Road Trip!!

M

mikeindustries

Member
Hey guys. So it looks like I will be taking a trip for work. Unless something opens up here at home in the next 8 days, I will be headed to georgia.

Going to be taking "brewscout" on the trip. Many will ask "why". The reason is this...its a couple month job. If I get myself there the company pays $130 per day (7 days a week) in per diem. If they get me there its $65.

Anyways, I have not nailed down a route yet. I-20 or I-40....not sure. Plan on taking it easy though. I will only be driving during daylight hours, and camping along the way and seeing some sights. I figure about 8 hours of driving per day which should be about 500 miles. Its 2400 miles to my destination.

I am excited about the trip. Love seeing new places and eating different food. Hope my road buddy enjoys it too. My dog will be in the co-pilot seat....I hope...he likes the drivers seat!
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Is your co-pilot a ridge back? I have a 2.5 year old one and puppies due on feb 7th. Good luck on your trip, I'd take the southern route this time of year.
 
fdchappie said:
is your co-pilot a ridge back? I have a 2.5 year old one and puppies due on feb 7th. Good luck on your trip, I'd take the southern route this time of year.
Click to expand...

Yes, he is a ridgeback. He is 11 months, we also have a 7 year old female. They are great dogs.

Southern route it will be. Just not sure which is a nicer drive.

Anybody have any input on things to stop and see? Oh..socal to ga.
 
Think I will be leaving Saturday or Sunday.

My driving goals are as follows...

Day 1 - san diego, CA to flagstaff, az = 493 miles/8.5 hrs
day 2 - flagstaff to amarillo, tx = 609 miles/10.5 hrs (May stop short)
day 3 - amarillo to little rock, ar = 597 miles/10.25 hrs
day 4 - little rock to atlanta, ga = 520 miles/9 hrs
day 5 - atlanta to baxley, ga = 200 miles/4 hrs

oh yeah, picking this tent trailer up off cl tomorrow. I like fancy tents:icon_lol:
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Hey all.

So I am here in georgia!

Backing up.....as the days ticked away, getting closer to my leave date, plans started to change. The guy that I was going to buy the tent trailer from kept flaking. So I decided to try to find another trailer. I stumbled upon a 1976 apache ramada. I found these trailers interesting because there is no canvas just solid plastic panels. This one appeared to be in really good shape. And the price was even better then the last. Only problem, it was located at 10,000 above sea level in a ski town just outside denver.....in the middle of winter I might add! So coming to my senses I realized that this could be challenging....so.....hey, wait a minute,....I drive the first and last great American suv! Screw that....I'm going to Colorado!!!

I loaded up the Scout with all of my personal stuff that I would need to live in georgia, and then I started grabbing anything I thought I May need to fix whatever problem I am faced with.

Unfortunately I was unable to bring luteni (my ridgeback). He ended up having surgery to remove an abcess just days before I need to leave.

So I left my house in san diego Monday morning at 10:30. I drove up through vegas and into utah. I was stopped in beaver, utah only because the highway disappeared under several inches of snow. I enjoyed a double chili cheese burger and bundled up in my teton 0° bag in the back of the Scout. Yes, it was a very cold night. Thanks to the chili, I survived!

Woke up Tuesday about 5am and started driving to my goal of fairplay, co.
I'll tell you now that the Scout does not like elevation at all!!! Above about 6000' it starts to run like a fat kid with asthma. At 11,500' it was like I shoved a box of krispy creams in the fat kis mouth and made him crawl up a cliff.
(note to self...look into fuel injection).
I made to the guys house and purchased the trailer at about 3:00pm. Buy the time I was hooked up and ready to pull away (5pm) it had gotten dark and was snowing pretty good. Didn't really want to run down the grades with frozen roads at night so I decided to stay there. Another cold night in the.......hey, is that a brewery? Sweet!
To be continued. ..........
 
So where was I.....
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Oh thats right, 10,000' above sea level in the parking lot of a brewery in Colorado.

So as the sun came up iistened to the snow plows run their route from deep inside my bag. It took a while, but I was finally able to get the courage to crawl out of bag and face the blanket of snow and ice that had formed on the Scout overnight. I said a quick prayer, and turned the key....holy crap...it fired! I must have sat there at high idle for 45 minutes just trying to build enough heat to combat the frost coming from my mouth as I recited "what have I gotten myself into"!

I topped off the tank, scrapped off the remaining ice, and got to the chore of decending 5000' into denver. Heading down the grade the Scout started to make a slight squealing noise from the engine compartment. So this would mean that a stop at an auto parts store would be in order to pick up a waterpump. I already had a spare alternator on board. The orileys did not have one on the shelf but did have one at a store across town. While they had it delivered I took the time to install a set of helper springs in the rear of the Scout to help fix the squatting rear end.

They handed me the pump and off I was. Made the decision to not change the pump there. Wanted to try to make up some lot time. And I did.....a whole 17 miles worth....the Scout started squealing like a stuck pig just outside denver. No time to waste, gotta pump to r &r. Pulled over on the side of the 70 in a chainup area and got to work.

.................>
 
So I had just passed an accident about a mile back. So I knew I didnt have a lot of time before the highway patrol would have the wreck cleared and be headed my way. I didnt want to have to deal with them trying to tow me off the highway.
Started loosening bolts and letting the hot coolant hit the ground. Belts off....hey that alternator pulley sure is warm!
Pulled the shroud, upper hose, fan and clutch assembly, and out with the old pump. 20 minutes has passed.
Put pulleys on new pump, red rtv, new in. Fan and clutch on...this part sucks for me because I've got big hands........you know what they say about guys with big hands......get lots of cuts and scrapes putting fans back on!

Ok, belts.....wtf.....the alternator pulley is frozen solid!

I just swapped a water pump for nothing! Argggggggg!

Ok....got spare alternator on...added about 1.25 gallons of coolant. Double checked all bolts...good to go....45 minutes tops!

In the great words of wille nelson.."on the road again!"

the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The carb started having some issues at idle. Acts like it has a vacuum leak. Wont idle, revs when I cover primary barrels, runs great on the highway.....screw it.....keep going!

Got to junction city, kansas. It was going to be in the 20s again so I decided a hotel and a bottle of bourbon was well deserved.

Woke up Thursday morning (thank god) and drove with the goal of getting within 4 hours of my destination. This means I drove till about 1am. Another night in the back of the Scout at hotel del truck stop.
I woke up bright and early Friday and powered through the last 300 miles.
 
So a quick update.

I finished my duties in georgia last Thursday. My next assignment is in bay city, texas.

I decided to put a 2.5" spring kit on the ol' brewscout. Reason being I will need new tires soon and I want to go bigger so I ordered a kit from Rough Country. I will cover that further in my build thread.

Back to the road trip....1000 miles from hazlehurst, ga to matagorta, tx.

Started my drive Saturday at about 9:30am. Got down to interstate 10 and headed west. The Scout developed a tranny leak from the front seal in mississippi. This stresses me out. This is a newer seal. The last time it failed it totally failed....like right now! I made a stop at walmart and bought 2 bottles of lucas transmission stuff. Just hoping to slow it down I added a bottle. Low and behold the leak completely stopped after about 200 miles. Wow! I have been wrencking on cars for a long time....never have I used a "stop leak" product that actually stopped a leak 100%.

Made it to my next home in the lcra rv park in matagorta,tx with no other issues.

Thats over 4500 miles so far. Good Scout....good boy!
 
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