2300 miles round trip!!

[ericboutin]

Well we just got back from Cape Cod, Mass...2300 miles from start to end...towing our 30 ft TT!! What a crazy trip! All was going well on the way up except at the North Carolina border with Virginia the A/C compressor decided it was going to seize up! It was acting up before the trip but I tightened the belt and that seemed to fix it but on the trip it said no more. When it seized of course it busted the belt and twisted the PS pump belt. I always keep spares in the toolbox and we changed em out at a Rest Area but I wasn't able to get the PS belt as tight as I would liked and of course going through NYC it decided to throw off so I had no PS going through NYC at about 11 at night!! Luckily right after we left the city the other two belts decided to throw off leaving me with no brakes or alt!! Obviously we called it quits for the night and fixed her up good the next morning. I left the compressor belt off this time as there was no need for it! Dang it!! The rest of the trip to the Cape was without incident.
On the way home was a traffic nightmare!!!!!!!!! It took us 10 hours to go from Cape Cod to the middle of the Jersey Turnpike!!!! Then Day two 10 more hours to go from Jersey to Richmond VA!!!!! It was bumper to bumper all the way!!! Just a literal parking lot!! Anyways as soon as traffic seemed to start flowing just before Richmond a tire on the TT decides to explode!!! Un frickin believable!!! I had enough and we stopped again for the night. It took 26 hours and three days to go from Cape Cod back to the house in Boiling Springs, SC!!!
Just to make this post even longer on a great note....before the trip I only had 1 little tranny cooler and temps on the highway were about 195 cruising and then in bumper to bumper they would rise real quick!! Well before this trip I installed the perma-cool tranny filter and the biggest air cooler I could find along with re-connecting the stock tranny cooler and; I left the little cooler inline also just for good measure and in all that traffic (stop and go for hours! ) the tranny never saw temps higher than 180. It actually never made it to 180 it would just sneak up to it. Cruising now it stays right at 165!! It was nice not to have to freak out when we were sitting in all the bumper to bumper stuff!! If I hadn't done it I know I would have been stranded puking tranny fluid all over the ground!! (As Joe would well remember! ) My tranny gauge sensor is mounted on the driver's side port above the pan.
Anyway The Dewey did exceptional for an old truck, never complained once she just seemed to be happy towing along!! Sorry for the long post I just had to vent on the dang traffic and brag on the tranny coolers...if you got an auto and are having temp issues I highly recommend doing this mod!!

 

[hesutton]

Good greif Eric,

I would have some serious road rage in traffic like that! I really would have been boiling mad with belt flying off and tires poping! But, it sounds like you only had a few small issues on a very long trip. You should write up the tranny cooler install for an article.

Heath

 

[Diesel JD]

No AC is really no fun, but otherwise sounds great. Wonder what's up with all the traffic, I thought we were in such a recession that no one could travel...sounds like a lot of people are.

 

[Agnem]

That's rough Eric! That's why I took the "long" way. We could have gone I-95 the whole way from our place to R.I., but I knew what that would entail. Perhaps you have never driven I-95 through New Jersey? Around the Oranges? "The devil is in the details" they say. He lives on that road too. . I'd never driven around New Haven, but I used my imaginiation and didn't like what I saw. I took the extra 2 hours each way, and took the interior. I-81 to Scranton, and I-84 into Connecticut. No traffic, no jams, no problems. Glad you survived it! Our run was quite hectic as well, and here I am at work feeling like I (literally) spent my weekend behind the wheel. It's gonna be a long week.

 

[ericboutin]

Yah I sure wouldn't say people are staying off the road!! The road rage was kept to a minimum; thanks in part to my 13 year old! Everytime I'd start to get excited she would say "Daddy it's ok, we'll get through it" She kept me sane by staying sane herself. The wife took the easy way and flew up and back since she had to get back to work...just me and the two girls!
Mel that's actually the first time I've ever travelled up north on 95...usually I always go 81 but I was caravanning with my brother and he was convinced 95 was the way to go which going up wasn't that bad....oh well....Hey you shoulda did what I did; I went ahead and took this week off too!! Needed the time to recuperate!!

