Woot ! I'm Baaaaaack! Ain't chooo lucky?

[Shoprat]

Maaaan, whatta trip ! I will now bore the pants off ya with a description of said trip. Sorry, didn't take slides.If I offended the ladies with my pants statement, get over it , he said with a wink !

Started out with trepidation as to the longetivity of my extensive repairs to ol " Against the Wind", as I have named my Toy! Got 12 m.p.g. on the first tank as I left Gladwin, michigan, the home site. Filled up and got 16 on the next tankfull ! Guess I won't be getting gas from that station in Gladwin again ! Hoo boy, talk about a difference in mileage !

First night, couldn't find the campground in Kentucky where we reserved a site. Mapquest said one address, no site there, must have been a mailing address on the web , cause the Fed EX guy we asked never heard of the campground at thart location. We spent the night in a rest stop for a few hours. This was added to the real hoot we had because a sparkplug wire got against the exhaust pipe and burned through to the core, causing the engine to miss and loose power. On a hard climb! Ya just can't drop one cylinder on a 4 with no power loss. I was able to duct tape it and wrap a piece of 5/8 inch heater hose around it to cancel the effect of the loss. Held till we could get to an auto parts store to replace the wire.

Ok ! Long grade performance ! Most times, it would not drop out of overdrive on slopes ! On the steeper grades, it would drop down to 3rd gear , wind, and get us to the top at 45 to 50 mph, holding well. Boost at 5 psi., temp at 190 to 210 F. But, there was a few really steep grades where I had to join the truckers at the extreme right lane going about 25 to 30 mph in the high side of 2nd gear ! I was at 5 psi boost, engine temp never got over 220 F even on long steep grades. I remember having to get over in those lanes even with my 2002 Chevvy pickup with a 4.3. I went faster with the Chevvy compared to tha Toy by maybe 10 to 15 mph, but the Chevvy struggled also.

One more mechanical problem ! The oil drain hose from the Turbo got up against a hot mounting bolt on the wastegate and cooked to the point where it lost oil ! I caugt the problem in time and repaired it.

Ok ! Here's my impression of going to the Smokies, to Gettysburg, and then home to Michigan with a Toy with a Turbo 22RE and 3 ton plus load. This sucker can take it! I was not all that confident when I started! In fact, the drivers' seat may have a few holes bitten out of it by my fundiment in some instances. It ain't a dragster, but the bugger will lean into the harness, and get the row plowed, even in hard clay !

So, after 1995 miles, gas mileage ranging from 16 + a little on the flats to 11 in the twisties in the Smokies, using premium gas, my Toy cost about 25 cents a mile in gas costs. I was not apprehensive about making it to the top of a grade, only the time it was taking me to do so, and that lessened as I drove it. Still in all. I am pleased with the whole trip.

Except for the @#&*$%$ trucker that didn't get over and made me use my drivers side mirror to swat orange road cone flashers 20 feet or so !

[knowltondata]

WELCOME HOME!!!!!!

Glad to see you made it without too much hassle/breakdowns.