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Santa Fe, New Mexico


Ctgriffi

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Planning a soon-to-be trip to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and I thought I'd post up my potential route, see if anybody has any pointers or warnings (and, thank you!).

Basically, we'll be heading out of southern Missouri on I44, stopping just west of Wichita in Cheney, and then heading across Kansas on a number of different state roads, probably camping again in the northwest corner of Oklahoma. Once we get down into New Mexico, we'll jump on I25 and make our way down into Santa Fe.

The goals are: avoid tollroads, do some big-and-small highway travel, enjoy a route that we haven't tried before.
 

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Edited by Ctgriffi
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Stupid reasons to go to Kansas... World largest ball of yarn, Coker KS.

Dodge city is about 2500ft. Santa Fe is over 7000ft, it's basically uphill all the way.

Make sure your cooling system is top rate,  your speed will be what it will be, so will the mpg.

Edited by WME
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2 hours ago, WME said:

Stupid reasons to go to Kansas... World largest ball of yarn, Coker KS.

Dodge city is about 2500ft. Santa Fe is over 7000ft, it's basically uphill all the way.

Make sure your cooling system is top rate,  your speed will be what it will be, so will the mpg.

Appreciate the advice. We're allowing a lot of time to get there, and ambient temp should be in the high 50s, which I'm hoping will ease the strain on the drivetrain. Based on this elevation info (a great link that someone recently posted on the forum), it is clearly a long uphill climb from Cheney, KS to Santa Fe, but the steepest angle on that whole trip is just under 3º.

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So far, so good! We’ll be in Santa Fe in a few hrs. Headwind and steady, slight uphill kept us to about 56mph all day yesterday (with OD). I haven’t checked mpg yet...

Kansas roads were quite good. OK not so good, when we cut through the Panhandle, as expected. 

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Averaged 12.3 mpg on the way out here with the old 3VZE (just passed 90K), so I feel pretty good about that mileage, given the circumstances. Engine temp wasn’t a problem, since it was only high 50s out, and I took it pretty slow.

I am noticing a bit of a rough idle now at stoplights. Sounds like it is probably “missing” a bit here and there. Could altitude cause that? Any other likely scenarios?

Edited by Ctgriffi
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When were the valves last adjusted? Maybe the TPS needs cleaning

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1 hour ago, WME said:

When were the valves last adjusted? Maybe the TPS needs cleaning

Valve adjustment was done a few thousand ago. Also did plugs, wires, cap and rotor within same timeframe. I’ll look into the tps too, thanks!

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Just for grins. find a really dark place some night and open the hood with the engine running and look for sparky things happening where they shouldn't be.

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I haven't had a chance yet to watch for errant sparks under the hood, but I did notice that the rough idle improved as we neared home. Seems like some of the gas sold as "regular" in NM is only 85 or 86 octane, while 87 is the standard back home—that's what I normally use. Possible a tank or two of low octane fuel could've impacted the idle?

TRIP SUMMARY

Made it home last night, safe and sound! The old 320RB Warrior did very well, once again, and we thoroughly enjoyed some amazing scenery, interesting sights, and delicious food in-and-around Santa Fe. All of the motorhome systems worked fine, including the furnace (thank God), and that amazing little truck just kept going and going.

Here are a few trip stats, followed by a few average photos (sorry, I'm the one driving all the time!).

  • Miles traveled: ~1,800
  • Elevation changes: 1,500 ft to 7,500 ft above sea level
  • Best fuel economy: 15.97 mpg (downhill, leaving Santa Fe)
  • Worst fuel economy: 10.47 mpg (battling strong headwinds on lousy secondary roads across the plains of Oklahoma's Panhandle; never could use OD)
  • Average fuel economy: 12.2 mpg
  • Passengers: two good-sized humans + 80 lbs of dog(s)
  • Hottest weather: 80º (OK)
  • Coldest weather: 35º (KS)
  • Favorite animal spotted: Pronghorn Antelope (lots of 'em!)
  • Favorite scenery: snowcapped Rocky Mountains
  • Favorite attraction: International Folk Art Museum
  • Campgrounds with open/working bathhouses in late March: almost none (how did I not know this would be the case?)
  • Hairs left on the back of my right hand, after briefly checking to see if the furnace was exhausting correctly: next to none
  • Breakdowns and/or blowouts: ZERO


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Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together  😁

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