Poor Man's Stress Test...
#1
10-01-2016, 01:46 PM
Poor Man's Stress Test...
If yesterday wasn't the "poor man's stress test" for my 91 F-150, nothing ever will be... I had to run up to Grand Gorge, New York, picking up a U-Haul auto transporter en route, and then picking up a pair of WWII Ben Hur trailers I had purchased... She made the 500+ mile round trip nicely... Although I need to rebuild both the engine & transmission, she handled well, and did a formidable job of pulling a U-Haul auto transporter and two Ben Hurs-es from NY all the way to South Jersey... But WHAT a ride... I managed to get on the WORST road I have EVER driven! I think it was called "Blue Mountain Road", but "Black Bear Road" from CW McCall describes it to a t...)The Tom-Tom must HATE me for sending me along this "shortcut"- I was literally in fear for my life! I should have known when I saw signs "SEASONAL ROAD- NOT MAINTAINED BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND MAY" or such... It started out ok, but soon turned to a narrow two lane, then it started going up and down- signs stating "Trucks use low gear" popped up... Then one "NO CARS AND TRAILERS" Well, fine- but there was NOWHERE to turn around, so I had to keep going! Then a 4 ton bridge restriction(I don't even know which bridge it was, but I'm sure I was close...) So I'm driving along this ever dwindling patch of unmarked and no-shoulder SINGLE lane MOUNTAIN road, BARELY keeping the truck under control(LOW gear, and riding the brakes like a real *******, and I was still barely in control of the speed!) I kept her to a crawl as best I could...I kept going, through hairpin turns, sharp inclines and declines, mountain on the left, drop on the right- with NO guiderails-until FINALLY, after ten miles of hell, the road widened out, and intersected with another main road... A REAL one this time... I pulled into a convenient triangle in the middle of the road, and checked things over. My wheel hubcaps were VERY hot to the touch, and I could smell the brakes for the next few hours... I was screaming at the GPS the whole time... I was also screaming in general for good measure... A few miles down the road, and at a convenience store near the NY Thruway I filled her up with gas- She took a grand total of 13 gallons between the two tanks- this after 320 miles of driving! Around 24mpg... Wow... Anyway, I THOUGHT things were going my way- Till I misdirected myself, and ended up on the wrong road in NJ, and spent about an hour going five miles once I'd corrected... Miserable. But once I FINALLY hit the NJ Turnpike(by way of the GSP), it was smooth sailing all the way home... I am home now, and going to go to bed. I got started at 530AM, and arrived back at 9pm!
On the up side, fuel consumption from home, to Oneonta, to Grand Gorge and then through the road from hell was around a whopping 24MPG! Overall MPG for the trip was around 17... The trailer obviously knocked some off, so it was probably higher than 24 on the way up! I kept speeds moderate- less than 70 the whole way, so I know that helped...
Scott
On the up side, fuel consumption from home, to Oneonta, to Grand Gorge and then through the road from hell was around a whopping 24MPG! Overall MPG for the trip was around 17... The trailer obviously knocked some off, so it was probably higher than 24 on the way up! I kept speeds moderate- less than 70 the whole way, so I know that helped...
Scott
#2
10-01-2016, 05:14 PM
I managed to get on the WORST road I have EVER driven! I think it was called "Blue Mountain Road", but "Black Bear Road" from CW McCall describes it to a t...)The Tom-Tom must HATE me for sending me along this "shortcut"- I was literally in fear for my life! I should have known when I saw signs "SEASONAL ROAD- NOT MAINTAINED BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND MAY" or such... It started out ok, but soon turned to a narrow two lane, then it started going up and down- signs stating "Trucks use low gear" popped up... Then one "NO CARS AND TRAILERS" Well, fine- but there was NOWHERE to turn around, so I had to keep going! Then a 4 ton bridge restriction(I don't even know which bridge it was, but I'm sure I was close...) So I'm driving along this ever dwindling patch of unmarked and no-shoulder SINGLE lane MOUNTAIN road, BARELY keeping the truck under control(LOW gear, and riding the brakes like a real *******, and I was still barely in control of the speed!) I kept her to a crawl as best I could...I kept going, through hairpin turns, sharp inclines and declines, mountain on the left, drop on the right- with NO guiderails-until FINALLY, after ten miles of hell, the road widened out, and intersected with another main road... A REAL one this time...
There are so many single lane dirt roads without guide rails where I live, it's a miracle there are not more accidents.
#3
10-01-2016, 05:20 PM
Scott
Last edited by Encho; 10-02-2016 at 08:05 PM. Reason: There, fixed it for you, please keep the language family friendly
#4
10-01-2016, 06:05 PM
#5
10-02-2016, 12:30 AM
Scott
#6
10-02-2016, 05:51 AM
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that is what you get for using a gps and not a map!!!!
just kidding. when i go to unknown areas i map the route out first and then take those directions so when the gps tells me to make a left in the middle of a forest i know it want to get me lost and just ignore it for the printed directions.
just kidding. when i go to unknown areas i map the route out first and then take those directions so when the gps tells me to make a left in the middle of a forest i know it want to get me lost and just ignore it for the printed directions.
#7
10-02-2016, 06:35 AM
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#8
10-02-2016, 11:15 AM
that is what you get for using a gps and not a map!!!!
just kidding. when i go to unknown areas i map the route out first and then take those directions so when the gps tells me to make a left in the middle of a forest i know it want to get me lost and just ignore it for the printed directions.
just kidding. when i go to unknown areas i map the route out first and then take those directions so when the gps tells me to make a left in the middle of a forest i know it want to get me lost and just ignore it for the printed directions.
