Three Dudes, One Truck - Rubicon or Bust

[FJ60Cam]

At the next gas stop, we decide to keep the truck running. It does, but only about half-way through the fillup and then dies. We use the same method to get the truck started and back on the road.

It's getting late and we are getting tired. If we could make it to Amarillo, one long day would get us home. We do the math and decide there's just no way we are making it to Amarillo. Tucumcari, NM is the last big city before Amarillo, so we set our sights on it as we enjoy another desert sunset.

 

[FJ60Cam]

The truck seemed to be running okay. But the temp gauge is running much warmer now. Not hot but definitely warmer than before. We attribute (i.e. cross our fingers) that to the much warmer temps we are driving through. More troubling, however, is the check engine light that has started to flash every once in a while.

We pull into the motel in Tucumcari, afraid to turn the truck off until we park in front of our room. I check the code and its a "lean" condition code. I try and start the truck and it fires right up.

We noticed when we filled up in the heat of the day that the tank had built up a lot of pressure. We come up with a theory that the violent escape of fumes (from opening the gas cap) sucks the fuel out of the line.

Our new plan is to SLOWLY open the cap when we fill up.

By the time we get to Tucumcari, the town has shut down completely so there aren't too many dinner options. We saddle up to a table at Denny's with low expectations and are completely surprised when they bring out a respectable burger.

 

[lostinafog]

Sensory overload or not, we are determined to see this meteor crater that we missed out earlier.

great place many I mean many moons ago we could go to the bottom of the crater an awesome place!

a great read Cam brings back a lot of memories keep it coming

 

[FJ60Cam]

Day Thirteen - Thursday 6/27.

854 miles to go.

By 8:00 in the morning, it is already hot out. The highs for the day were expected to be between 105-109, so we needed to get a move on.

We slowly made our way out of New Mexico and across the Texas panhandle. I took a peek at the temp gauge and check engine light every minute or so. No check engine light so far, but the truck was running a little hotter than I would have liked, just enough to make me paranoid. I checked the coolant level before we left (it was full), so we chalked it up to it being hot out. We tried our new method of slowly opening the gas cap at fillups and that seemed to keep fuel in the line.

We are now out of Texas and into Oklahoma, I'm driving and my dad is in the back seat. Everything seemed to be going just fine, and we are being lulled into the trance of interstate travel, when out of the blue... our guardian angel taps my dad on the shoulder...

"CAMERON!!! LOOK AT THE TEMP GAUGE!!!" my dad shouts. I look down and it is PEGGED! I pull over immediately, turn off the AC, and turn on the front and rear heaters. But there is no heat coming out. At all. Just room temperature air. I have no idea how long we have been overheating, but I'm guessing long enough to run every drop of coolant out since it isn't blowing hot air.

I look around and decide we are in a bad spot to stay parked. There isn't much flat shoulder and there are a lot of trucks flying by. There's an overpass just in front of us, so I start the truck and move to the other side of the overpass so we'll have some shade and the huge concrete pillars for a little protection from runaway vehicles.

I pop the hood and the radiator sounds PISSED! I spit on it and the spit vaporizes immediately. It sounds like it is boiling inside and I can hear it letting pressure out of the overflow hose. I look around and don't see any loose or disconnected hoses, so I decide we will just pull out the camp chairs and sit in the shade and wait for it to cool down before we check it out.

 

[FJ60Cam]

As you can tell by the pic, Andrew doesn't seem to appreciate our predicament

In his mind, the truck breaks & dad fixes it. Simple. He doesn't realize that at home I've had a chance to diagnose the problem, order parts and work on it at our convenience in the carport. And if I can't fix it, we carpool with Mom until I can.

He doesn't realize that we are in BFE Oklahoma, in 100+ temps with a way-overheated engine and no clue yet what has happened. That's the last thing on his mind.

Nope, he needs to go POOP. NOW

He wants me to get the camping potty out, but it's too deep in the truck and I am in NO mood to get it out. I tell him he's got to poop on the ground. I hand him off to my dad and he proceeds to go drop a deuce behind the concrete retaining barriers with trucks whizzing by just a few feet away.

I turn my attention to the truck, which has cooled off enough that I deem it safe enough to open the radiator cap. I don a leather glove and a towel and open it to the safety stop. There's no steam or boiling water coming out so I take if off. I pour all of the half-full jug of coolant I have into the radiator. It takes another 16oz bottle of water before it is full.

