Across North America in Five Weeks!

[Solace in Solitude]

Hector,

Absolutely gorgeous pictures!!

I hear all sorts of new noises every time I take 44 out... and some are from 44.

Keep those pictures coming!!

Drive safe!!

 

[FJ40Mitchell]

I was a late comer to the Rustbucket thread, and never got the pleasure of following along while that amazing trip was actually in progress. I eagerly anticipate each new entry to your thread every night, and I'm itching to get out there myself! Thanks for such a great thread and so many good pics! Talk about motivation...

 

[45Kevin]

Hi Hector, great thread..
I'd be happy to buy you a beer when you get to Calgary, or drop in to your campsite for a visit with a six pack if that works better.
Have you considered driving the "Highway to the Sun" in the US Glacier National Park? It is slightly off your posted route through Montana, but is well worth the trip. Getting there from Calgary will take you down H-way 22 in southern Alberta. A much more scenic route than the 4 lane to Lethbridge.
There is a great LC community here as well in case you need some help with the truck.

 

[Honger]

Oh man, how did I miss this thread!?! Love the idea and love the pics. Following along excitedly!

 

[Coolerman]

With the exception of your BC section, I have traveled to all the places you are going! Just read your whole thread and I too am jealous of your ability to make this trip. I am in KY south of Lexington. You appear to be taking I-64 through Louisville and Lexington. If you need any help or a place to stay PM me. I'm only 40 minutes south of Lexington. Hope your AC is working! Ky has hit their HHH season. Hazy, Hot and Humid!
Good luck!

 

[powderjay]

I dream of a trip like yours!, keep the updates and pics coming... don't make the mistake of passing on the mitten state. You don't want any regrets after a trip like that.

 

[drnekFJ40]

What a trip!!many years ago I traveled on a bicycle from Vancouver to Yukon and remember going through Hope,Kamploops,Revelstoke,Golden,Icefield PKWY to Jasper...Near Lake Louise don't forget to go look at Moraine Lake and near Jasper take a short boat trip on Maligne lake to Spirit Island....Both places are the legendary catalog pictures for travel catalogs about Canada..It is amazing to see those lakes real!!!!water is so blue!!You will not regret it...I wish you your 40 will make it in good health!!!!Thanks for this thread....

 

[hecrod]

Another good day in the road... not much excitement outside of driving through the rearview mirror 80% of the time!

Route 5, from Hope to Kamloops... is like your typical Interstate in the States, where driving at 50MPH (or 80KPH as they call it here in Canada) puts you at risk (some were driving at close to triple digits I'm sure). I'm driving forward, looking back, ready to turn right into the shoulder if someone was getting too close for comfort. Got close a few times, with truckers getting very close before taking the left lane... but... things are good. I definitely intend to stay with the minor roads going forward... as often as possible. A typical view (from the passenger side) below...

Another issue with the big highways is that the GPS calculates arrival time (not that I care much, but I do look at it) based on the maximum speed limit, which was 75MPH in Route 5! Some major delays traveling at 50... to say the least. For every 3 minutes I would drive, the arrival time would be postponed by 1!!!
Leaving Hope I met Hunter... from Hope... who hunted me down at the gas station asking if I was the owner of the Cruiser. The kid tells me that he owns not one, not two, but three Cruisers!!! One of them with only 13,XXX miles on it. I emailed him a link to MUD... hopefully he'll sign on...

The picture below taken on route 5, from Kamploops to Cleawater... upon first sight of the Canadian Rockies!!! What a great sight. After hours of driving, we're both like "That's it!!!"... at east we hope that's it... Some pretty tall mountains to cross tomorrow if they are not it...

And at left, a speedy reminder of the industry that seems to still drive the economy in the region... logging. Empty truck this time... plenty of bulging ones along the ride. A lot of forestry in the region, done as far as I could tell in sustainable ways... no clear cutting witnessed here.

Finally as we're about to arrive in Clearwater, BC. I can just about see Jasper in the distance... planning on sleeping there tomorrow night! We could see the snow-packed mountains as we drove in...

O Canada... what a beautiful country.

In Clearwater, BC... we noticed a different accent (from the rest of the Northwest) for the first time. Not that it matters at all, because we all have accents, it's just a matter of perspective... it's just that it struck both my wife and I as quite unique. Quite a few people of Asian origin in the Region as well... also a bit surprising... not sure why, it just was. All locals quite friendly... we're enjoying our stay.

@45Kevin... thanks for the "Highway to the Sun" hint... we'll make sure not to miss it. As far as getting together... would love that! Maybe late Sunday morning? Let's connect via private mail if the time works for you. Somewhere a bit South of Calgary would work best for us.