 

[RLDSL]

I-95 can be a real disaster. Mondays and Fridays are always the worst as you get a solid line of cars from NYC to Florida for their run to their *weekend home*
Right now you get the extra pileup from the seasonal migration or the college students heading for the dorms.

Oh I don't miss having to run through that mess at all

 

[oldmisterbill]

The last ttime I drove the"95" thru washington to Connecticut,the tolls ate up most of my profit.I had to go from Albany down empty to just outside DC.That was in 1990 when fuel wasn't as bad,but I had a naturaly asperated 7.3 with no AC in my F250.YUK!!!
Interesting My trip program shows 81 as the longest route at 953 miles from Boiling springs to Sandwich at the beginning of the cape,and 942 miles thru Baltimore.Almost no tolls going up 81 to 84 Just the Beacon Newburg bridge. But for 11 miles I would take 81 time.Actually that is what I used to do.

 

[ericboutin]

It was certainly a mess! I'm here to tell yah! You're right about the tolls Mr Bill!! It was $80 bucks on the way up!!!! I couldn't believe it!! Everytime we'd get rolling we'd be stopping again for another toll!! The girls were funny...Daddy another toll!! What was that for??!! It cost me $32 just to go over the GW bridge!! I couldn't believe it when the guy said 32...I told him I didn't want to buy the bridge just drive over it!! He wasn't amused! Oh well live and learn.

 

[RLDSL]

It was certainly a mess! I'm here to tell yah! You're right about the tolls Mr Bill!! It was $80 bucks on the way up!!!! I couldn't believe it!! Everytime we'd get rolling we'd be stopping again for another toll!! The girls were funny...Daddy another toll!! What was that for??!! It cost me $32 just to go over the GW bridge!! I couldn't believe it when the guy said 32...I told him I didn't want to buy the bridge just drive over it!! He wasn't amused! Oh well live and learn.

NYC bridges are a real blast on the wallet when you have anything more than 2 axles. I remember over 20 years ago running a big truck out there and I could easily run through $100-200 in a day while making deliveries

 

[Agnem]

Yup. And newburg beacon was only $2 one way.

I'm well aquinted with the tolls on 95. In 1985 I ran a service call in NYC. On the way home I ran out of money, and got written up by a Delaware state trooper. While I was sitting in his cruiser, a tractor trailer pulled over, and the guy came up to my window and asked if I was sitting there because I couldn't pay the toll. I said yes, and he through the money in my lap. The trooper got pissed, and tore up all his writing. I paid the toll and was on my way. I caught up to the trucker, and flagged him down. I got his address and sent him $10 and a coffee mug for his kindness. I think round trip back then was around $30. Glad I didn't go that way!!!

 

[argve]

I love driving across country on vacation vs flying but the traffic at times can make you rethink that... I can't imagine what I would do if I was in your situation. I more than likely would have jumped off and done the 2 lane roads or else I would have shot someone.

 

[ericboutin]

Hey Travis! A big thankyou to you for all the info on the tranny coolers and the perma cool filter! As you can see it's made a huge difference!! I believe I've got the same setup now as the Enterprise had! Well Well Well worth it! Thanks again!

 

[argve]

You know my motto don't you...


A clean, cool, changed often fluid is a happy fluid...

I have heard horror stories about the E4OD and we all know how I beat upon the E and I never once had the tranny complain because from day 1 at my house she had the same setup as you are running now - heat was only an issue when doing a ton of backing/wiggling at home to get the trailer in it's parking spot (up hill - and a steep one at that).

 

[hoodshauler]

Yup. And newburg beacon was only $2 one way.

I'm well aquinted with the tolls on 95. In 1985 I ran a service call in NYC. On the way home I ran out of money, and got written up by a Delaware state trooper. While I was sitting in his cruiser, a tractor trailer pulled over, and the guy came up to my window and asked if I was sitting there because I couldn't pay the toll. I said yes, and he through the money in my lap. The trooper got pissed, and tore up all his writing. I paid the toll and was on my way. I caught up to the trucker, and flagged him down. I got his address and sent him $10 and a coffee mug for his kindness. I think round trip back then was around $30. Glad I didn't go that way!!!

Just goes to show you US truckers aint all BAD.

Eric sounds like you had a FUN trip. Thank god for kids they can really help in a tough perdicament.