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View Full Version : Las Cruces to....ah sh*t



Fredo
03-16-2003, 02:25 AM
Ok, I know there are some good trip home stories from this spring break. I know Tate has a good one and I'm sure other people do too, so let's hear 'em. Here's mine and St.John's adventure back to Dallas.

Las Cruces to Dallas, TX.
est. driving time-10 hours
actual driving time-14.5 hours

We left Las Cruces late due to having to reseal the rear diff after the last day of wheeling's bashing, duct tape up the bottoms of the taillights from the bashing they recieved so we wouldn't get hassled by state troopers much like we did on the trip there, pack the cherokee like refugees fleeing Cuba, and help tate put his Bronco of death back together. So Ryan and I get on the road and are heading along...crusing fairly well, and about the state line we decide the Cherokee is swaying and wandering too bad to keep driving like it was. So we pull over to find out we didn't put enough air in the tires and also lost a swaybar disconnect pin somewhere between Cruces and the State line. So we found a bolt and jammed in it in there and put duct tape on it and went on down the road. In El Paso we decide to stop at the Harley Davidson dealer and check it out. For those of you that don't know, Barnett Harley Davidson in El Paso is the world's largest harley dealer. So we stopped, checked it out, and got back on the road. About an Hour later, we notice something smells like burning and low and behold, the Cherokee was on fire! Ryan slams on the brakes and we dart to the shoulder and proceed to chunk luggage all over the side of I-10. What we quickly discovered was that somewhere in our week of wheeling, the muffler had been pushed up into the floorboard and once we got up to highway speeds, it got hot enough to catch the carpet padding on the inside, behind the passenger seat on fire. So we ended up dumping our cooler out onto the fire and got it all out. Luckily we had a prybar that we moved the exhaust back down with. But, we still had one little problem. There somehow was a hole in the floorboard about the size of a baseball. This hole let in a lot of heat/noise/exhaust, so after we got packed back up, we rolled the windows down and proceeded to cruise with caution all the way to Midland. Once there, we located a Home Depot for all our hole repair needs.
We purchased the following from home depot:
1 $20 drill
1 pair metal shears
1 22 guage piece of sheet metal
1 box self tapping screws
1 roll foil sealant tape

We then proceeded to look for a place with a 110 outlet to plug our drill in. We found our power requirements at the local Albertson's where they had a row of coke machines plugged in. Once power was established and a slew of cokes were getting warm, we constructed a floor patch panel that would rival the most cunning of rednecks' best creations. (Once I get my pictures uploaded, I'll do a "trail fix" writeup on it)

By this time, it's about 8:30, so we grab some food and fill up and get back on the road. The trip was pretty uneventful after that until we arrived back in Dallas. Ryan dropped me off at my parent's house at 4:30am and apparently they didn't think I was going to get home that night, so they locked the house up and went to bed. Luckily I found an unlocked window in the kitchen to climb through. The next morning ryan was going to drive back to my house and drop off all my stuff we didn't bother to unpack the night before and his jeep wouldn't have any of that. So we spent yesterday and part of today chasing electrical issues finally determining that the coil was dead. Now all I have to do is make it back to College Station. :( Hope I make it.

