]

Too cool, trip is going to be awesome...can't wait to hear about it!

 

[hecrod]

It's actually happening... No turning back now!

The 40 is on its way to Seattle as we speak... you'll know the story if you happen to see a beautiful Sky Blue 40 in a car carrier heading West... It'll all start in ~ 2 weeks...

A lot of planning up to this point, a lot!, supported by many of you... It'd be great to get to meet some of you in my travels... reach out via private mail if at all possible!

Some of the coming highlights:

• Olympic National Park
• Jasper National Park
• Banff National Park
• Glacier National Park
• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone National Park
• Little Big Horn Battlefield
• Devils Tower
• Wind Cave National Park
• Mt Rushmore
• Badlands National Park
• The actual "Bridges of Madison County"
• Parts of Route 66
• Nashville
• The Bourbon Capital of the World (Bardstown)
• Charlottesville, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg and other Civil War sites, and
• a lot more in 30+ days...

Stay tuned!

Hector

 

[spotcruiser]

Cool. Let me know when you get here to Seattle and maybe we can get you together with some of the locals. Most of the Cascade trails won't be open until June 15 and you won't find much or any wheeling in the Olympics, but there is a lot scenic camping around Olympic National Park and down the coast. Highway 410 over Chinook Pass will be opened on Memorial Day and that's a great drive with tremendous views of Mt. Rainier and a great place to do some camping (and wheeling after June 15th). There are great views to be had into the crater of Mt. St. Helens from the visitor's center on Johnston Ridge, also, when you're in the area.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Looks like you might be coming through St. Louis. If so and need some help or a place to crash, I'm @ 40 miles SW of St. Louis. Please be careful in the city, a lot of crime going on right now.

 

[Spike Strip]

I think I'd prolly never make it past 'the Bourbon Capital' of the world ... Bon Voyage!