Pappy's September Adventure: Plan B

[pappy]

Camp the last night. The BDR route from Primm to Nipton was a royal pain. It followed along train tracks on an unmaintained railroad right of way. It was horrible. Plus, it was late in the day and I was getting desperate for camp. On my map I could see a road that went up into the hills. It was on the north side of the tracks. I was on the south side of the tracks. Was there a way under? Lucky for me, yes. I crossed under the tracks and drove up a BLM road a bit and made camp in the desert. As it turned out, there was a house just down from where I camped, all alone along the tracks. But, most important, there was a BLM road on the north side of the tracks that went to Nipton. There was no way I was jumping on that miserable railroad right of way. This was the only section of NVBDR in California.

 

[pappy]

Last day, the barn door is screaming my name. I blast through Nipton, Searchlight, Lake Mead NRA, Laughlin, Bullhead City, to the route's end in Oatman, AZ. From there, the twisty, winding road out to I-40. Then the long drive home, thankfully, with a tailwind.

I'm curious what kind of recreation you can do at Lake Mead. They don't leave much available. I should have taken a picture of the sign at the north end. It had a lot more "nos" on it.

Oatman. I came. I saw. I photographed. I got the hell out of town pointed for home.

 

[evanz80]

Awesome! Great pics and stories. Those huge trees (in Washington, I think?) were especially impressive. I also enjoyed all the pictures of the rivers. It's a good reminder that other places don't look like NM. Thanks for sharing!

 

[alia176]

This place was weird. Just, weird.

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That ain't weird, that's art baby, art expression......

Did you make it to the Black Rock hot springs?

 

[pappy]

That ain't weird, that's art baby, art expression......

Did you make it to the Black Rock hot springs?

Nope. They were at the other side of the state.

 

[2manycruisers]

thanks for sharing, Pappy. That's beautiful country you passed through. 28 days is a helluva trip, too.

 

[Pyro-boy]

Great photos and story!

 

[alia176]

Pappy, talk about how have you been improving the ergonomics in your rig that allowed such a sustained journey. How is your body?

 

[pappy]

Pappy, talk about how have you been improving the ergonomics in your rig that allowed such a sustained journey. How is your body?

I did five things to make this trip comfortable, or as comfortable as a leaf-sprung buckboard can be.

1) New suspension. I took off the old, stiff, AllPro 4" springs I had in front, and installed 2.5" OME. This did two things. It lowered the truck making it easier to get into, and it softened the ride. I kept the Alcan in the rear.

2) New seat. I pulled the Corbeau Moab seat I had, which was miserably uncomfortable, and installed a Mastercraft Baja RS. This seat was night and day the best improvement I made. I would not have been able to do a trip like this with the Corbeau seat.

3) Sound insulation. I put butyl/foil sound deadening in the truck. I did not get everything I wanted done. The only surfaces I did were the sides of the truck from the tailgate to the front doors. This did make a big difference, but I really need to insulate the floor too.

4) New exhaust. I pulled the Mangaflow muffler I had out and put in a slightly quieter Flowmaster.

5) New foam in the RT. OK, this was not something I did to the truck, but it did help me recover after a day on the trails. The foam that came with the tent was 2.5" thick. I replaced it with 3" medium density foam with a 1" memory foam mattress topper. There were only a few nights where I wasn't comfortable. Most of the time I didn't sleep well was because I was cold, not because of the foam.

I can honestly say that even though I was driving 6-10mph over baby-heads all day I did not feel beat up at the end of the day.

I actually made a list of things I did to get ready for this trip. It was divided into Comfort and (P)Maintenance/Repair. Other "comfort" things I did was the WeBoost cell booster, and replace the old stereo.

 

[pappy]

Maintenance/Preventative Maintenance/Repairs made before I left. Some of this is common sense.