Shaggy
03-16-2003, 11:03 PM
ok you asked for it... here is my story

well first of all i left cruces at 11:30... had to drive slow because my steering was a little fubared... every 20 miles or so i would realize that i spead up too much when i would start to swerve around like a drunkass... well then i made it to el paso... there i stoped to grab a bite and call the parents and let them know about the whole ordeal Now that i had cell phone reception... i also had to stop because the exaust coming in through my back window had made me a little light headed... well when leaving i rolled all the windows up so as to not suck in the air through the back window which worked quite well... it was hot as hell in there with the windows up but i had a gallon of water to keep me alive... i finally made it to siera blanca where my 'burban and trailor had been for several days now... i loaded the bronco on the trailor and proceded to take the back driveshaft off the 'burban... i realized it was the slip kind up front and tranny fluid would jus dump out without it on... so i stuck it back on and decided to try and drive it with it on there... i left sierra blanca around 5ish... and then proceded toward waco... had to stop several times because it would pop out of 4 wheel drive and i didnt wanna take any chances as to not being sure if it was really a shift on the fly unit in there... well i cruzed on and stoped every once n a while to let the transfercase and front diff cool off and to take naps... i arrived in waco at 7:30am... so it took me right at 20 hours to get from cruces to waco... but my story isnt over yet... i borrowed my mechanics truck to go and get the trailor/bronco... i came to cs and slept for about 2 hours and started to search for someone to ride with me... davido said he would go and we decided to take his truck... we left the house at 10:40pm... at about 2am dave got in the back and went to sleep and left me to drive his new truck...after about 20 miles of being nervous driving someone's brand new truck i was ok... a while later it started to pour so hard i could hardly see 3 feet in front of the truck... but that eventually passed... dave woke up and we stoped for fuel and he took over the driving at about 7:45am... we made it to the trailor and hooked up and headed back... we had to stop at several places to get a connector from a 7-prong to a 4 prong flat wire connection but we got that all settled... grabbed some brakefast and then hit the road again... we decided to take 290 and cut through austin to save some time... all i gotta say is whoever designed the road system in austin can suck my balls... it took much too long to get through there... we made it home around 7:45pm so this trip took right about 20 hours aswell... we then unloaded the bronco and then loaded up the dead pathfinder that has been sitting in front of the house since before i lived here and took it over to kaleb's new place... unloading it off the trailor was interesting... dave wasnt big enough to push it on the incline so we both did with noone in the thing... it took off rolling back toward a fence with noone in it... dave and myself both ran towards it but then just stoped when we realized that the grass would stop it... we then went back to the house and our journey was over....
and that's my story and i'm stickin' to it:D

bburris
03-16-2003, 11:21 PM
punctuation helps :flipoff2:

let me know if this is right:

You started towing with the Sub - Bronco on trailer. Sub broke, left it with trailer in Sierra Blanca. Drove Bronco to Las Cruces. Wheeled. Drove Bronco back to Sierra Blanca, put it back on trailer and towed it back home to Waco. Then you drove your mechanic's truck to CS??? Then you and Dave-O went to Waco in his truck, picked up the Bronco, brought it back to CS?

Things are a little fuzzy, let me know if I interpreted your story correctly...

Shaggy
03-16-2003, 11:42 PM
Originally posted by bburris
punctuation helps :flipoff2:

let me know if this is right:

You started towing with the Sub - Bronco on trailer. Sub broke, left it with trailer in Sierra Blanca. Drove Bronco to Las Cruces. Wheeled. Drove Bronco back to Sierra Blanca, put it back on trailer and towed it back home to Waco. Then you drove your mechanic's truck to CS??? Then you and Dave-O went to Waco in his truck, picked up the Bronco, brought it back to CS?

Things are a little fuzzy, let me know if I interpreted your story correctly...
na i drove just the sub to waco... and then went back to sierra blanca for the trailor/bronco... and what the hell is wrong with runon sentences:flipoff2:

Shaggy
03-16-2003, 11:52 PM
oh and did anyone else get assrammed by fuel prices... i just added up all my fuel and i spent $611.07 i think i might have actually used more fuel than those of you who went on to arizona... how bad did ya'll do

Chadnutz
03-17-2003, 07:12 AM
Ouch. That's part of the reason I didn't go. The other part is that my truck sucks atm!

stinger7401
03-17-2003, 07:59 AM
i think i spent a little over 350.00. We got close to 12 mpg for most of the trip with the chevy 2500 HD and a 6.0L.

davido
03-17-2003, 02:16 PM
How did that thing pull? How much weight were you pulling? Only got about 8 - 9 MPG hauling Tate's Bronco back. It was about 8k with the trailer.

BMFScout
03-17-2003, 02:48 PM
The Dragula got 10-11 mpg when I went 70 instead of 80, 80 mph netted 6.7 mpg, ouch...:eek:

Graystroke
03-17-2003, 02:54 PM
Hey david,
I thought the cool thing about diesels was that they get 16-18mpg unloaded and 16-18mpg loaded. 6-8mpg sounds like you have 8.1 under the hood and you're pulling 15Klbs.

