CycloSteve
SILVER Star
Well, finally took the HDJ80 conversion on its' first serious long distance trip. A week before, it served duty taking Scouts up to summer camp in the Sierras, logging 500 miles in the process. No issues whatsoever...so she was deemed ready for her first 3000+ mile roadtrip.
Our long summer trip started in Santa Cruz, with a stop in Bend OR, up to Coeur d'Alene ID for almost a week on the lake with my brother and his family, over to Montana to visit more family, finally down through Yellowstone and the Tetons, and into UT, crossing the NV desert back home.
The truck ran flawlessly. No issues whatsoever, with smooth speeds up to 80mph. Over the 3000 miles traveled, our average fuel consumption for the trip was 21 MPG, with one section of the drive from Dillon MT to Logan UT returning 24.8 MPG. The fuel cost was somewhere around $350 total! The high MPG was mostly due to the lower speed limits in both Yellowstone and the Tetons...yes, the big blue brick is much happier with pushing 50 MPH and sipping fuel. With the dual tanks, we only had to fuel up every other day. Most of the time on the interstate we were simply on cruise control in the 70+ MPH zone, with the AC and radio blasting. Even had some off road time crossing several passes in the Rockies which were dirt/gravel.
On the tech-side of things, EGT's hit a max of 1050 on one section of I80 heading west into a headwind in the middle of the NV desert, going up some long uphill slog at 85 degrees out, pushing 75 MPH, 18PSI boost, AC and cruise on. No worries, and passing everyone without any hesitation. Oh, and yes the truck had three people and two weeks of gear in the back.
Here are a few shots along the way. Ready to fuel up and head north or east soon.
Crater Lake and a local forest fire
Lemhi Pass in Idaho
Buffaloed in Yellowstone
Offroad above Eden UT
Tilting Windmill Blades Near Bonneville Salt Flats
Our long summer trip started in Santa Cruz, with a stop in Bend OR, up to Coeur d'Alene ID for almost a week on the lake with my brother and his family, over to Montana to visit more family, finally down through Yellowstone and the Tetons, and into UT, crossing the NV desert back home.
The truck ran flawlessly. No issues whatsoever, with smooth speeds up to 80mph. Over the 3000 miles traveled, our average fuel consumption for the trip was 21 MPG, with one section of the drive from Dillon MT to Logan UT returning 24.8 MPG. The fuel cost was somewhere around $350 total! The high MPG was mostly due to the lower speed limits in both Yellowstone and the Tetons...yes, the big blue brick is much happier with pushing 50 MPH and sipping fuel. With the dual tanks, we only had to fuel up every other day. Most of the time on the interstate we were simply on cruise control in the 70+ MPH zone, with the AC and radio blasting. Even had some off road time crossing several passes in the Rockies which were dirt/gravel.
On the tech-side of things, EGT's hit a max of 1050 on one section of I80 heading west into a headwind in the middle of the NV desert, going up some long uphill slog at 85 degrees out, pushing 75 MPH, 18PSI boost, AC and cruise on. No worries, and passing everyone without any hesitation. Oh, and yes the truck had three people and two weeks of gear in the back.
Here are a few shots along the way. Ready to fuel up and head north or east soon.
Crater Lake and a local forest fire
Lemhi Pass in Idaho
Buffaloed in Yellowstone
Offroad above Eden UT
Tilting Windmill Blades Near Bonneville Salt Flats
