Going across country

[Marlin]

We love the smell of cattle! I am from rural Missouri, my grandparents owned a huge dairy and pig farm. I don't mind KS, verizon keeps good coverage, good enough that last time I streamed pandora from KC to WA and never lost signal except a few times in the mountains!

[Mile High VX]

Let me know if/when you drive through Denver... If the timing works out, I would be interested in getting together to talk shop.

I'll join if I'm in town...

[YellowVX]

I was born and raised in Troy. Unfortunetly, my job forces me to move every 2-3 or so.

Didn't know you were out there. My brother and parents live in Huber Heights and Fairborn respectively. I will hit you up. I think we are going to meet in KY, beattyville area for a few days for some camping and shooting and then head up to Dayton.

[Marlin]

No internet for the last 4 days....crazy. Movers didn't finish loading until 8pm. Took a semi plus a uhaul...boo! I figure the trailer is around 2000lbs or so, will get exact weight tomorrow, but she tows like a boss! So glad I got the heavier OME springs. No sag, no bounce. Farts a little smoke on downshifts for uphill portions, but otherwise, cruising at 65, 2200rpm, purring like a kitten. Burned half a tank in 100 miles. I can live with that. Tomorrow is the WV turnpike, not looking forward to the downhill portions, but the electric brakes on the trailer seem to be working just fine.
Will be off the grid for the next 3 or 4 days in BFE KY. Yippee, guns and camping!

[Marlin]

Good times. Trailers weighed in at 2500 lbs. Getting 12mpg at 65-70mph. No issues. Made it to KC today. Ended up leaving ky early due to weather. Heading to moab on wed. Gonna swap the prop shaft and top off tranny this weekend.

[Marlin]

Significant change in route. My uncle is a retired truck driver and practically ordered me to not drive the vx through co on i70 towing the trailer. He thinks rhe brakes have no chance on those 15 mile decents. I am now gonna go south via 54 and come across i40 to albuquerque. Then up to moab from there. Adds 4-5 hrs but will save wear and tear and probably only afd 2-3 hrs based on a lot less moutains. Anyonebin the alburqurque area want to meet up, shoot me a pm.

[Mile High VX]

We'll miss you but that's the right call...safe travels.

[YellowVX]

The re-reoute was probably for the better. Did you hit US550 just north of ABQ and slithered through the hills of NM / CO and UT up to Moab? The worst part of the Rockies was from Vail to Denver. I had a thunderstorm to contend with when I drove through there at the beginning of this month. Ughhh!

[Marlin]

I did take that route. It was awesome!
I am sitting in Moab typing this
Did the family proud. 2500 miles, 2500 lbs of trailer. No problems, sitting in Moab posting pictures...lol. I swapped out to a new prop shaft and did a drain and fill on the tranny in KC,MO. Running around 11-12mpg. Shell gas is the way to go, hands down. Burns very little oil with shell, if I used something else, I was adding a quart every fillup. I have used 6 quarts of mobil 1, this burning oil thing is getting pricey, but it seems shell gas is the answer, when I can find it.
Gonna hang out here until Tuesday. Probably go rafting on Monday.

[YellowVX]

Glad you made it to Moab ok. Once you get settled in up in Washington, locate the Shell stations there and start using their fuel. You might get special discounts if you open a Shell credit card if you prefer to do so.

I had a similar positive result with Shell fuel with my first car. It had a Chevy 305 V-8 with 105K. When I used Shell premium, the engine wouldn't make the pinging sound.

[Marlin]

Boo! New master cylinde failed on hells revenge. Right at the entrance to the escalator. Drove the rest of the way out with no brakes, e brake is now toast...lol. driving 4 hrs tomorrow to pick up a new one. Closest one until tue. You have never wheeled until you do it with no brakes.

[VXorado]

That's too bad about the brakes... I would say stopping is important on hell's revenge.

The trailer looks good!

[Ala5ka]

Always hated breaking stuff i.e. rock crawling...Went the adventure vehicle route as well, now I just spend my money on fancy camping gadgets and front end parts from going much too fast on fire roads

[Marlin]

Stopped in idaho, about 50 miles south of twin falls. Another adventure day. Cracked a weld on the hitch in moab. Stopped at 4 wheel parts in slc, they sent me to fat bobs garage in layton. Best stop ever!
They fixed the hitch, 6 beads, will never fail again. After the ey closed, we were connecting the trailer and they asked if we wanted to tour the shop...hell yes i do. We took the dog through the entire shop, they showed us all their toys and projects. Hung out there for an hour and they gave us tshirts and a bunch of decals. They crawled all over the vx. That is why they asked us to stay, he said it was obvious i did some serious wheeling based on the e dented skid plates, gas tank plate is bashed, sliders are rashed, tires are rashed and so on. They thought it was cool that it wasnt just a mall crawler. Coolest store crew ever. I got the truck fixed, a hi lift full length cover and a tow strap bag for 90 bucks. Took him 45 minuters to do tje repair. Great times on our adventure.