My dang unit's too friggin' short ... (2 Viewers)

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DAY 16 Saturday, 03 Oct.


So here’s my Designated Drunk Spot at Guernsey State Park. It’s easy to back into and the trailer’s level enough to deal with without no fuss.

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And it’s gotta phenomenal lake view for cookin’ bacon and eggs …


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Added a quart of oil and off I went to Cheyenne. I’ve done made the trip in reverse a whole buncha times … and it takes all day. But goin’ this direction in the mornin’ when the 8 bars are closed it only took 2 hours. Go figure.

So met Bob at the TNT shop to go over all the items on the work list since he won’t actu’ly be there Monday mornin’ when I drop the ****er off. Then went to the laundromat to do my laundry. And then hit the Outlaw Saloon. Those of you that followed the build over on JKO will remember this bar. Lots of pics there ev’ry step of the build when it was drivable.

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But new owners and new bar tenders. So **** ‘em. One and done.

Filled up with gas and stocked up on beer and headed outta town.

Right to the Eagle’s Nest.

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This ain’t no bar for amateurs. Crowd tends to be a bit rough and they don’t like strangers. Ain’t never went in there unarmed. Hate to be the only one that is. Drank me a 6 pack and it was good to be back.
 
And outta town I went. Right past one of the houses I rented for a coupla years. They sure built a helluva lot of new windmills since I lived here.

And then outta the blue, the stereo just started blarin’. Scared the s*** outta me … but it’s all good!

Ain’t sure if’n it was the beer … or the tunes blarin’ again … or maybe just a salute to the big racin’ engine. A last hoorah for what might end up bein’ it’s last trip ...

But I ain’t never towed a trailer at a hun'erd mph on pavement … until now. And it was badass. Lil’ trailer just followed right behind me. Just like a good lil’ trailer should.

And that brought me to the Bunkhouse Bar & Grill.


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Which can be touch and go. If’n all the local ranchers are in, then it’s good stuff. If’n the tourists are there, then it sucks. I hate ****in’ tourists.

And it was slammed packed with ‘em. Come up from Colorado mainly. Colorado is nothin’ but Wyomin’s Mexico.

Anyways … one and done at the Bunkhouse due to the tourists.

Cool thang tho is just a coupla hun’erd yards up the road, a fella can turn on dirt.

Pop open a beer … and grab 2nd gear.

... and 3rd ... and 4th... and 5th... and 6th.

I ain’t never towed a trailer at 70 mph on dirt … until now. And it was REAL badass. Lil’ trailer just followed right behind me. Just like a good lil’ trailer should.

Cut thru Curt Gowdy State Park and was surprised how many campers were there. And all the new campsites and lil’ campin’ cabins.

Then a short distance on pavement into the Medicine Bow National Forest.
 
I know these roads by heart from when I lived 5 years in Cheyenne. It was good to be back on the mountain.

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But obviously our communist, cock-suckin’, friends at the National Forest Service been busy since I was here.

Headed right to one of my favorite campsites.

Strike 1.


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And the back-up … Strike 2.

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But 3rd times a charm.


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With the tunes workin’ again and no wind, commenced to seriously drinkin' beer well into the night.

People say I gotta drinkin’ problem … but I ain’t got no problem drinkin’ at all.

3849.4 on the odometer.
 
Is this a never-ending trip?? Or do you have to be back in Florida at some point?
 
Is this a never-ending trip?? Or do you have to be back in Florida at some point?


Unfortunately sir … the end is near. :(


DAY 17 Sunday, 04 Oct


Woke up to a right pretty mornin’ at camp. Can just see some smoke on the horizon.

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Added ½ quart of oil and just started runnin’ the roads. Been a good while since I’ve done that. And it was good. Peaceful and calmin’ just to ease ‘round drinkin’ beer and listenin’ to the tunes. And the tight, twisty trails was some good seat time gettin’ used to where the trailer tires end up at any particular time. Just got lost in my lil’ world and didn’t even take no pics.

Until I chose my last camp spot for the trip …


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Bout an hour or so later, winds shifted and brought in a ****in’ mess of heavy fire smoke and ash fallin’. Bummer. Holed up in the trailer and realized I had cell service so streamed a great ol’ western movie named ‘Smoke Signal’. Good s***. I do luv my ol’ westerns.


3869.8 on the odometer.
 
Day 18 Monday, 05 Oct.


Big, BIG day today. Woke up to some light smoke and hit the road quick. Gotta get to town. Lots of s*** to take care of. Coupla hours into Cheyenne and went right to my lil’ storage unit. Filled with my awesome collection of Original Coors stuff I’ve collected over the years. Someday I’ll have a shop again to put it all on display. Anyways … I emptied all the s*** outta of the jeep and from the outside of the trailer and added ‘em to the storage unit.

Went to my bank to get some paperwork and money orders for the new SD vehicle registration process. Got ev’rythang sent off to Americas Mailbox so they can fetch my new tags for me.

Went to the carwash and washed off most of the dust and cow**** off the rig.

Dropped off the lil’ trailer at TNT’s manufacturin’ buildin’ for storage.

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Dropped off the jeep at TNT for a laundry list of small s*** and either the engine repair or replacement.



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3921.1 on the final odometer readin' for this ride.


End of Phase 1 for the trip.