Stupid me... lol... At least I wasn't lost- I DID know where I was, but somehow that happened to be Main Street, Hell...
Scott
#9
10-02-2016, 11:16 AM
#10
10-02-2016, 11:19 AM
#12
10-02-2016, 01:42 PM
I agree that manual is better, but I have to say my 97 auto has been unstoppable in the snow. It's been through snow over 2ft deep and she has yet to let me down.
#13
10-02-2016, 03:08 PM
If yesterday wasn't the "poor man's stress test" for my 91 F-150, nothing ever will be... I had to run up to Grand Gorge, New York, picking up a U-Haul auto transporter en route, and then picking up a pair of WWII Ben Hur trailers I had purchased... She made the 500+ mile round trip nicely... Although I need to rebuild both the engine & transmission, she handled well, and did a formidable job of pulling a U-Haul auto transporter and two Ben Hurs-es from NY all the way to South Jersey... But WHAT a ride... I managed to get on the WORST road I have EVER driven! I think it was called "Blue Mountain Road", but "Black Bear Road" from CW McCall describes it to a t...)The Tom-Tom must HATE me for sending me along this "shortcut"- I was literally in fear for my life! I should have known when I saw signs "SEASONAL ROAD- NOT MAINTAINED BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND MAY" or such... It started out ok, but soon turned to a narrow two lane, then it started going up and down- signs stating "Trucks use low gear" popped up... Then one "NO CARS AND TRAILERS" Well, fine- but there was NOWHERE to turn around, so I had to keep going! Then a 4 ton bridge restriction(I don't even know which bridge it was, but I'm sure I was close...) So I'm driving along this ever dwindling patch of unmarked and no-shoulder SINGLE lane MOUNTAIN road, BARELY keeping the truck under control(LOW gear, and riding the brakes like a real *******, and I was still barely in control of the speed!) I kept her to a crawl as best I could...I kept going, through hairpin turns, sharp inclines and declines, mountain on the left, drop on the right- with NO guiderails-until FINALLY, after ten miles of hell, the road widened out, and intersected with another main road... A REAL one this time... I pulled into a convenient triangle in the middle of the road, and checked things over. My wheel hubcaps were VERY hot to the touch, and I could smell the brakes for the next few hours... I was screaming at the GPS the whole time... I was also screaming in general for good measure... A few miles down the road, and at a convenience store near the NY Thruway I filled her up with gas- She took a grand total of 13 gallons between the two tanks- this after 320 miles of driving! Around 24mpg... Wow... Anyway, I THOUGHT things were going my way- Till I misdirected myself, and ended up on the wrong road in NJ, and spent about an hour going five miles once I'd corrected... Miserable. But once I FINALLY hit the NJ Turnpike(by way of the GSP), it was smooth sailing all the way home... I am home now, and going to go to bed. I got started at 530AM, and arrived back at 9pm!
On the up side, fuel consumption from home, to Oneonta, to Grand Gorge and then through the road from hell was around a whopping 24MPG! Overall MPG for the trip was around 17... The trailer obviously knocked some off, so it was probably higher than 24 on the way up! I kept speeds moderate- less than 70 the whole way, so I know that helped...
Scott
On the up side, fuel consumption from home, to Oneonta, to Grand Gorge and then through the road from hell was around a whopping 24MPG! Overall MPG for the trip was around 17... The trailer obviously knocked some off, so it was probably higher than 24 on the way up! I kept speeds moderate- less than 70 the whole way, so I know that helped...
Scott
Use more paragraphs and less ellipsises (the "..." thing"). I'm by no means a grammar **** or written language enthusiast but that hurt to read.
Congratulations in going enough from the coast to find a single lane hairpin road. The dirt ones are more fun in the spring when the snow melts.
If you're worried about your route use the Internet to look for elevation maps. (This is mostly an issue with a surge-braked BDL since the trailer can drag you downhill). Google street view has oddly good coverage of rural roads that are fairly high traffic. You can look at the trees to get a sense of angle.
Yup. If you toggle between map and satellite view it's pretty easy to find all the dirt "shortcuts" in all the places you normally drive. When it comes to snow I find that lift (so you're not pushing snow with the body) and tire choice are what have the biggest impact on what you can move forward in (other than the quality of snow of course). I'm hoping it snows a lot this winter. For rocking the truck it's hard to beat a manual if you're rocking the truck you've already lost. The auto is 1000x better at down-shifts under load but the catch is you don't choose exactly when they happen.
Last edited by Fomoko1; 10-05-2016 at 05:03 PM. Reason: post clean up
#14
10-02-2016, 07:24 PM
#15
10-02-2016, 08:00 PM
Postmaster
I'm not sure what GPS you were using, but it may have been in the set up that got you on the pig trails... My Garmin has settings for "shortest route", "fastest route" and I think one or two more options.. It's been a while and I don't want to go out and look right now... Yep. LAZY!!!!
When it's set to shortest route, you should see some of the back alleys and what not it sends you on..
It might be worth checking out your options before the next trip....
Yep. LAZY!!!!When it's set to shortest route, you should see some of the back alleys and what not it sends you on..
It might be worth checking out your options before the next trip....