@Coolerman... about the A/C... nope, not working. I charged it a month ago, but it obviously has a leak. That's going to suck once we turn South from Illinois...

@powderjay... the Mitten State may have to wait... it's either South (TN, WV, VA), or the Midwest. Leaning South right now... in more ways than one!!!

On other technical news:

Oil Leak: So I've had an oil leak for years... dripping into a pan in my garage for some time... but it seems to be dripping a bit more. Maybe the oil is thinning out a lot more during the extended drives, causing it to leak more??? What are your thoughts on this??? How problematic could this be? I added a quart today... was missing about half of one when the trip started. Something to keep my eye on.

Vibration: So I seldom go North of 55 on my 40, never over 60... today on some of the extended downhills I took the cruise off, put in on neutral, and let it go. It picked up a slight vibration (not shimmy) when getting close to 60. Tried it a couple of times, did it both times. Not trying it again. The 40 was aligned, and all suspension parts checked before leaving... what could be going on here???

All else continues to go well. Went up most uphills (including some several miles long) with the cruise control at 50... truly something. No issues with the amp gauge... and although I continue to hear noises ... I think it's just air buffeting the 40 from different angles from time to time. Weird how I don't remember hearing them before!

The City of Jasper... of Jasper National Park fame is next!

Read and ride along!

Hector & Millie...

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I would keep an eye on the leak and the vibration... but, not worry about either... unless they become problematic.

Enjoy the vibrationless trip at 50 and add oil now and again...

If your 2F is not rebuilt, it may be burning a little oil as well... and the vibration could have simply been the road you were on.

Safe travels!!

 

[65swb45]

Is the vibration from under the truck, or through the steering wheel?

If your oil loss is a rear main seal, it could go downhill fast. I serviced a troopie last week that had a small leak when he left Salt Lake City, 700 miles away. By the time he got to L.A., you could measure in ounces what it would drop in five minutes.

 

[White Stripe]

This is a cool trip. Keep a cheap case of oil with you, and really try to find where the oil is leaking from. Also, if you are getting a vibration at speed, maybe stop by a tire shop and have them balance the tires real quick, its cheap and easy and might be your issue. Charge up your ac again, then spray some soapy water on the schrader valves and check for little bubbles, most the time this is where AC systems leak, new ones are cheap, as in like 4 bucks. If the oil leak seems like its getting worse, maybe head down to Denver, we have lots of cruiser shops down here. I personally have a relative with a cruiser shop in a beautiful area, they have pretty quick turn around time, their is a bed n breakfast nearby, and he has a loaner car. Also, if it gets old having little room for all your gear, get on craigs and buy a small trailer in one of the towns you drive through. You can sell it when you get home and make your money back. I have taken my cruiser on lots of road trips, 50% of the time I have had issues. Fj40s are old, and its easy for unseen issues to arise. I have always been able to push through and jerry rig it which I hate doing. If you can stop somewhere and fix it before it gets worse its always better to play it safe. Typically the rig will give you a warning, do not take it lightly when a warning presents itself. Paying 1000 bucks to get it fixed and losing a day or 2 is much better than being stranded with all your gear in the middle of nowhere and no cell signal. Please be careful, not everybody is friendly. You will probably be fine, but if you got a bad feeling about something, don't ignore it. Some of those locations have bears so maybe get some pepper spray or something. Its too bad you guys aren't going to Moab, I highly recommend it. The drive from Moab to Denver is pretty awesome. But you do have some cool places your going. Anyway, thanks for the great pics!

 

[airon23]

Keep it up @hecrod I'm loving this thread. I'll look forward to your updates and pictures. Some great sights. Good luck along the way. Looks like you guys are having a blast.

 

[romey]

awesome build thread and trip report so far! keep it up and thanks for sharing!

i've done the west cost roady trip about 3 times from ontario. jasper is one amazing place. i'm sure you'll be going down the columbia icefields parkway down to Banff (hwy 93/easily one of my top favourite roads in canada). i'd suggest checking out the johnston canyon falls (easy hike) and the columbia icefields/glacier. can't miss it. lot's of amazing camping along the way! Banff/Lake louise is a must see/bucket list type of place (like niagara falls) but it's very touristy. +1 on seeing lake Moraine (it's in all the post cards) and even emerald lake. if you're into hot springs, check those out too, lot's in the area (good after a long drive!).

i noticed you changed your route to skip northern ontario before heading back down. was going to suggest lake superior provincial park along hwy 11 which is one amazing road along canada's largest fresh water lake! it's so big that it feels like you're driving along an ocean coast. lot's of amazing scenery there and just beautiful country and a tonne of provincial parks to camp in. Ontario is a beautiful place/province, but i'm biased . if you ever reconsider and head this way, let us know, lot's of cruiserheads along the way heading into Toronto.

cheers and safe travels!

