elripster
05-31-2008, 10:45 PM
Well, for those who don't know Claire and I are relocating to the midwest. It's been a bit of adventure.
I'll start with the part when the shipper guy comes over and estimates how much our stuff weighs (read how much over what is covered we are and what we'll have to pay...) Needless to say, we were estimated at like 5K lb over and they were charging a buck a pound. Fast forward to Tuesday evening, that evening we were packing the 4runner for my drive back. (Claire flies out in a few weeks)
Knowing that automatic 3 liter 4runners are not the best tow rigs in the world I was a bit concerned with available payload. My trailer and two motorcycles along with tool box, etc... was probably pushing 2000lb, the vehicles tow limit. They truck was loaded so bad it was sagging with 100PSI in the air shocks. I have 5.71's which while making life easier on the engine/tranny, make life hell on the differential. It now generates the heat the engine and tranny are not. These facts, however, left Claire undaunted as she proceeded to use up every available cubic millimeter of volume. We get paid for me to drive out there so if I'm displacing that which we'd have to pay to ship it's a good thing right? (perspiration forming....)
Wednesday morning I leave Mission Valley around 4:45AM for Vista to pick up the trailer. After hooking up and double checking everything, I leave Vista around 6AM. Ok, so the truck at least seems to stop Ok. It sure does take its sweet time getting up to speed. Furthermore, the trailer's stock Toyota shocks (this trailer was once a Toy 4X4) are not handling the top heavy... and just plain heavy load of motorcycles well. It rocks side to side quite a bit. Still, I come down Gofer Canyon and get on to I15. I have decided to take the 40 AKA Route 66. I didn't want to pull this load over the Rockies through Colorado. After seeing the weather this week, it looks like I dodged a hell of a bullet as far as missing some servere storms in the states east of the Rockies.
Things are going well, I hit a ton of traffic in LA but what's new. Then I start to climb the grade on 15. I'm pulling Ok for most of it. I'm in 3rd, (OD locked out) until I get towards the top. I think I smelled gear oil but am not sure. Towards the top I'm in 2nd gear along with the slowest of semis. Just us truckers eh.
Now, climbing is a pain, but I figured when I got over top I'd be Ok. I didn't realize one little detail, that the "high" desert beyond really is high. And, as I climbed again in Flagstaff, to 7335 feet, the "high" desert got stupid high, like 5-6K feet high. This meant that the hamsters under the hood were starving for much needed oxygen. Now if the wind had been nice and still...
Well it wasn't. In fact, it was blowing wicked hard. Once and a while, I'd turn northward and get a tail wind, at this time I could actually keep up with traffic. Otherwise, it was a hellacious crosswind that make it very difficult to keep the whole rig going straight...at like 60mph... or even 55 at times. I just accepted that fact that the trailer was going to rock its way all the way to Illinois. At least the truck was so heavily loaded the trailer didn't wag the dog too badly. This started to make me very tired. By the end of the day I had made it to Gallup New Mexico. I was exhausted and had not made it nearly as far as I had hoped. I was taking pictures of where I stopped but didn't get one of this one station. People were staring at me and my rig like.. I dunno... hungry dogs? Horny teenagers? Anwyay, I decided to split, I was getting the creeps. I think that was somewhere in Arizona.
Day Two: I get about 4 hours of nice calm winds and it's back to feeling like I'm trying to tack a sailboat again. Semis are passing me constantly. I'm a pro at the whole flash the lights so they now the can merge back into the right hand lane. The wind has turned more north and is really beating on the truck/trailer. The tarp begins to shred that is covering the goods. I keep wondering when I'm going to descend, does the high desert never end? I see signs from time to time stating 5 to 6000 feet and the truck is not liking this one bit. About ever three hours, the truck "hiccups" for lack of a better word. I don't know why and it would continue to do this every few hours the remainder of the trip. In Texas, I was fighting winds so bad that I had scaled back my hopes of making it to Tusla to just getting out of Texas. Well, I persevered and made it to Tulsa at 10PM. Now I'm retardely tired since had been driving since 6:30AM. My suspicions were confirmed at this point, I should not have loaded the truck like this and tried to drive across the country. I'm just hoping she makes it. The Scary Days Inn just west of Tulsa was... interesting. Apparently it was very safe. They have a contract with truckers and have security watching the lot. Otherwise, it was a rough crowd. Again, no one was mean or anything... maybe it's the CA plates... maybe it's a Toyota.. I don't know but what gives with staring? Weird. The room had a moldy AC that didn't work, hard bed, tiny towels, I think I saw hookers walking around (no surprise I guess)... yep it was budget. Still I was too tired to care.
