Foeix,
Can you PM me your email address? Gotta question but no PM capability and didn't want to clog up thread.
Can you PM me your email address? Gotta question but no PM capability and didn't want to clog up thread.
Prepping a High Mileage 80 for a 10K Mile Road Trip
- Thread starter foeix
- Start date
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I am impressed with your preplanning and desire to keep the bride happy. I'd be happy to run some trails with your new family if you are ever near Roanoke. Don't get out ever! Son would love it, bride and daughter are another story.
Yeah I agree with you 100% the 80 is great if you have to carry people out gear but a good dual sport bike still is so much more fun and the days aren't as long. You feel more engaged and less like you just say on your butt all day.
Have Hennesy camped a good bit when solo. I should mention my main off road passion is dual sport motorcycles. I did a Moab / SW CO trip awhile back on 2 wheels. With the wife I need a few more creature comforts - and she is not a rider
I love route planning and have a nice 4x4 friendly loop project for Virginia called the Blue Ridge Trail: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632804 . I am error cooled on ADV.
This is the normal off road set up. Have to be honest - I love covering rough terrain at 25-45 MPH. The 5-20 MPH average of the Cruiser is a little mind numbing
- Thread starter
- #44
255/85r16 Cooper ST Maxx's go on tomorrow and the ARB 37 fridge should be here on Thursday. Will mount it to the Outback Solutions roller top drawer.
I am upgrading the tires on the Fleetwood Neon from 10" / 20.4in boat trailer tires to 13" / 24.4in Load Range D tires. Should give a little lift while still utilizing the factory stabilizers and tongue jack. It needed new tires so this seemed like a natural step.
Will post up some pics - pretty excited.
On the 15th I will be taking the truck in its final form to our local OHV area to put it through it's paces. Not expecting any surprises but you never know.
T-Minus 24 days til the trip
I am upgrading the tires on the Fleetwood Neon from 10" / 20.4in boat trailer tires to 13" / 24.4in Load Range D tires. Should give a little lift while still utilizing the factory stabilizers and tongue jack. It needed new tires so this seemed like a natural step.
Will post up some pics - pretty excited.
On the 15th I will be taking the truck in its final form to our local OHV area to put it through it's paces. Not expecting any surprises but you never know.
T-Minus 24 days til the trip
Most recent camp site in VA
Why its all worth it
Coordinates please!
- Thread starter
- #46
Got the ARB Fridge in last week & mounted it on an Outback Solutions Drawer w/ a Speski barrier. Very happy with the set up.
Also had 5 Cooper ST Maxx 255/85r16's mounted. Did a final shake down run of the truck today in the mountains of VA. We have had a ton of rain and it was a sloppy mess in many places. I don't think I spun the Coopers once with the CDL engaged on 7 miles of muddy jeep trail.
Making some final storage tweaks this week and will hit the road on the 25th of July. Feeling pretty good about the prep work and condition of the truck.
Major shout out to my mechanic Ryan Bascom at OTRAMM in Warrenton ( belowdeckfab here on Mud) who has helped me with the bigger jobs over the years. He PM'ed the head gasket, sorted the front axle and brake system and has helped with the electrical upgrades to name a few. Quality work and stellar communication.
A snapshot of the run today:
Also had 5 Cooper ST Maxx 255/85r16's mounted. Did a final shake down run of the truck today in the mountains of VA. We have had a ton of rain and it was a sloppy mess in many places. I don't think I spun the Coopers once with the CDL engaged on 7 miles of muddy jeep trail.
Making some final storage tweaks this week and will hit the road on the 25th of July. Feeling pretty good about the prep work and condition of the truck.
Major shout out to my mechanic Ryan Bascom at OTRAMM in Warrenton ( belowdeckfab here on Mud) who has helped me with the bigger jobs over the years. He PM'ed the head gasket, sorted the front axle and brake system and has helped with the electrical upgrades to name a few. Quality work and stellar communication.