 

[hecrod]

Crossed the 1,000 mile mark today... Another good and smooth day on the road... although the oil leak is getting worse, and is weighing on my mind... but more on that below.

Left Clearwater early, with constant views like the one below... not much to say, just drive and enjoy

And a short iphone video my wife was taking as I was about to pull to the right to take the picture immediately below... of Mt. Robson, tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies... half of it obscured by the clouds...

In the Visitor Center at the Mt. Robson Provincial Park. Two things of note... (other than the absolutely huge and majestic mountain in the background!)

1. Here's it's clear how the 40 dropped a couple of inches due to the weight
2. See the darn oil leak? Oil drops in a couple of places after 15-20 minutes...

Also learned about the Terry Fox Story, who now has a nearby mountain named after him... sad and uplifting story at the same time.

Finally made it into Alberta, home of Jasper... where we're staying tonight.

We walked the main street here in Jasper... a quite nice alpine town. But we'll leave it early tomorrow towards the Icefields Parkway and Lake Louise... Can't wait!

@drnekFJ40... Vancouver to Jasper... on a bicycle??? And here I thought I was doing something unique! Jeez... thanks!
@pngunme... you got it!
@White Stripe... wise advice. Although hopefully I won't have to detour into Denver... we'll see. On the trailer deal, my wife will be flying back home from Calgary... I'll make sure to send a big duffel bag back with all those things I thought I was going to need / use... which I don't use nor need! So hopefully things will be a little more comfortable after this weekend.

On the tech side:

• Vibration - @65swb45... it's underneath, not through the wheel... only at 55+ (which I didn't do today), and only while coasting. If I put power to it the vibration goes away.
• Oil Leak - Had to add another quart today. I know things change when you put a lot of miles, at "higher" speeds... I still don't like it. @45Kevin... I'll be sending you a PM to see if you can connect me with someone in Calgary to give me their opinion, and maybe fix it for me... I can be there Saturday morning if need be. I'm pretty sure it is a rear main seal... I'd be willing to hit the "delay button" for a day (or two?) if needed. Or am I over-reacting here?

Heading out to Town again... need to get something to eat, and to try a local beer or two

Read and Ride Along!


Hector & Millie

 

[franklin40]

i love the journey so far. i drove that stretch with my 40 the first day i owned it. i went from vancouver island through jasper to edmonton and then home to saskatoon. beautiful drive. i also cycled part of that stretch too but then went south along the transcanada highway and all the way to halifax. there is a lot of great stuff to see in canada. i see you're going to come back up and go north of the great lakes. thats another stunning area to see for sure. i also got to take a train ride past mt robson. it truly is one majestic view. i'm living vicariously through this thread. my 40 is a long way from going for a drive much less an epic journey like this one! i wish you safe travels

 

[hecrod]

More pictures than words today... because sometimes pictures are better than words! Drove ~150 miles from Jasper to Lake Louise... will go to the actual Lake Louise later tonight and tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures of this truly spectacular drive... can you say snow? bears (plural!!!)? pristine alpine lakes? Of course you can! Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Columbia Ice Fields (hiked up to the glacier), Weeping Wall, lakes and more lakes... it all "got done" (like one can actually get it done in one day...)

And know that, for every picture with the 40 on it, there are many more... sharing the ones with the 40 here, 'cause I figured you people wouldn't mind... I'm going to print a few of these poster size... not kidding.

As far as the technical side (the oil leak), there's a plan being hatched out to diagnose it with more accuracy thanks to @45Kevin... This is indeed a great community... but I'll leave it at that for now... more on Saturday.

First, a short 94 second video... that was just about our entire day today...



And next some photos... all of them upcoming photos were taken along the way, today June 16, 2016... I'll take the liberty of extending the post into a second one today. Too many good pictures!

 

[hecrod]

Some more...

 

[hecrod]

And the last set...

Receiving my typical service at my everyday gas station...

Approaching my own lake!!!

Constantly being followed by the paparazzi ... seriously... people talking to me and taking pictures all the time. Kind of cool, and a little weird at the same time! See the snow???

And the best picture in my opinion... so far...

That's it for today!!!

Read and ride along...


Hector & Millie...

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

This may become one of my favorite threads!

 

[eman375]

You'll have to get used to the notoriety. It's just part of the Land Cruiser ownership experience. This is a great thread. Thanks for taking us along...