Day Three: I am dead set on making it to the hotel in Lisle Il. I leave at 6:30. Now I have to tell you, Oklahoma is a really pretty state as is Missouri. However, don't let the lush foliage fool you, on those off ramps lie some rather seedy areas. Nevertheless, people were nice, if missing teeth. The ultimate paradox: a guy with a huge gut, tatoos, missing teeth, God khnows what else... parked next to a black kid in a Buick Regal on 20 million inch rims with a bumping system.... classic. I didn't hit any weather the whole trip until I got into Illinois. I had some bad rain but that was it. 6:30PM I pull into the hotel. I have been staying here at the Marriott a lot since I started working for Argonne in March so they all know me by name. I was asleep by 8:30 and didn't move until 8:30AM.
So, the truck made it. It is running very well too. My back brakes are hanging up when the truck has been sitting for a while but let go as soon as I drive like .5 miles. I get the keys to our house we bought the 9th and will see what ails it. The hiccups (truck) have not returned. That is good. I realize I have abused it badly and surely have shortened the life of the powertrian but oh well. I can always upgrade that when the time comes.
Tonight there is this band playing at the hotel for this wedding party. I went downstairs to check it out and have a martini. Well, Toto, I'm sure not in San Diego anymore. It's a country blues band with two drummers (why? anyone? Bueller?), clearly no defined set list as they debated song to song, an old lady on keys, kid on guitar (who was reallly good), and I'm guessing dad, grand dad? and cousin on bass, accoustic...2nd drummer? They weren't bad... or good... but yep it was interesting.
I have pictures and will share them soon. My normally reliable SDORI web host is not working for some reason and I can't upload or check email right now. I have a service request in and since it is the weekend I'll wait until Monday for his response. I'm sure he'll straighten it out. It looks like a DNS propagation issue. When I can I'll post pics from the trip. Most are of nothing because despite how populated our coastlines are, most of the US is vacant land.
Frank
I'll start with the part when the shipper guy comes over and estimates how much our stuff weighs (read how much over what is covered we are and what we'll have to pay...) Needless to say, we were estimated at like 5K lb over and they were charging a buck a pound. Fast forward to Tuesday evening, that evening we were packing the 4runner for my drive back. (Claire flies out in a few weeks)
Knowing that automatic 3 liter 4runners are not the best tow rigs in the world I was a bit concerned with available payload. My trailer and two motorcycles along with tool box, etc... was probably pushing 2000lb, the vehicles tow limit. They truck was loaded so bad it was sagging with 100PSI in the air shocks. I have 5.71's which while making life easier on the engine/tranny, make life hell on the differential. It now generates the heat the engine and tranny are not. These facts, however, left Claire undaunted as she proceeded to use up every available cubic millimeter of volume. We get paid for me to drive out there so if I'm displacing that which we'd have to pay to ship it's a good thing right? (perspiration forming....)
Wednesday morning I leave Mission Valley around 4:45AM for Vista to pick up the trailer. After hooking up and double checking everything, I leave Vista around 6AM. Ok, so the truck at least seems to stop Ok. It sure does take its sweet time getting up to speed. Furthermore, the trailer's stock Toyota shocks (this trailer was once a Toy 4X4) are not handling the top heavy... and just plain heavy load of motorcycles well. It rocks side to side quite a bit. Still, I come down Gofer Canyon and get on to I15. I have decided to take the 40 AKA Route 66. I didn't want to pull this load over the Rockies through Colorado. After seeing the weather this week, it looks like I dodged a hell of a bullet as far as missing some servere storms in the states east of the Rockies.
Things are going well, I hit a ton of traffic in LA but what's new. Then I start to climb the grade on 15. I'm pulling Ok for most of it. I'm in 3rd, (OD locked out) until I get towards the top. I think I smelled gear oil but am not sure. Towards the top I'm in 2nd gear along with the slowest of semis. Just us truckers eh.
