Count down to Utah thru Olympic NP (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jul 29, 2013
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Pennsylvania
Six days and we are outta here. It seems that before every trip we end up buying more or different gear. Thankfully common sense prevails and we get things that condense and lighten our load. Because of this habitual upgrading of "things" we end up repacking our trailer before each trip. This time it was new cots, new camp chairs, (we got 20 years out of the old Ames dept store specials) and a new portable backcountry toilet. However, the trailer is packed and ready to roll. I may put a few gallons of H2O in the tanks for a bit of stability as the trailer sits on 33" BFG KMs and it can dance quite a bit on rough interstates when empty, even with the tires down to 20 lbs.

Our 80 is one half packed and ready to roll. Fluid changes and lubed all around, tops offs, all around, new BFG KO2s, new belts, new radiator, new power steering pump. What can go wrong? Even at that I carry just the right amount of tools with me to fix just about anything that could. I've a couple of oil leaks, that if need be, will be fixed in Oroville Ca in my brother in law's garage. He is every bit as handy as I am, and if we don't exercise our elbows too much outta be able to complete the job in a single day.

This trip will be a bit different than our previous trips for a couple of reasons, the first being that my daughter and her family will be experiencing southern Utah for the first time. Gresh, at my advice, dumped his 1 year old Heep Cherokee and bought a new 4-runner Trail. He should have no problems on the White Rim Trail, nor should he have any problems getting to Horsehoof Camp in the Needles, via Elephant Hill Trail. It will be a lot of fun turning Gresh, Kate, grandsons GK and Rory onto the pleasures of overlanding in the southwest. The second reason, is that I bit the proverbial bullet and got myself some decent digital camera equipment. (for those interested a Sony a65 and 4 nice lenses) I have enjoyed photography for most of my life, but money, then later on, time, had prevented me from overindulging in this hobby. Now I have all the time in the world and film is really cheap these days. Believe it or not, processing is free !!
The next thing I want to do is get everything loaded up and go for a dry run to a truck-stop and scale our rig out. I think it is right around 6,200 lbs with no ice, food, water or gasoline, which when loaded is an extra, give or take, 365lbs.
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I'll be posting up our progress whenever possible...
 
Excited to follow along!
 
We are headed to Colorado and Utah this summer so will be looking forward to updates. Pics of your rig and trailer? Good luck!
 
Go Don, go!
 
We are headed to Colorado and Utah this summer so will be looking forward to updates. Pics of your rig and trailer? Good luck!
Here is a shot taken last year before our new paint job, bottle rack and solar panel.

Interesting, as I learn something new everyday. Yesterday we took it out on a dry run, and I scaled it out... I was a bit taken aback as we are tipping the scales at 7,500 lbs. The rig weighs in at 6,500 lbs and the trailer is 1000 lbs. I have always underestimated the weight of the trailer because I think I was only considering unsprung weight. Add in the 33" tires, the heavy axle, spacers and wheels and yes 1,000 lbs, which still isn't all that heavy as you'd never know it was back there behind this beast. And I always assumed the 80 weighed in at 6,200 lbs. Wrong wrong wrong... now I don't feel so bad about averaging 13mpg.. LOL
IMG_0005.jpg
 
Here is a shot taken last year before our new paint job, bottle rack and solar panel.

Interesting, as I learn something new everyday. Yesterday we took it out on a dry run, and I scaled it out... I was a bit taken aback as we are tipping the scales at 7,500 lbs. The rig weighs in at 6,500 lbs and the trailer is 1000 lbs. I have always underestimated the weight of the trailer because I think I was only considering unsprung weight. Add in the 33" tires, the heavy axle, spacers and wheels and yes 1,000 lbs, which still isn't all that heavy as you'd never know it was back there behind this beast. And I always assumed the 80 weighed in at 6,200 lbs. Wrong wrong wrong... now I don't feel so bad about averaging 13mpg.. LOL View attachment 1432530
Sweet. Matching rims on the trailer, looks great. Thanks for posting! We are planning to take the 80 and pulling our pop up. What lift do you have on your truck?
 
850 "J"s up front and 864s in rear , which is the OME "heavy" suspension, I think it's about 2.5 to 3 inches..
 
We're back on grid for the evening after 3 nights on the WRT, then down to the Needles district tomorrow AM. I'm just not tech savvy enough to post up any long dash cam vids here. The files must be too big..
 

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