Well made it home safe and sound from Ohio. Went a little over 950 miles total and averaged just over 17 miles per gallon, almost all exclusivly interstate driving at 70-75 mph.

I had my torque app running on the way down, it must be that El cheapo dongle that I bought, cause I kept losing the feed, it would come back but it was kinda annoying when I glanced over and it errored out.

But I did get some good data that should be a good baseline. EOT averaged 210-215, never went above 215 @75 mph. What is acceptable with that? I wouldn't want it much hotter than that I wouldn't think. Byron I'll have to read back through your thread, I can't remember what your numbers were before you changed thermostats. I'm running the 203.

Trans according to the pid never went above 170. It hovered right about 160-165, my physical gauge which is only a half sweep (I would like to upgrade to a full sweep) never went past the first notch. Problem is I'm not sure what temp to call that notch, it's Btween 100 and 180, with the next being another notch then 250. Not real easy to read. I wonder if I can just swap the gauge and keep my existing probe.

I was fighting alot of wind there and back so I was watching my pyro as well, a couple long Hills it hit 1100, I had my chip on the economy mode the whole time. But you could tell when it was having to work. Intercooler time maybe? lol, not there yet. It was averaging between 700-900

The only glitch I had was my cruise shut off after a long stint, I reset it and it worked fine the rest of the way. It shut all the way off like you pushed the off button. I have alt of trouble with the buttons sometimes, it was like that when I bought it.

Other than that the truck ran flawless. Didn't use any oil, I did have to put a quart in before I left, I'm going to change it soon, I'm almost 4k into it now. Checked it when I got home and it was right at full.

The best part of the trip was that my buddy that I went to see, his drum corps took first in the world championship last night. The University of Dayton Arena was packed. What a show it was, I was honored to be apart of it again for the second great in a row. I'll try and throw up some pictures here soon. It was just great all around.

The truck has been starting better with the new relay, of course it wasn't as cold there as it has been here. Still though didn't have any starting problems.

I think all my work paid off. Couldn't have asked for it to run better.
I love how comfortable these trucks are, no back pain or feeling fatigue there or back. I could have stayed in that seat for a month. Not that I would have,but it was very comfortable indeed.

anyways I think that's about it. If I think of more I'll add it. Thoughts on what I got so far?

 

Sounds all good to me Thomas. EOT is normal, if you dropped down to a 180 or 190° thermostat it would be 205 maybe, unless you start pulling. Your fuel milage is great, I'm jealous! LOL Trans temp is normal without a load. With your mileage and no oil burning, that's really good.

 

That's great Thomas! Sounds like the truck did really well. A lot of people would be hesitant to take a 17 year old truck on a trip like that, not to mention what Glenn does with his, but it shows what good trucks these are and says a lot for you guys work and maintenance! Glad you had a safe trip and good time bud!

 

Ya i love knowing that i can jump in my truck and its ready to go. Sounds like you had fun.

 

Sounds like you had a good trip, Thomas. I'm glad to hear the truck ran like a champ. It's amazing how well these 3/4 and 1 tone trucks do for highway driving isn't it? They don't make a bad road trip vehicle at all.

 

Thanks Glenn! Yeah I was happy with that mileage, I made it all the way from Ohio to Home on one round of fuel, that one was 17.5.

I think I'll keep the t-stat in for now, I don't pull heavy very often and its pretty flat around these parts so I'm not too worried about it. I thought it was up a little high at first, but I didn't know what it should have been, and it was consistently steady within a few degrees, same for the trans.


I never thought once about the age of the truck, but you are right, and the mileage on the truck would scare most people, but not me. She is definatly pretty healthy. These are definatly great trucks.

Yeah I went overboard buying extra filters, oil, and coolant, glad I didn't have to use any of it, but it was peace of mind feeling prepared.

And yeah it was an amazing trip, I'll throw up some pictures here in a bit, but it was definatly a great road trip!

Yeah it is definatly a great way to travel! This is one of the first vehicles I've had where I didn't get any back ache. The suspension is firm, but its still a good ride. It was nice having good power, cause sometimes you needed it go get around somebody or something. I wouldn't hesitate to drive that truck anywhere.

It was nice having the CB in the truck too, there were a few places where there was road construction, and it was good to have a heads up on what lanes were closed and what not. Definatly handy.

