My trip, the lil 6.2 that could!

[deejaaa]

Bill, it was great seeing and talking to you. Could of visited all day/night. There is one thing to remember though, no matter how far away you are, we will always be neighbors. Enjoyed the visit.

 

[orrum]

Hey Dave enjoyed the visit and also your gift of the lil cigaret lighter plugin inverter for my tablet! It did the trick, kept the screen on the entire trip n the tablet stayed full charge pardner!!!! Hey can u or anyone else find me a app or something that will tell me the elevation changes on a road trip so I can know what I am facing?

 

[orrum]

Also I meant to ask u what is that avatar? A gas mask?

 

[handcannon]

I wanted to do Arizona, Oregon and Utah most but they all look too mountainous. I am gonna go up thru the midwest n c how that goes n then maybe after burning all the oil and lighten the load try some small mountains.

Bill, I've got a "book" here for you.

Depending on which way you come in, there are roads that don't have much in the way of big hills here in Oregon.
For I-84 outside of Oregon my memory is not so good, but I don't remember any big hills in Utah or Idaho. Somebody else may want to correct me though.

I've been through Utah and southern Wyoming in to Colorado and down to Colorado Springs. I don't remember any big hills in that part of Colorado. My memory tells me that southern Wyoming was fairly mild, except I don't remember the highway where you cross the Rockies when going from Utah into Wyoming. Again, somebody may need to correct me.

Going from east to west I-84 in Oregon is reasonably good. I don't remember anything very big uphill, but remember "east to west". Between La Grande and Pendleton is a 6% grade hill that will make a believer out of you, if you are going eastbound. Westbound, downhill, from Emigrant summit will pop you out of the trees to look way down on the ranch and grain country around Pendleton (home of the famous Pendleton Rodeo). No "Georgia overdrive" here, probably wouldn't be anything left of you to pick up out of the sagebrush before you got to the bottom. There are truck run-away ramps on the westbound lanes.

West of Pendleton the first 40 miles goes through farming/ranching country= fairly flat. Then you come to the Columbia River and almost nothing for hills the rest of the way in to Portland.

Here's some Wikipedia info on I-84

Oregon
Main article: Interstate 84 in Oregon
In the Portland metropolitan area, I-84 is sometimes referred to as the "Banfield Freeway" or simply "the Banfield", although the official name is the Banfield Expressway. This freeway is named after Thomas H. Banfield, the chairman of the Oregon Transportation Commission from 1943 to 1950.
East of Pendleton, I-84 climbs Emigrant Hill, a 6% grade, into the Blue Mountains. This grade is known for the fact that the westbound lanes switchback twice on its descent into Pendleton. Eastbound lanes feature what are the tightest curves allowed on the Interstate Highway system, even though those curves are on the uphill (eastbound) direction. This grade is also well known due to the fact that it features such a great distance between eastbound and westbound lanes, nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) between the opposite directions of travel at some points. The road summits at 4193 feet (1278 m) above sea level before descending to the Grand Ronde River and La Grande. It passes by North Powder and Baker City and through the Burnt River canyon. Around Huntington, it crosses into the Mountain Time Zone then briefly follows the Snake River (Brownlee Reservoir), then continues to Ontario to cross the Snake River into Idaho.

Idaho
Main article: Interstate 84 in Idaho
I-84 enters Idaho by crossing the Snake River at Ontario, Oregon. From there, it continues on to the major cities of the Treasure Valley, or Boise metropolitan area, including Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian, and Boise (where I-184 connects travelers to downtown). From Boise, I-84 continues southeast towards Twin Falls, after passing near several small cities (Mountain Home, Glenns Ferry, and Jerome).
Just east of Jerome, I-84 passes within 5 miles (8 km) of Twin Falls, but does not cross the Snake River Canyon or into Twin Falls County. Access to Twin Falls is afforded by an intersection with US 93 at Exit 173; US 93 southbound crosses the Snake River via the Perrine Bridge.
After Twin Falls, I-84 continues through Burley and Heyburn. Approximately 7 miles (11 km) east of Declo in rural Cassia County, I-84 meets I-86. I-84 heads southeast towards Utah and I-86 heads east, then northeast to American Falls and Pocatello, following the Oregon Trail.

