Dangit Aaron, you beat me to it. I was going to say that. Lol

 

Haha gotcha Thomas.

And jegs stickers too

 

Dudes, seriously, the flames did it. I was at least....AT LEAST 15 hp better pulling those grades. And dangit, no hpop oil change!! It looks bad too...maybe I do that early in the morning before hitting the second leg of the trip.

Man this thread is all over he place!! LMAO!!!!

 

Yeah we know how to derail threads around here, that's for sure. Lol

 

Lol. Anyways.. Hope everything is going smoothly so far and the stuff I hooked you up with is still working well. Byron was an awesome guest fellas. He fit right in with us, no doubt. Those of you who haven't met him in person yet, you'll want to do that if it ever becomes possible. He and his family are great. I'm glad I was able to do a little wrenching on Ruby.

 

Travis, the hookup has been working great and Ruby is running extremely well. Those grades have been better since changing the driving style like we talked about. Like I said before, still figuring this truck out a little bit. This is the first real run I have made since all of the bolt ons...LOL !!! Appreciate the kind words. We have got to get an FTE gathering. I keep saying that, but it's true.

So far this morning, Ruby has been happy. The hot temps yesterday made things a little tricky. Outside temp was 103* going through West Texas, but she held up more than fine. This morning is better through New Mex with 65* temps allowing her to run a bit cooler on all fronts. I'll update a little later with some more photos, a poorly made video, and some more data!

 

Sounds like you're having a great trip Byron!

 

Waiting in Yuma for things to cool down a bit before the big climb



Because this is what I am dealing with



The toughness of these trucks blows my mind. On a side note, I cannot wait to get rid of this E4OD, but I can't complain. Even in this really hot desert heat, it hasn't gone above 168*!! Maybe the almighty Edge is fibbing a little bit? More tonight!

 

Travis what did you go and do besides make his wallet cringe

 

Lol. I suppose I'll spill it. I didn't do anything more than help a brother out and fix his charging issue. The connection where the charge cable connects to the charge stud on the alt must have been loose or corroded for awhile because it was burnt and basically welded together. The charge stud snapped as soon as I tried to take the nut off. I gave him a spare alternator I had on the shelf and put together a 2 gauge charge cable with some parts I had laying around and I stole part of the cable from my F-150. Got his voltage to hold strong at 14.1v.

I figured I'd play with y'all a bit though. Lol. Austin and I did show him what these trucks can do though between his truck with 238/100 hybrids and an H2E, my SD, and I took him out in my OBS and beat the tar out of it. I think it was a surprise that these trucks were capable of such torture. Lol.

 

Ha. I had a feeling it was small potatoes

 

LOL. You guys forgot the 40 hp 8" exhaust tip.

I'd love to take a ride in an OBS with that kind of power.

 

That's hot now dude!!

The best mods are the ones that keep you trucking!

 

Piece of mind is worth a lot when your out in the middle of nowhere.

 

Sooooooo, here it is. We got back at a decent time last night, but after 15 hours of long grinding in the heat of August, I showered and went to bed only to have to get up and be at work this morning. I was pretty much a zombie.

So here's how it breaks down---

Miles traveled---3216
Gallons of diesel consumed-416
MPG---7.73 (that really sucks)
Issues---one alternator, one bad cable, 4 new trailer tires (ouch)

So, when I hit the road, I thought my tires were good. When I stopped to fuel up, they were cracked all the way around. I should have considered replacing them right away, but evening time, nothing open, Anyways, I just can't say enough about these OBS Trucks. I REALLY put this truck through it's paces. I didn't use one drop of oil or leak any diesel the entire trip. That was nice to see. After months of redoing leaks, etc..to see no diesel on the ground or on the engine was a huge victory.

What I did see, and lots of it, was ATF all over the ground on three different occasions! I could not see anything about where it was coming from....only that it seemed to be coming from the gasket between the pan gasket. I first noticed it pulling into Weatherford on our way there and felt my heart in my throat. It only spit about a few capfuls,but that can look like a lot. I put in a quart after checking it and it seemed to bring the level up to normal for a hot transmission. It didn't do it again until on the way back and it did the same thing about 3 different times. The time that had me worried the most was just pulling into California and seeing a red trail as I pulled off the exit and it coming out of both sides on the trans!!! At this point, I just wanted to make it home without having to use AAA! I checked and rechecked the level like I am supposed to and it was normal. It never acted funny, shifted weird, got hot, slipped, shut the truck down, gave me a blinking OD light, or any of that. When I stopped for fuel the last time, it didn't and hadn't leaked at all. The only thing I can guess is that I overfilled it or all of the heavy pulling made it unhappy? Even today on my way to work, not one drop on the ground or underneath (I degreased and cleaned the entire underneath this morning before going to work). I am not sure what to make of it, but I decided to just quit worrying about it. I have plans to do a ZF swap, hopefully in the next few months, so we'll see. Truth be told, I hate this transmission! LOL!!It is not meant for towing and one that is costs $5k to get. It just isn't worth it to me for comfort driving....ah well, lesson learned.

Other than that, we had such an epic time! Lots of good BBQ, Shiner beer, outdoor exploring in the Hill Country, and some wrenching/hanging out with Travis in his neck of the woods. Really enjoyed meeting him and his buddy Austin and really seeing what these trucks are capable of. I pulled out much more confident in my rig after seeing what abuse these things can take and then driven home like it never happened. I even saw evidence of this in my own truck with the abuse it was exposed to on the way home. At one point, the OT was 112*!!! I could not believe how hot it was. It did affect my coolant temps and other temps some, but nothing OH or quit on me.

Guys, we have got to get another gathering down in the Texas area. Would be really great to meet other guys on here. I'll even do Dallas or North Texas if we had to. Travis is a class act and it shows me just what good guys are on here. My kind of people! I had a rad time at his place and laughed quite a bit as well as learned sh** ton!! His Death Row Diesel OBS is something that put the biggest smile on my face. I think I actually see the point of a stack in that situation. Not many like him left as far as people go. I can't say that enough.

Sorry for the long post!! It's just a consolidation of everything. Here is the one video that I thought was maybe decent enough for anyone who cares. The quality sucks, but hey...its the iPhone while I am driving.


The sand dunes in Ocotillo Wells...lots of FMX done here



Pulling into CA just after the huge climb...love coming home



Another shot



Hope you guys enjoyed! If I missed anything, lemme know!! Oh yeah...new alternator...not a new turbo