So we set out in my '88 E250 on June 17th to visit family in Texas. We drove a total of 2996 miles round trip. It is about 1300 miles each way along with a week of site seeing.
Passed through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
Overall the trip went well. The only mechanical issue was a dead alternator about 8 hours into the trip. It is a lifetime warranty unit, so I was able to find an Autozone and replace it in the parking lot. It definitely convinced me of the need to swap to a 3g and to go with a new unit instead of a rebuild.
Ended up averaging 16.37mpg for the trip there and back with the cruise set at 70mph. Not too bad for a barn on wheels. Best tank was 17.55mpg (twice) and worst was 15.26mpg. I was able to maintain CC at 70mph on all but a couple of inclines in the Ozarks.......the same ones had an extra slow lane added for 18 wheelers that would lose quite a bit of speed. With just cruise I would drop to 65mph and hold there. No black smoke etc. If I gave it a little more throttle I could stay at 70mph or even speed up. EGT's never got above 1000*.
I did notice that the Texas heat/humidity affected performance some (high 90's vs low 80's). Mostly it was just added black smoke during harder acceleration prior to the engine getting up to operating temps.
I set up the van to give us the most interior room possible. I removed the middle bench seat and built a platform to go over the brackets. This left the back bench, 2 captians chairs and the 2 front seats.
I used a hitch mounted cargo carrier for our luggage. That meant that inside we only had our coolers, pillows, blankets etc. Made it so we didn't have to spend money on a hotel on the way down. Pulled into a WalMart and parked with the other RV's. My 3 boys slept on the back bench and on the floor. My wife and I spun the front seats around for our feet and laid the middle captains chairs back. Like sleeping in a recliner. Only thing I forgot about was that it was still 85* out at midnight in Texarkana. We had a battery powered fan to help, but it was still pretty warm. If we did it agian I may make an AC out of a cooler and run it off my 12v jump starter.
I added a phone/gps holder to the cupholder I had already built. Allowed easy access to view gps while still keeping an eye on the road. Also used it to stream Pandora during the trip. I purchased a Bluetooth Cassette adapter so I could stream the music through the vans tape deck.
Setting off at 5am
I ripped a bunch of movies on to a USB. This kept us from having to carry a bunch of individual DVD's. The boys got to kick back in front of the TV to pass the time.....and yes, my son on the right wears his head phones that way so he doesn't mess up his hair. Gotta love teenagers.....
Passed through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
Overall the trip went well. The only mechanical issue was a dead alternator about 8 hours into the trip. It is a lifetime warranty unit, so I was able to find an Autozone and replace it in the parking lot. It definitely convinced me of the need to swap to a 3g and to go with a new unit instead of a rebuild.
Ended up averaging 16.37mpg for the trip there and back with the cruise set at 70mph. Not too bad for a barn on wheels. Best tank was 17.55mpg (twice) and worst was 15.26mpg. I was able to maintain CC at 70mph on all but a couple of inclines in the Ozarks.......the same ones had an extra slow lane added for 18 wheelers that would lose quite a bit of speed. With just cruise I would drop to 65mph and hold there. No black smoke etc. If I gave it a little more throttle I could stay at 70mph or even speed up. EGT's never got above 1000*.
I did notice that the Texas heat/humidity affected performance some (high 90's vs low 80's). Mostly it was just added black smoke during harder acceleration prior to the engine getting up to operating temps.
I set up the van to give us the most interior room possible. I removed the middle bench seat and built a platform to go over the brackets. This left the back bench, 2 captians chairs and the 2 front seats.
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I used a hitch mounted cargo carrier for our luggage. That meant that inside we only had our coolers, pillows, blankets etc. Made it so we didn't have to spend money on a hotel on the way down. Pulled into a WalMart and parked with the other RV's. My 3 boys slept on the back bench and on the floor. My wife and I spun the front seats around for our feet and laid the middle captains chairs back. Like sleeping in a recliner. Only thing I forgot about was that it was still 85* out at midnight in Texarkana. We had a battery powered fan to help, but it was still pretty warm. If we did it agian I may make an AC out of a cooler and run it off my 12v jump starter.
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I added a phone/gps holder to the cupholder I had already built. Allowed easy access to view gps while still keeping an eye on the road. Also used it to stream Pandora during the trip. I purchased a Bluetooth Cassette adapter so I could stream the music through the vans tape deck.
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Setting off at 5am
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I ripped a bunch of movies on to a USB. This kept us from having to carry a bunch of individual DVD's. The boys got to kick back in front of the TV to pass the time.....and yes, my son on the right wears his head phones that way so he doesn't mess up his hair. Gotta love teenagers.....
You must be registered for see images attach
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