Utah
Main article: Interstate 84 in Utah
From Idaho, I-84 enters Utah at a point approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) from Snowville in Box Elder County. It proceeds southeast towards Tremonton where I-84 joins I-15.
Just south, at Corinne, Utah, I-84 joins the route of the First Transcontinental Railroad which the highway follows to its terminus. I-15/I-84 pass to the west of Ogden where I-84 separates from I-15 and follows the Weber River. As the freeway passes through Weber Canyon it also passes through several small farming communities, including Morgan, where the Browning Arms Company headquarters can be seen from the freeway. Also visible in the canyon is Devil's Slide, an unusual rock formation just off the freeway.[3] Farther up the canyon is the Thousand Mile Tree, planted by Union Pacific Railroad workers to mark 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the railroad's origin in Omaha, Nebraska.[4] The freeway ends at Echo, a near ghost town that before served as a stopover for the railroad, at a junction with Interstate 80. Also near the junction is Echo Reservoir and Echo Dam.

Here's a link to a map of I-84.

http://m.roadnow.com/i84/showdir4.php?start=Portland,+OR&end=Echo,+UT&n=Interstate+84+Map

End of book 1

Don

 

[Husker6.5]

Husker dong u sleel? LOL The problem in my case isnt just needing more uniform cooling its the 410 rear. At 55 mph The Lil 6.2 is doing 2600 rpms in overdrive! Plus she is toting over 10000 lbs n has a big wind sail up there called my camper. The engine isnt heating its also the tranny heat, I have the largest auxilary tranny cooler on her but that still puts super hot air washing thru the radiator stack. The real fix is 98 clutch and fan, auxilary tranny cooler relocated under bed with a fan, 373 rear pinion etc. plus to be honest get a liteweight collapsible camper. My dinosaur of a camper weighs almost 4000 dry n no gear! I thought it was lighter when I bought it. plus rolling resistance, I got 6 wheels! Its a lot of lil things that all add up. I ran her hard hauling six big steers in a bumper pull stock trailer last summer in 105 heat on interstate 95 at 65 mph and held 200 and below. Just asking a tad much of my girl. Shes gonna make it tho!!!!!!yi

Do I sleep? Actually, not so much any more. Bit of a sleeping disorder and all. If you read the link all the way through, Bill, that's a Duramax fax mounted to a super heavy duty fan clutch that bolts in place of the stock clutch and designed to kick in at a lower temp than the stock '98 clutch. So it draws way more air that is cooler than the stock clutch through the tranny, oil and A/C cores, pulling their heat out, as well as the radiator's considerably BEFORE they start to get close to 200*, let alone the heat soak delay that pushes the temps up to 210*+ that you get with the stock fan clutch that engages too late to prevent the heat soak delay. That baby works good at pulling the heat out of all those things hanging out front of the engine. Provided of course that your 6.2 is running a 180* thermostat to take full advantage of the clutch kicking in at about 180*. Think of it as preemptive cooling BEFORE it starts to become too hot. Combined with a couple of bottles of Water Wetter in the anti-freeze and you shouldn't see 210 or over ever again. Long before the Duramax appeared on the scene (from the intro of the CUCV and HMMWV til '98 when I got out) we used to really thrash our N/A 6.2's and didn't really have problems with overheating as long as we kept the mud out of the radiators at Ft. Reilly, nor can I recall any problems out in the desert at either Ft. Bliss, TX or the NTC at Ft. Irwin, CA. Especially at the NTC, where temps were regularly in the high hundred-and-teens to low hundred-and-twenties on a daily basis. We were constantly over loading them, pulling way too much than they should (like a FULL Water Buffalo with an M1008 cross country out in the box at NTC on a 117* day!) and they took it. We had a great Maint Section with some fantastic mechanics, I do know that we were running our N/A's with the IP turned up a hair or so.

 

[Husker6.5]

Also I meant to ask u what is that avatar? A gas mask?

Shhh, he's that character from the movie Hell Boy in real life!