 

Thomas, sounds like your trip went pretty well and similar to the last two that I took earlier this year. The first one to Texas was with no trailer and the second one, you probably remember, was with our trailer to see how things went. Your temps are really good, especially that trans temp. The real test will be pulling a load up a decent grade, but I am guessing it will still be fine. As far as EOTs, you know I went through a little bit of stress with the temps I saw while under heavy load. I changed my thermostat back to a 180* from a 203*, but I also live in a much warmer climate than you do, so it made sense for me to do so. Now, I did a lot of research in the EOT thing after that trip because I really had no real knowledge of what was acceptable. What I found was that the HD oils we use as well as the PSD can easily withstand temps up to 260*before we need to worry about anything catastrophic happening. My Edge has the "red zone" set at 230* and that is what made me panic a little. I did change my thermostat on that trip to bring them down and it helped quite a bit, but looking back, I may not have done anything if I knew then what I do now. You can check this out if you want and see what I learned. It helped me quite a bit. I think Todd told me our truck won't even de-fuel for EOTs until they hit like 260*. I can't imagine ever getting close to that unless the truck was severely overloaded.

Engine Oil Temps- How Hot is too Hot? | Heavy Duty Engine Oil (HDEO) - Diesel/Gas Pickups/Trucks/Vans | Bob Is The Oil Guy

(Tom, sorry if that's breaking a rule. Not sure )

Other than that, all of it sounds good!! You are right on the comfort level. I absolutely love taking my 17 year old truck across country and having people just ask questions and be surprised I am doing so. Makes me laugh a little. Rock on man. Your work did you well!

 

Its funny, seems like just recently there is a lot of talk about how 'old' our trucks are. I don't know about you guys but my truck is seventeen years 'young'. LOL

 

If either of you guys want to unload your 203* stat let me know. I plan to install one when I do my coolant flush here pretty soon. I had on in the old truck and I liked it a lot and since I don't tow really heavy I think they fit my application pretty well.

 

PM me your info. You can have mine.

 

Byron, I didn't expect you to give it to me, lol. I just sent you a PM. Sorry for the thread derailment...

 

Its all good Nate! I think I'm going to hang onto it for now, sounds like Byron is gonna fix you up!

As promised here are some pictures! I'm only posting a few, if anyone wants to see them all, they are on my Flickr, I'll try and caption as best as I can along the way.

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This was right when I got there to where they were rehearsing, the reason I love drum corps so much is that they are so intricate, and so many moving parts moving in precision. I'll throw up some links to this years show and last years.

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When they went over to the arena, I followed the semi hauling their gear into where they were going to do their lot warm up, thinking they were going to make me park where everyone else parks, I just told the security guy that I was with them and he let me in! No questions asked! Maybe its cause I looked important in my big white truck. lol

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All the snares, lined up, just before they took the floor.

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This was just as they were walking out onto the floor, the coolest part was I got to go in with them, and go out onto the floor with them! Not somthing just anybody gets to do. It was a true honor, and even more so that I got to do it 2 years in a row.

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This was them doing their show in front of a full house!

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This was right after the awards ceremony, and they got 1st! WORLD CHAMPIONS PULSE PERCUSSION!

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And my buddy and I right after that.

It was an incredible experience. This was his last time marching before he ages out and can't do it any more. What a way to age out!

Heres a couple of links to their show this year (they pry wont have the actual one I saw up for a little while)


And here's their show from last year, which was one of my favorite shows that he has done.


Anyways sorry for the novel! But I just wanted to share it with everyone. Hope you enjoy! I sure did. lol

 

Thanks Thomas, and yes, Byron is hooking me up.

Those performances are impressive indeed. Did you play in school? And what does your buddy play?

 

No I never played in school, I am a self taught drummer (kit) and guitar player though. I don't have any skill like that though.

My buddy plays snare, he got the honor of being center snare this season. He is crazy good! You gotta be to make it in one of those drum corps, I've been following him for the last 5 years or so, they would usually have a show that would come around my area in the summer. I don't get to see him much since he lives so far away, so I take any opportunity I can to go see him.

 

Impressive indeed. It takes a lot of skill to play like that while pulling off that kind of choreography. That's a lot more coordination than I possess! I've tried playing (kit) drums in the past and it's all I can do to get both hands and feet to do different things. I'm sure it's a matter of practice but it sure seems like some guys are just born with a natural talent for it. I can hold my own vocally and don't embarrass myself too badly with a 5 string electric bass, but drumming isn't my strong suit by any means.

Thanks for sharing the videos. That's good stuff. Be sure and post up the videos of their world championship performance when it gets posted.