Krawler68
03-17-2003, 02:55 PM
Diesels take about 30k to break in too... milage climbs in powerstrokes and dodges from 0-30k... then it stays pretty steady.


Doug

davido
03-17-2003, 03:10 PM
True Grayson, but it runs like a scalded dog, even with 8k attached.

Ah yes Jimmy, good point. That trip was almost all at 75 - 80 MPH on the way back. I was rarely below 75 MPH for any length of time. It's also pretty hilly out there which doesn't help. There was even a little stop and go through Fredricksburg and Austin. Overall, the trip averaged 61 MPH and I think 12ish MPG (but I really don't remember). That was there and back. I'm only getting 18 or so on the highway right now. This is all according to the computer. I haven't bothered to calculate it by hand. I have changed from the 245 stock tires to 285s also.

Doug, my Dad (who is on his 2nd Cummins) said the same thing, that it's not even broken in yet. He said that he got everything from 13 - 26 MPG on his 1st Cummins. It was a 1 ton single wheel regular cab 4x4. That old boxy style, before the semi look. He said that it had a really high rearend in it and that's why it did so well. On his current 1 ton, he gets about what I'm getting with any decent load. He drives slower than I do.

With it broken in, the computer corrected, and a lighter foot. I'm hoping to get more in the future. We'll see.
~dso

Krawler68
03-17-2003, 03:13 PM
I'm shooting for 22+ MPG and lots of power to boot at speeds of 100+ MPH... I was getting 18 unloaded with a stock 2002 dodge doing 119 on the highway.... now that's pulling in style.

Doug

davido
03-17-2003, 03:20 PM
I couldn't agree more. The mileage is pretty much the only thing that I don't love about my truck. Having XM in the middle of W. Texas was priceless.

2WD, standard? Sounds like high gearing.

Krawler68
03-17-2003, 03:24 PM
4wd standard... 3.55's I think...either way it was ****ing badass... and for the difference in price I can fford to buy an XM...it's definetly in the plans.

I like Chebbys... I just am scared of all the moving parts... :flipoff2: I bet it was one comfortable tow though.

Doug

davido
03-17-2003, 03:31 PM
There is a difference in price, but you don't have to look very hard to see where your money goes.

Yep. And sleeping in the backseat is as comfy as a college couch. I slept like a baby. ~dso

Chadnutz
03-17-2003, 03:50 PM
So you bought a Dodge Doug?

Krawler68
03-17-2003, 04:02 PM
Nope...still cruising the powerstroke... I haven't found a Dodge that has been what I was looking for yet... I'm still kinda torn. Just reminiscing on a BADASS test drive and the in cab computer... mmmm... Dodge.

Doug

Shaggy
03-17-2003, 04:48 PM
ok the 'burban is back together... some how i seemed to sheer off all 10 bolts on the ring gear... has anyone ever heard of this happening?

Chadnutz
03-17-2003, 05:56 PM
Don't worry eight, Ford still out sells the others put together I'm sure..

Fredo
03-17-2003, 06:16 PM
Originally posted by Shaggy
ok the 'burban is back together... some how i seemed to sheer off all 10 bolts on the ring gear... has anyone ever heard of this happening?

Brandon did that with his front 30 on his Scout. It's weird, but it happens.

mark
03-17-2003, 08:07 PM
Originally posted by Krawler68
I'm shooting for 22+ MPG and lots of power to boot at speeds of 100+ MPH... I was getting 18 unloaded with a stock 2002 dodge doing 119 on the highway.... now that's pulling in style.

Doug

Thats not too bad considering the tires are rated for 98mph.

-Mark

AGRVR
03-17-2003, 08:27 PM
I've got 5500 miles on my Powerstroke now and my highway mileage is staying around 20 unloaded btwn 75-80mph. I think it could be worse now with the incredible amount of pollen that has collected on it - **** The Woodlands...

Chadnutz
03-17-2003, 08:48 PM
Oh what I would give for a chip, 3.55s and a Gear Vendor. Then I'd be pushing 25 rather than 15 city, 17 highway.