As a review:

Prime Directive #1: No interstate highways. FAIL. Forced to take 5.5 miles of I-80 from Laramie, WY to the top of the pass.

Prime Directive #2: Spend ev’ry night in the Shaggin’ Wagon. WIN. 17 consecutive nights.



Goal #1: Establish South Dakota residency. WIN.

Goal #2: Obtain South Dakota drivers license. WIN.

Goal #3: Drop off jeep for repairs at TNT Customs. WIN.



Which now brings us to Phase 2 of the trip …
 
Gotta rent me a car and drive ‘bout 1800 miles back to Jacksonville, FL. Hated flyin’ even before the flu bug bull**** and ain’t gonna mess with it now for damned sure.

But need to finish the trip strong. Somethin’ lil’ dif’rent to make it worthwhile.

Phone app says 26 hours of actual drivin’ time on the interstates.

I bet I can beat that. In real time … start to finish.

And I’m gonna try to do it topless.
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So rent the car and jam all my clothes and s*** from the trailer into the lil’ piss-ant pony car.


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1310 local time (1510 Eastern)


Blast-off in … 3 … 2 … 1 … GO!!


The key to makin’ time on a long roadtrip ain’t the speedometer … it’s the ****in’ driver’s door. Just gotta leave it closed.

I was able to stretch each tank of fuel to the max and made it on only 4 stops. NASCAR style. Pump in 14 gallons of gas, run in and take a piss and haul ass. No food or water since they just make ya gotta stop extra to piss or s***. Set the cruise control on exactly 7 mph over the posted speed limit and just cruise right by all the cops with no concerns.

This was fuel stop #3 at 0500 (Local time) in Calvert City, Kentucky. 38 degrees. Several folks said I was ****in’ nuts to be drivin’ with the top down and asked if’n it was broken. I told ‘em it worked fine and then assured them I am … indeed … ****in’ nuts.


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Day 19 Tuesday, 05 Oct.



Rolled on in at the house …

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1605 Eastern Time.

24:55 total elapsed time. WIN.

1777 miles with the top down. WIN.



So here’s the deal …

I know damned well this here weren’t no hard-core, 4-wheelin’ adventure. Hell, I was only in 4wd a coupla days. But I don’t owe no apologies to nobody.

I gotta badass jeep and a badass trailer …and they ain’t got nothin’ to prove … and neither do I. What I needed was to get my house in order … to slay the demons in my mind.

I needed a ****in’ roadtrip. I needed time away from my ****in’ work phone. I needed dirt roads. I needed to be campin’. I needed bars. I needed beer.

And I needed to write about it.

Hopefully some of y’all enjoyed readin’ about it as well.

If not … then go read somethin’ else. I don’t give a ****.

My demons are gone. My head's clear. And now it’s time to get back to work.



THE END … OF THIS ONE.
 
Nice story....
did you go back through Albama? :flipoff2:

My son Fernando & like your story...
not necessarily "G Rated" but good story ...

Regards

your Mexi-can Friend

JP
 
Did he say where the leakdown was happening? Valves? Rings?(I suspect rings cuz the compression isn't bad.) Those are some pretty lousy numbers, but all similar. Any idea of the cause?
 
We were pretty sure she was slap worn out. Been burnin' an insane amount of oil. Actually believe it to be both valves and rings at this point.

Shop's gonna tear into it but best option at the moment appears to be just droppin' in a 6.4 Hemi crate motor.

The stroker racin' engine just weren't never meant to be a in a jeep ... much less in a daily driver. Previous owner had a lotta money and the racin' engine was installed for a SEMA show.
 
Just an update on the engine.

Bottom line is the shop that did the s***ty-ass SEMA build back in 2010 or so, claimed to have installed a 6.7L stroker crate motor from Arrington Performance, a high-end hemi shop that at the time was outta NC. When I first bought the jeep, I looked up the engine and it had a whopping $40k price tag. Basic'ly a drag racin' engine.

Arrington Performance has since been sold and moved to VA. The good news is that the new owner got all the old files when he bought the bid'ness. After many weeks of research with the new owner and Bob at TNT Customs, the truth about the engine has been revealed.

And it's a ****in' joke just like the rest of the original SEMA build was.

Despite what was claimed, the engine purchased was NOT purchased as a crate motor. It was not even purchased as a long block. It was a short block. But wait ... it gets even better!

The original builder then proceeded to bolt on stock 5.7 heads and slap in a stock 5.7 cam. Now that's absolutely outstandin'!! It truly takes a special kinda idiot to do that. But it could be advertised as a 6.7 at SEMA ... so life was good.

Regardless, it's garbage now.

And Arrington Performance is gonna help us out with a suitable replacement.

A brand-spanky new Mopar VVT 6.4L 392 Long Block assembled with SR2B Camshaft, MDS Delete, Hellcat Lifters, PSI Springs, and Custom Pushrods.

Available within 2 weeks from time of purchase at $10,250.00 + approx. shipping of $400.00.

Mailin' the check out today. :grinpimp:
 
The silver lining is that the new engine is going to be a night and day difference. We're going to need video of rollin smoke off the 40's.
 
Indeed sir. Consensus amongst the smart people is I'm gonna end up with even more ponies and the cam was chosen just for my manual transmission.

So possibly run more efficient. Which means possibly better fuel mileage ... and more importantly, possibly run cooler.

We'll see.

Targetin' completion end of next month.
 

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