Now, climbing is a pain, but I figured when I got over top I'd be Ok. I didn't realize one little detail, that the "high" desert beyond really is high. And, as I climbed again in Flagstaff, to 7335 feet, the "high" desert got stupid high, like 5-6K feet high. This meant that the hamsters under the hood were starving for much needed oxygen. Now if the wind had been nice and still...
Well it wasn't. In fact, it was blowing wicked hard. Once and a while, I'd turn northward and get a tail wind, at this time I could actually keep up with traffic. Otherwise, it was a hellacious crosswind that make it very difficult to keep the whole rig going straight...at like 60mph... or even 55 at times. I just accepted that fact that the trailer was going to rock its way all the way to Illinois. At least the truck was so heavily loaded the trailer didn't wag the dog too badly. This started to make me very tired. By the end of the day I had made it to Gallup New Mexico. I was exhausted and had not made it nearly as far as I had hoped. I was taking pictures of where I stopped but didn't get one of this one station. People were staring at me and my rig like.. I dunno... hungry dogs? Horny teenagers? Anwyay, I decided to split, I was getting the creeps. I think that was somewhere in Arizona.
Day Two: I get about 4 hours of nice calm winds and it's back to feeling like I'm trying to tack a sailboat again. Semis are passing me constantly. I'm a pro at the whole flash the lights so they now the can merge back into the right hand lane. The wind has turned more north and is really beating on the truck/trailer. The tarp begins to shred that is covering the goods. I keep wondering when I'm going to descend, does the high desert never end? I see signs from time to time stating 5 to 6000 feet and the truck is not liking this one bit. About ever three hours, the truck "hiccups" for lack of a better word. I don't know why and it would continue to do this every few hours the remainder of the trip. In Texas, I was fighting winds so bad that I had scaled back my hopes of making it to Tusla to just getting out of Texas. Well, I persevered and made it to Tulsa at 10PM. Now I'm retardely tired since had been driving since 6:30AM. My suspicions were confirmed at this point, I should not have loaded the truck like this and tried to drive across the country. I'm just hoping she makes it. The Scary Days Inn just west of Tulsa was... interesting. Apparently it was very safe. They have a contract with truckers and have security watching the lot. Otherwise, it was a rough crowd. Again, no one was mean or anything... maybe it's the CA plates... maybe it's a Toyota.. I don't know but what gives with staring? Weird. The room had a moldy AC that didn't work, hard bed, tiny towels, I think I saw hookers walking around (no surprise I guess)... yep it was budget. Still I was too tired to care.
Day Three: I am dead set on making it to the hotel in Lisle Il. I leave at 6:30. Now I have to tell you, Oklahoma is a really pretty state as is Missouri. However, don't let the lush foliage fool you, on those off ramps lie some rather seedy areas. Nevertheless, people were nice, if missing teeth. The ultimate paradox: a guy with a huge gut, tatoos, missing teeth, God khnows what else... parked next to a black kid in a Buick Regal on 20 million inch rims with a bumping system.... classic. I didn't hit any weather the whole trip until I got into Illinois. I had some bad rain but that was it. 6:30PM I pull into the hotel. I have been staying here at the Marriott a lot since I started working for Argonne in March so they all know me by name. I was asleep by 8:30 and didn't move until 8:30AM.
So, the truck made it. It is running very well too. My back brakes are hanging up when the truck has been sitting for a while but let go as soon as I drive like .5 miles. I get the keys to our house we bought the 9th and will see what ails it. The hiccups (truck) have not returned. That is good. I realize I have abused it badly and surely have shortened the life of the powertrian but oh well. I can always upgrade that when the time comes.
Tonight there is this band playing at the hotel for this wedding party. I went downstairs to check it out and have a martini. Well, Toto, I'm sure not in San Diego anymore. It's a country blues band with two drummers (why? anyone? Bueller?), clearly no defined set list as they debated song to song, an old lady on keys, kid on guitar (who was reallly good), and I'm guessing dad, grand dad? and cousin on bass, accoustic...2nd drummer? They weren't bad... or good... but yep it was interesting.
I have pictures and will share them soon. My normally reliable SDORI web host is not working for some reason and I can't upload or check email right now. I have a service request in and since it is the weekend I'll wait until Monday for his response. I'm sure he'll straighten it out. It looks like a DNS propagation issue. When I can I'll post pics from the trip. Most are of nothing because despite how populated our coastlines are, most of the US is vacant land.
Frank