Why do I need 4.10s when I pull in overdrive? 3.55s would be wonderful. Even if I pulled in 4th I pull what, 1% of the time?

fbronco86
03-17-2003, 09:06 PM
well my diesel got 9 on the way and 11 on the way home. i can only really drive about 70mph. on the way there i had my foot on the floorboard for about 3 hours. gotta love that non turbo. also i put alot of black smoke out. i think i had about 8k i would not wanna pull any more than that with mine. the truck pulls great at 60mph but who wants to go 60.

Shaggy
03-19-2003, 04:01 PM
i just went to discount to replace my tire with the sidewall hole... i dont have the paperwork that i got when i bought them in december of 99... the guy said there was nothing he could do because their computers only stoor info for 2 years and anything older than that then your **** out of luck... well with a little bitching he "hooked me up" as he said... i told him thanks for doing it but he really wasnt doing me any favors because i bought certificates when i got my tires and he was just doing what he was supposed to do... well needless to say i am about to go pick up my new 35-12.50-15 KM that i only payed 31 bones for... gotta love discount:D

redcagepatrol
04-01-2003, 09:49 AM
for those of ya'll who didn't catch it on the other thread:
I tallied up my fuel bill:
$516.85 for 301.97 gallons

I got about 9.4 mpg pulling the 28 foot gooseneck going 70~75 with 35" tires.

Dave - did you correct for the tires??? I add 11% to my milage to correct for the bigger tires. If you didn't, it shoud help you out alot.

FYI - Greg's DuraCrap got around 8mpg pulling his gooseneck to NC last year

Kevin - I have heard of PowerJokes getting 20mpg but have never seen it in a crew cab 4x4. Are you lookin at your computor or are you actually checting it by topping off the tank each time and using the trip meter?

davido
04-01-2003, 09:52 AM
I didn't correct for the tires. Also, I was going by the computer, I didn't bother to keep track of the gallons manually.

~dso

eight
04-01-2003, 10:45 AM
From what I've seen, you actually get better mileage than what the computer says.

I got 17.5 mpg from College Station to a little before Sonora. Then the wind picked up and mileage dropped enough that I didn't want to check it. I add 15% to my miles for the 35s, my truck came with 245s.

davido
04-01-2003, 10:54 AM
What is the english equivalent of 285s?

eight
04-01-2003, 11:06 AM
285/75/16 = 285mm wide/ sidewall is 75% as tall as tread is wide/ 16" wheel. So 285mm * 1 in / 25.4mm * .75 * 2 + 16 in

By conversion, 285/75/16 tire is 32.7". 245/75/16 tire is 30.3", I think that's what your truck would come with. 265/75/16 tire is 31.5". You have to go by both converted numbers or both actual numbers by measurement. The tires will not measure what they say on the sidewall. The best way is to meaure from the ground to the center of your hub with both sizes of tire and multiply by 2.

redcagepatrol
04-01-2003, 11:31 AM
25.4001 is the correct conversion.
a 285/75/16 = 32.8 by conversion, 32.9 on BFG website
a 245/75/16 = 30.468 by conversion, 30.6 on BFG website
a 35/12.5/16.6 = 34.7 on BFG website

% difference from the 245 to the 285 = 7.5%
% difference from the 245 to the 35 = 13.4%

These calcs use the BFG numbers to be conistant

I have checked my % difference with stock trucks when driving the same distance and found the miliage to be off around 11~12%

If I use the 13.4% instead of 11% I averaged around 9.63 mpg

eight
04-01-2003, 11:40 AM
I use actual measurements on mine. 245s on another dodge were 29" tall, my 35" BFGs were 33.5" tall when new. My worn off 35x15.5x16.5 SXs were 35.5" tall.

redcagepatrol
04-01-2003, 11:44 AM
Originally posted by eight
I use actual measurements on mine. 245s on another dodge were 29" tall, my 35" BFGs were 33.5" tall when new. My worn off 35x15.5x16.5 SXs were 35.5" tall.

I guess they squat the same - 4.1" difference from BFG website, 4.5" difference from measurment. The 0.4" makes for about 1.3% difference from actual to BFG numbers.