This confuses me because it isn't missing enough coolant to overheat, so I take a better look around the engine compartment. That's when I notice the belt missing from the water pump and dangling off the crank.

SWEET!!! I've got a spare belt! I can fix this sh!t!!

Then it hits me, the belt is still intact. The belt isn't the problem. So I look to see why it has come off.

The bearing in the idler pulley (that replaces the smog pump) has seized, which caused the belt to shear the pulley in half. So now there is no way to tension the belt.

 

[FJ60Cam]

I remember seeing a thread somewhere on 'Mud about being able to bypass the smog pump and running the water pump off the other groove on the pulley. The only downside is that you lose power steering.

I pull out my phone and try searching for it using the 'Mud app. I'm not having any luck. It doesn't seem to work as good as the web browser, not to mention I don't have the patience to read every line of every thread at this instant. Also I don't have the best signal so searching is slow. And my sweaty hands aren't workin' the touch screen too good.

Just then I hear voices and I turn around and see some guy handing my dad some bottles of water, so cold they are dripping with condensation. He tells us that he saw us a while back, went home, and grabbed all the waters he had in the fridge. He only saw two of us (Andrew was pooping), but he grabbed every last water he had.

He offers to help, and tells us there's some parts stores at the next exit. He offers to drive us to pick up whatever we need. I take a look at him. He looks at least 25% trustworthy - he did bring us some water after all. My dad says he and Andrew will stay with the truck so I can go with him.

I grab the broken idler pulley thinking maybe I can find something that will work, grab my new water, and hop in his car and we take off.

 

[Elbert]

Great adventrue/trip.... Be "cool" if we could get up a group run to do something like this. Thanks for posting up all the notes and pics.

 

[FJ60Cam]

We pull up to NAPA, where I show the clerk my pulley and ask if he possibly has something like it. I don't care if I have to buy a power steering pump from a Ford Taurus, as long as the pulley will work.

He asks the application and I laugh because this is a homebrew part JimC made in his mom's basement with lawnmower parts. He takes some measurements, pulls out a catalog, and disappears into the shelving.

He comes back, but the look on his face tells me he doesn't have it. He breaks the news gently, but says there is an ACE Hardware a few blocks away and they sell lawnmower parts.

Earlier, back on the side of the interstate, I posted the breakdown pic on Facebook saying that we made it 4000 miles, but we have finally busted. Now, in NAPA, Woody comments on my photo and says that Cruiser Corps is in Oklahoma City and sends their phone number.

I turn to the good Samaritan and ask how far we are from Oklahoma City. He says that the overpass we are parked at was the first exit to OKC. Hot Damn!!! I google the address and we are just a few miles away. YES!!! But then I realize that unless they have an idler pulley setup for replacing smog pumps, then I am probably SOL. I call and they confirm my hunch. They don't have anything that will work unless I want to come dig through their boneyard.

As we are heading over to ACE, I comment back to Woody asking if he knows anything about this belt thingy that I could have sworn I have run across before.

The guy in ACE is very helpful, but ultimately does not have anything we can use. Little do I know that hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away, in an un-disclosed location, Woody has fired up his NSA-rivaling super computer and is tunneling deep into the bowels of 'Mud, unearthing the very information that could get us back on the road.

We are getting back in the car when the message comes through. "The part number you need is a TR22495, run it from the crank to water pump to alternator." He also sends a link to the thread where this info comes straight from JimC himself.

We get back in the car, and head back to NAPA. The good Samaritan, who by now has given us over an hour of his time, promises that he doesn't mind helping. I realize I've spent all this time with this guy that's helping us and we haven't not yet introduced ourselves. So, I turn and extend my hand "Sooo, my name's Cameron..."

We both bust out laughing.

 

[lenross1]

tell me more, tell me more!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

. "The part number you need is a TR22495, run it from the crank to water pump to alternator.".

Ordered for the stash. Keep it coming!

 

[FJ60Cam]

We get back to NAPA with the park number, but they don't have one in stock. But the store across town does. And it is now rush hour. And they are closing soon. My new best friend, Tom, assures me he doesn't mind driving me over there. So we rush off.

We have about an hour round trip, so this gives us plenty of time to tell each other our life stories. I'll save that for another time. But we make it to the store just in the nick of time and get the belt.

We happened to pull the truck over about 200 yards from an exit ramp. Tom asks if I think my dad could limp it to the exit so they could sit in some AC somewhere while they wait for us. I relay the idea to my dad. My dad barely makes it to McDonalds where he gets Andrew hopped up on some Sprite.

