Long Distance Driving

[greenmeanie]

I find the 101 gets more attention than my SIIA.
The SIIA:
Q - 'What year is your yoda?'
A - 'No sir its a Land Rover.'
Q - 'Oh OK. That's one cool Land Cruiser.'
A - 'Scuse me I'm off to get my starting handle! I'll use it to explain the differnence.'

The 101:
- 'Is that a Hummer?'
- 'No sir. This is a fine piece of military engineering for Her majesty's armed forces. A Hummer on the other hand is a pleasurable act involving a piece of tin foil and two consenting adults, one of whom should have a good singing voice.'
- Blank look.

In about 2002 I had one elderly lady chase me down in a car park in Orro Valley in Tucson. She had seen an army truck driving around and wanted to know if we were the military here to protect the neighbourhood from terrorists. I cannot repeat my reply here but when she got home she probably phoned the FBI.

Getting back on topic I used to commute 1000 miles a week in my SIIA. Things I found were it pays to have at least one container of every fluid in the truck on board. A roll of gaffer's tape and a Leatherman will get you further than you would think. A comfortable seat and a set of ear plugs will do wonders if you plan on going faster than 60mph. A lug wrench for the wheel nuts plus an 11, 13 & 14mm spanner will cover most roadside repairs. A set of vice grips is good to have on hand too. Tyre pressures are an essential part of your morning inspection if you are running on the freeway. Be nice to the truckers and they will be nice to you.

I survived 1 1/2 years of this plus to Arizona summers. Strangely I had more confidence in my old bus than in a modern car. She was slow, loud and occasionally bits fell off but we always got there. I'm only partially deaf.

Cheers
Gregor

[Tim Smith]

... I'm only partially deaf...

Huh? What? Lovin' these stories everyone has.

My longest trip was a one way ticket down to Jacksonville, FL to pick up my air-portable (sight unseen, mind you) and take it back up to CT. About 900 or 1000 miles with nothing more than my craftsman leatherette tool bag and a flash light. Figured I'd buy what ever fluids I needed on the way and if I had a break down, well, then my good looks (ha!) would have to go into overtime.

The only mishap was in trusting the fuel gauge and forgetting to top off tank #2. Ran out of gas in-between exits somewhere in Georgia where the exits are pretty far apart. Figured that I needed the exercise anyway. About 30 hours later I pulled into the driveway with my new pride and joy and haven't looked back since.

Everyone else's advice about what to bring with you and prep is pretty much what I'd say too. Good advice here.

Cheers,
Tim

[greenmeanie]

Are those your good looks your showing off in your avatar? I suppose that's one way to get help if the right lonely trucker came along :P

[Tim Smith]

Are those your good looks your showing off in your avatar? I suppose that's one way to get help if the right lonely trucker came along :P

No, that's my stunt double.
ROTFLMAO!

[badvibes]

you movtivate me man, or more accurate my wife has bailed on me. not our marriage just my plan to have her drag me and my '64 iia swb from albuquerque to 29 palms. now i gotta to drive it out there. jeff you up for an adventure? i still have the jack we bought in tulsa.

Scott-

What are the dates exactly? Doubt if I can pull the time off but I'd check.

Jeff

[wardog3187]

ROTFLMAO!!

The 101:
- 'Is that a Hummer?'
- 'No sir. This is a fine piece of military engineering for Her majesty's armed forces. A Hummer on the other hand is a pleasurable act involving a piece of tin foil and two consenting adults, one of whom should have a good singing voice.'
- Blank look.

Cheers
Gregor

That's a classic!! I have to remember that one.

[jp-]

...plus an 11, 13 & 14mm spanner will cover most roadside repairs.

Gregor,

I am curious, what do you need the metric wrenches for? I usually carry a 7/16", 1/2", 9/16", & a crescent. The tranny does have some weird bolts (15/32", 17/32", & 19/32") for which some metric wrenches will work...but then that's what the crescent is for.


Great stories, by the way!

[Tim Smith]

I am curious, what do you need the metric wrenches for?...

I've found metric on the III but then found standard on the IIA. Didn't the series I's have whitworth?

Best just pack crescent wrenches and a big hammer.

[greenmeanie]

Ah I'm just lazy. I grew up in the UK so all my tools are metric. The metric fit is good enough in these cases so that they work well without me having to buy an additional imperial tool kit. I have a desert truck so I have not had to deal with rusted fasteners. For some of the bigger more specialised stuff like hub nuts and some of the gearbox stuff I have bought the correct socket but on the whole I get buy using solely metric.

There are additional sizes on the truck but I have found that these three will cover 'most' roadside repairs. I went through a phase of carrying my full tool kit plus a box of spares plus a full change of fluids plus a full set of recovery gear so that I was prepared for anything. Ultimately I realised that keeping up on the scheduled maintenance and inspections made most of that stuff redundant.