• In addition to the new springs up front I replaced all the spring bushings, front and rear, with OEM rubber, instead of poly.
• Spark plugs.
• Oil change.
• Air filter.
• New fuel injectors. Mine were leaking bad and replacement resulted in better starting and running.
• New fuel filter for the new injectors.
• New fuel pump, because it died in the Jemez.
• Replaced a few hoses on the Aux fuel tank that were 30 years old and leaking.
• Clutch. The input seal on my new Marlin tranny was leaking and soaked the clutch. NOTE: I found out the hard way that ToyoMasters installed the TC shifter in wrong. Right when I needed low range it would not "J" over. This was fixed in camp. And yes, I was glad to have the second TC at that moment.
• Replaced the clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder, and the 35 year old rubber hose to the slave.
• New tires. As I've already said I went from 33x12.50-15 to 32x11.50-15 with the reduced lift. I also went from BFG KO/2 to Falken Wildpeak A/T. Yes, I like the Falken.

 

[alia176]

Thanks for the writeup Pappy. It shows how much we undervalue the need to be comfortable in our older rigs. Three things destroy a driver NVH - noise, vibration and harshness. Once you reduce all of them, your fatigue level reduces drastically and the trip can last longer. Good job young man

 

[pappy]

Thanks for the writeup Pappy. It shows how much we undervalue the need to be comfortable in our older rigs. Three things destroy a driver NVH - noise, vibration and harshness. Once you reduce all of them, your fatigue level reduces drastically and the trip can last longer. Good job young man

I have one vibration issue I need to resolve. It was driveline related. I couldn't get the truck much over 65mph without excessive vibration. I noticed, by accident, that reducing the weight on the rear bumper (empty jerry can) seemed to help a bit. I think it might be driveshaft/pinion angle related, though it doesn't look that bad. I have a DC in the rear. Since I reduced the lift in the truck I'm thinking of going back to a u-joint driveshaft and ditch the DC in the rear. With the high-pinion diff in the front, I might do the same up there.

 

[marcfj60]

5) New foam in the RT. OK, this was not something I did to the truck, but it did help me recover after a day on the trails. The foam that came with the tent was 2.5" thick. I replaced it with 3" medium density foam with a 1" memory foam mattress topper. There were only a few nights where I wasn't comfortable. Most of the time I didn't sleep well was because I was cold, not because of the foam.

Last year I added a 3" memory foam topper to the crappy mattresses in my camper and it made a HUGE difference. Previously, I was inflating my self-inflating sleeping pads on top of the crappy foam mattresses and I got tired of that extra step when setting up and tearing down camp. The mattresses it came with were just not stout enough for my heavy butt and would compress all the way to the plywood. I tried putting just the memory foam toppers in and they would compress all they way to the plywood too. I tried adding some high density foam play mats under the memory foam. Not enough to be comfortable. Finally I just left the original mattresses with the foam topper and it was a Goldilocks moment. The only problem is that the mattress is now a little thick for easily closing the roof on the popup so I have to hang on the roof enough to compress the foam while someone else secures the latch. I'm not as old as you but I am old enough that a good mattress makes a world of difference for being well rested the next day.

 

[Chompers]

Cows are dumb.

You Meant Delicious?!

 

[OGBeno]

Awesome trip report, Jon. Pretty spectacular areas you went through.

Thanks for sharing. It's a life line to displaced former NM denizens. (I feel like David when he was out pounding the pavement in DC).

 

[pappy]

Awesome trip report, Jon. Pretty spectacular areas you went through.

Thanks for sharing. It's a life line to displaced former NM denizens. (I feel like David when he was out pounding the pavement in DC).

Well, we have all said it. You are welcome to come back.

 

[WCBlueSky]

So amazing, I grew up in Idaho, love it.

 

[Poupon]

Thanks Pappy. You put a lot of time developing this storyline and it is much appreciated.

I hope I can do this kind of thing when I retire.

Cheers!

 

[liveoak]

I just recently returned from a Mojave trip and the nighttime temps got below freezing in the area I was in. I have to say that memory foam gets really stiff around 45 degrees F and is not comfortable. luckily my mattress was a combo with foam so I could flip it over. My buddy had just bought a memory foam pillow and we all had a good laugh when he held it by one end and it was stiff as a board. imagine waking up in the morning with a memory foam pillow stuck on your head because you warmed up the middle and sank into it.