We are now back where Tom drops me off at McDonalds. I resist the urge to hug him (I've only know him two hours, after all.) He absolutely refuses any payment or beer, but he does give me his number in case I have any more problems.

Three wrenches and five minutes later and the new belt is on. It fits like a glove. I top off the water that my dad spewed out of the radiator when he moved the truck, and crank 'er up. She runs like nothing ever happened. I wash my hands, get a big water from McD's and start to back out of my spot - %$#@ the steering is heavy now!

Back on the interstate...

 

[lenross1]

That drive out west is hell on a vehicle. This story just keeps getting better and better.

 

[FJ60Cam]

It is now 6:00 p.m. and we are 500 miles from home. We've already pulled a 10 hour shift. The easy thing to do would be to make it to Fort Smith, AR and call it a day.

Earlier in the day, 350 miles and 3 hours of breakdowns ago, we thought we might surprise Stephanie by powering through and making it home around midnight. We told her we'd be home mid-day Friday. If we got home tonight it would make her year.

But now it is 6:00 in the evening and we still have a full day of driving ahead of us. Fort Smith (if we can even make it that far) is looking mighty appealing.

But we are Mosley's by Gawd. And after all we've seen and experienced on this awesome trip, having Father's Day together on the road, having Andrew's birthday on the Rubicon, being in the right place at the right time to see the fighter jet, all the coincidences that lined up just perfectly when we overheated, it is becoming very obvious...

...that just like the Blues Brothers, WE ARE ON A MISSION FROM GOD.

We must complete the mission!

 

[FJ60Cam]

We make it to Fort Smith and get some dinner. We saddle up to a booth a Long John Silvers and wait on all that fried fishy goodness that I remember from childhood memories.

Man what a letdown. But at least we got to sit down for a little bit.

It's after 9:00 now and we are starting to get a little tired. We still have over 300 miles to go. We need some high octane coffee. We can't stomach any more truck stop coffee, so we lug our mugs and giant thermos into Starbucks.

We plop them on the counter only to be told that there's no coffee left. No coffee left??? At Starbucks??? WTH???

It's probably because they were a few minutes away from closing.

The lady looks at us and can tell that we are on a mission. "Give me just a minute" she says. She made a mini-batch just for us. When we go to ring up, she says "no charge, its on the house." We insist, but she refuses. We toss some money in the tip jar and run out the door before she can change her mind.

We get back on the highway, only one more stop for gas until we are home.

But a few miles down the road, we quickly have to pull over on the shoulder...

FOR A 200,000 MILE ODOMETER MONEY SHOT

 

[lenross1]

turning 200,000 on the Rubitrip! epic!

 

[tcb]

turning 200,000 on the Rubitrip! epic!

truth.

 

[DSRTRDR]

 

[FJ60Cam]

At the next rest area, me and my dad switch off and he takes over the driving duties. I promptly slip into a coma.

A few hours later, somewhere deep in the middle of Arkansas, I am awakened to the feeling truck slowing down and driving on the rumble strips and the flashing of blue strobe lights. We are getting pulled over.

The officer approaches on my side. I've already turned on the domelight, so I roll down my window.

He asks where we're headed and all that stuff, and then tells us that the license plate light is out. I'm getting paranoid, because in the rush building the bumper and the other activities before we left, I never moved the license plate. It is still partially hidden by the spare. We act surprised and are expecting a ticket or worse. But no, he just gives us a friendly verbal warning and sends us back on our way.

Now that I'm awake. I start thinking that maybe I shouldn't surprise Stephanie after all. It will be after 3:00 in the morning before we get home, and I know the dogs are gonna freak when we pull up. Then she'll wake up thinking she's getting robbed or something.

So I send her a text and tell her to act surprised for Andrew.

A few hours later, and we are finally crossing the Mississipi River!

 

[FJ60Cam]

We drop my dad and his gear off and head home. We finally pull in the driveway around 4:00 a.m.

Fourteen awesome days, 4,555 miles and we are HOME!!!


What a f***ing trip!

-----The End-----

 

[MEMCruiser]

We drop my dad and his gear off and head home. We finally pull in the driveway around 4:00 a.m.

Fourteen awesome days, 4,555 miles and we are HOME!!!

What a f***ing trip!

-----The End-----

Like finishing a good book, I am a little sad.

Great trip write up. Wish I could put a milder version of that trip together with my dad and Jack.