A snapshot of the run today:
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- Thread starter
- #47
Got the storage set up in its final form. Half drawer with roller top w/ Fridge, the other half a large airtight, waterproof harding box. Lesser used items in the Hardigg and more frequent things in the drawers. Clothes and toiletries in duffles.
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I just did over 3600 miles easy. Could've kept going but arrived at home. Toying with the idea of an Alaska road trip next year. Nice rig. You'll be fine. Enjoy it.
- Thread starter
- #49
Just got a set of spares / critical parts from @beno - Fusible Link Set, EFI Relay, Fuel Pump Relay and set of belts.
antsy and ready to roll
antsy and ready to roll
Sounds like you have done all your homework. Y'all are going to have a great time on this trip and I doubt you have any trouble from the LC.
In the rare event that you do have trouble, post up on the forum. This forum is chock full of good Samaritans willing to help.
In the rare event that you do have trouble, post up on the forum. This forum is chock full of good Samaritans willing to help.
This is exactly the kind of adventure I'd like to do with my wife some day. Good luck and safe travels.
- Thread starter
- #52
Left DC area this morning. Ran 650 miles / 11 hours to Nashville. Truck performed very well.
Only two small issues - a leaking passenger side AirLift airbag and I forgot to strap down the battery box top after quick stop. Will address both in the next few days.
A few observations:
Moving average 53MPH, top speed 79MPH - aimed for 65-69MPH / 2000-2400 RPM most of the way.
Ambient temp 83-92 fahrenheit.
Coolant temp per scan gauge ranged when warm from 181 - 195 fahrenheit. Truck spent most of the day between 186-190 fahrenheit - very happy with this considering the load, ambient temp and 1300lb trailer.
Filled up twice - once in VA for $3.19 and once in TN for $3.29. Averaged (adjusted for tires) 13.7MPG first tank, 13.1MPG second tank. This is in rolling, mountainous terrain - sometimes cresting 4K RPM while ascending. Hoping to see closer to 14-15MPG when on flats across the midwest.
Again - big thanks to @Belowdeckfab for helping me prep the vehicle. I have another ~7K miles to go - but this was pretty reassuring.
A few pics:
Only two small issues - a leaking passenger side AirLift airbag and I forgot to strap down the battery box top after quick stop. Will address both in the next few days.
A few observations:
Moving average 53MPH, top speed 79MPH - aimed for 65-69MPH / 2000-2400 RPM most of the way.
Ambient temp 83-92 fahrenheit.
Coolant temp per scan gauge ranged when warm from 181 - 195 fahrenheit. Truck spent most of the day between 186-190 fahrenheit - very happy with this considering the load, ambient temp and 1300lb trailer.
Filled up twice - once in VA for $3.19 and once in TN for $3.29. Averaged (adjusted for tires) 13.7MPG first tank, 13.1MPG second tank. This is in rolling, mountainous terrain - sometimes cresting 4K RPM while ascending. Hoping to see closer to 14-15MPG when on flats across the midwest.
Again - big thanks to @Belowdeckfab for helping me prep the vehicle. I have another ~7K miles to go - but this was pretty reassuring.
A few pics:
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- Thread starter
- #54
Pulled into Ouray, CO last night. Covered 2300 miles in 72 hours. After Nashvegas ran straight thru to OK City. Ran OK City to Ouray with a long stop in Albuquerque. Nice pucker factor with trailer on 550 at 2AM into Ouray with rain.
Averaging 13.4MPG across the highway so far. Water temperature hit 200° once or twice pulling up passes in 95°+ weather - but otherwise bouncing around 186° to 190°.
Tried to address the AirBag leak today… still leaking but whatever, not really impacting the towing. Put a nice deep gauge in the ring around the rear diff drain plug today over a pass, it will be interesting removing the drain plug next time, probably with a grinder and replaced with a hex head bolt. Not leaking. Brakes were pulsing a bit after running the mountains today.. hopefully didn't smoke the rotors, tried to hang in first gear in Low most the time.
Staying here in Ouray for a few more days, then off to the Gunnison NF - Black Canyon. Gonna run from CO to Moab via John Brown Canyon Rd and then amble around Utah and N. NV for a week until Lake Tahoe. After Tahoe the plan is ID, MT, WY to OBX.