I also realised that I was driving to work so wasn't really bothered if I broke down and had to spend the rest of the day McGuivering a fix. In a year and a half I blew a few oil seals, had one alternator pack in and a ball joint on the throttle link fail. Non of these stopped me getting home.

I still think in metric except for my job as an engineer where I have to switch to imperial.

Cheers
Gregor

[scott]

i've found the best tool purchase made is the one you see sticking up in front of my spare

[jp-]

Gregor,

I am an Engineer as well, but think in Imperial. But if you grew up in the UK you should too. The UK is still only "soft" metric isn't it?

[greenmeanie]

It all depends who you work for in the UK. Strangely, I worked for Caterpillar who, despite being a US company, were all metric. British universities tend to teach the use of SI units only these days. Then again a lot of hydraulic fittings are still imperial.

It ain't difficult converting between the two. I just prefer to think in metric and convert. For work I will use whatever units the person writing my cheque prefers.

I will make a dirty confession that my original tools were bought to work on a French car so metric was a bit of a given. I just found that they were an adequate fit for most imperial fasteners on a Landy and have never splurged on an imperial set.

Sometimes I forget the imperial culture of my audience. I have thankfully so far avoided a 'NASA' moment!

Cheers
Gregor

[Tim Smith]

...I have thankfully so far avoided a 'NASA' moment...

Forgive me but what is a NASA moment?

[jp-]

Forgive me but what is a NASA moment?

There have been plenty. On the Hubbell, they had two teams of engineers (used loosely in this context) one was working in metric, the other imperial. Hubbell was sent into space "nearsighted" because of the incorrectly ground mirror. A special lense was made to correct it.

Another time was when they incorrectly calculated the landing speed of a Mars landing mission, and the craft came in at 400 miles an hour instead of 40. Of course the hundred million dollar craft wasn't designed for a 400 mph landing.

There are many more.

[scott]

well the wife did drag me and my iia out to california. 1st time the old truck has every hit 90 mph and it did it pushing a lr3 past an 18 wheeler!

but it was time to bring the old gal home. original plan was to have a shipmate drag me and my truck from 29 palms to gallup, nm then drive it the rest of the way to albuquerque. 10 miles into the 700 mile trip we realize the ranger's four cylinders were working hard enough just moving itself. so we unhooked and i started the long drive home.

we left just after sunset, drove about 60 miles where i caught up to my friend. he was waiting to see how i was doing. i got out, left her idling, we chated, told him the rove was running great. he jumps in his ford, promise to call and check on me from time to time (i think it was so that he would know when to turn back on a rescue mission as soon as possible). i jump in and throttle up and she justs idles. his tail lights are disappearing. i brake out a flash light lift the bonnet and find the throttle linkage fell apart. nuts vibrated loose. the bolt was still there so i grab my gerber and a piece of coat hanger i kept in my tool box, put the bolt back in and wrapped the coat hanger around the threads as tight as i could.

scream'n again at about 55 mph through the frozen desert night. heater blasting, burning the hair off my shins while the cool drafts chill my up half. xm radio sounds good. it's up loud to drown out the sound of the overdrive lever rattling against the gear shifter.

now just on the west side of williams, az on i-40 the primary fuel tanks runs dry. quick switch to the 2nd tank and motor on. i stop for coffee, dip and gas in sligman. my friend calls and suggest a route other than the interstate so as to avoid a bunch of steep inclines. being a pighead i don't take the advise and head eastward and upward on the interstate. cruising as slow as 35 mph at times. not to much of a probem as it's after midnight and traffic is light.

now between winslow and holbrook the old ride starts a sputtering. i pull over and lean it out a bit thinking maybe the altitude was getting to it. she seem fine for about a mile. i was kidding myself, i knew what was wrong, fuel filter. running a tank dry will do it every time, i just wasn't looking forward to pulling it off, cleaning it and putting in back on in the freezing cold wee hours. it was about 25 degrees with the wind howling. i'm wearing a light jacket and no gloves. holding the pieces in my bare hand and spraying them with carb cleaner, wondering if i could fit the parts back together before my fingers froze solid. using the still warm radiator to thaw my digits i manage this repair with just a gerber pocket tool and i cruise the rest of the way home without any further mechanical trails. but the road was kicking my tail. i had to pull over and nap a few time. drag here is that 30 seconds after shuting it down and turning of the heat the inside temp drops to the low twenties.

the whole trip took 17 1/2 hours which includes 3 hours of fueling, repairing and napping. i figure i averaged 50 mph, 12 mpg and used 3 gallons of water (radiator still leaks...i've been meaning to fix that but besides being pigheaded, i'm pretty lazy) and two quarts of motor oil.