Averaging 13.4MPG across the highway so far. Water temperature hit 200° once or twice pulling up passes in 95°+ weather - but otherwise bouncing around 186° to 190°.
Tried to address the AirBag leak today… still leaking but whatever, not really impacting the towing. Put a nice deep gauge in the ring around the rear diff drain plug today over a pass, it will be interesting removing the drain plug next time, probably with a grinder and replaced with a hex head bolt. Not leaking. Brakes were pulsing a bit after running the mountains today.. hopefully didn't smoke the rotors, tried to hang in first gear in Low most the time.
Staying here in Ouray for a few more days, then off to the Gunnison NF - Black Canyon. Gonna run from CO to Moab via John Brown Canyon Rd and then amble around Utah and N. NV for a week until Lake Tahoe. After Tahoe the plan is ID, MT, WY to OBX.
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Fun stuff. Just finished our own 5,000 mile trip out west. Cruisers are made for this.
Have an awesome time, Dave. We just returned from our 7 week trip out west, and it went by quick - sans the engine swap 
Have a great, safe trip, and keep posting pictures.
Have a great, safe trip, and keep posting pictures.
- Thread starter
- #57
A few more pics. Sitting n Southern Utah at the moment. Headed over to Great Basin National Park tomorrow.
Have seen some high temps and some water temp spikes - especially pullng the rig w/ trailer up to the Black Canyon and across I-70 to Salina in 90+ weather. WT Peaked at 220 - but dropped quickly. When I have seen the temps crest 205 I have preemptively turned off the AC - probably unnecessary in reality.
I have been pulling grades dropped into second gear and letting the truck sit at 3500+RPM. It seems much happier this way rather then bouncing back from 3rd to 2nd and so on - and I can maintain 55MPH+.
Averaging around 12.5MPG across the whole trip so far - which is what I expected. Have seen a definitely performance loss at high altitude as expected.
The ol' rig is humming and rolling along real nice like. Planning on an oil change, tire rotation and chassis lube in south Lake Tahoe - about 600 miles.
Camping in Ouray at Amphitheater
the black canyon and camping @ blue mesa reservoir
unaweep tabeguache byway - gateway co to moab ut
canyonlands - the shafer trail and long canyon
Have seen some high temps and some water temp spikes - especially pullng the rig w/ trailer up to the Black Canyon and across I-70 to Salina in 90+ weather. WT Peaked at 220 - but dropped quickly. When I have seen the temps crest 205 I have preemptively turned off the AC - probably unnecessary in reality.
I have been pulling grades dropped into second gear and letting the truck sit at 3500+RPM. It seems much happier this way rather then bouncing back from 3rd to 2nd and so on - and I can maintain 55MPH+.
Averaging around 12.5MPG across the whole trip so far - which is what I expected. Have seen a definitely performance loss at high altitude as expected.
The ol' rig is humming and rolling along real nice like. Planning on an oil change, tire rotation and chassis lube in south Lake Tahoe - about 600 miles.
Camping in Ouray at Amphitheater
the black canyon and camping @ blue mesa reservoir
unaweep tabeguache byway - gateway co to moab ut
canyonlands - the shafer trail and long canyon
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Foeix - the drive from Gateway to Moab is one of my favorites, though I have always done it the reverse starting in Moab coming off of Onion Creek road and winding across to Gateway.
I am enjoying following your posts ....
Misspellings courtesy of autocorrect from my iPad using IH8MUD Forum
I am enjoying following your posts ....
Misspellings courtesy of autocorrect from my iPad using IH8MUD Forum
- Thread starter
- #60
8159 miles of pavement, dirt and gravel covered. 32 days on the road. 23 states, 7 national parks & 24 national forests visited, 619 gallons of fuel burned and 0 mechanical issues.
Odometer showed 193,389 pulling into Falls Church this evening on the old Land Cruiser.
More pics in a few..
Odometer showed 193,389 pulling into Falls Church this evening on the old Land Cruiser.
More pics in a few..
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