 

[NVW]

Husker dong u sleel? LOL The problem in my case isnt just needing more uniform cooling its the 410 rear. At 55 mph The Lil 6.2 is doing 2600 rpms in overdrive! Plus she is toting over 10000 lbs n has a big wind sail up there called my camper. The engine isnt heating its also the tranny heat, I have the largest auxilary tranny cooler on her but that still puts super hot air washing thru the radiator stack. The real fix is 98 clutch and fan, auxilary tranny cooler relocated under bed with a fan, 373 rear pinion etc. plus to be honest get a liteweight collapsible camper. My dinosaur of a camper weighs almost 4000 dry n no gear! I thought it was lighter when I bought it. plus rolling resistance, I got 6 wheels! Its a lot of lil things that all add up. I ran her hard hauling six big steers in a bumper pull stock trailer last summer in 105 heat on interstate 95 at 65 mph and held 200 and below. Just asking a tad much of my girl. Shes gonna make it tho!!!!!!yi

What size tires Bill? I turn 2200 rpm at 65 mph with mine, it has 235/85 16" tires.

I'm glad you're having a good trip.

 

[Husker6.5]

You're right, NVW, the rpm's Bill's running suggest way deeper than a 4.10 rear end, an aftermarket HD alt that's sending a bad tach signal or 14" tires! I have a 3.73 running 245/75-16 and I turn 2200 rpm at about 72 mph, 1950 rpm at 65 mph.

 

[handcannon]

Book 2, Highway 97.

Due to a church picnic I attended book 2 has received a delay of a few hours, but here it is.

Highway 97 starts in northern California at Weed and goes up to Klamath Falls in Oegon, where it then follows the east side of the Cascade Mountains all the way up into Washington. I've never been on 97 south of Klamath Falls so here's a link to a site with a good description and pics of this part of the highway. There are two summits over 5K feet, but it sounds like there are some two lane passing areas where you can pull in behind the big trucks and go slow up the hills with the big boys.

http://www.aaroads.com/california/us-097na_ca.html

Here's a link to a site detailing the southern part of Hy 97, from Klamath Falls to the junction of Hy58 to Eugene. It's been over thirty years since I've been on this part of Hy 97 so my memory is sketchy. There is one summit to go over, I don't remember it as being a real tough one, but that is from a weak memory.

http://www.aaroads.com/guide.php?page=u0097nbor

Internet details of highway 97 from the junction of Hy58 on north to the Columbia River are sketchy. Between Hy 58 and Bend (about 57 miles), Hy 97 goes over one small summit in the Lava Butte area about seven miles south of Bend. The whole distance is good highway, mostly two lane going through the same kind of small pine terrain like just south of Hy 58 junction. From Bend and north through Redmond and Terrebonne is the most developed and built up portion of Hy 97 in Oregon. If you are able to make it out to Oregon it is from this area that you'll head west about thirty miles to the Metolius area.

North of here you'll leave the trees behind and drive through dry, semi-arid terrain on up to the Columbia River. It is 26 miles of dry, open country from Redmond to Madras. Madras is the last of Hy97 that I'm very familiar with. What little I know of Hy 97 is that it continues the dry, semi-arid terrain for a number of miles, then slowly transitions to the grain growing country of the Columbia high lands before dropping down to Biggs Junction and the Columbia River. The following link has a few pics of the Biggs area.

http://www.aaroads.com/guide.php?page=u0097nbor

I just came across a Mile-By-Mile highway guide of Hy 97 from the OR/CA border to the city of Bend. Here's the link.

http://www.milebymile.com/main/Unit...ted_States_Oregon_road_map_travel_guides.html

Let me know if you are interested in Hy 97 in Washington from the Columbia River to Ellensburg. I've found a only few pics. They consist mostly of the climb up and away from the river, skipping the section that goes through Goldendale and up over Satus Pass and dropping down to the Yakima Valley at Toppenish, and a few in the Yakima and Ellensburg area.

If you are able to make it out this far somebody else will have to give you highway details from where you are currently at and on to somewhere close to Oregon. Don't let the fears of the unknown mountains scare you away. With what I'm able to do, and with others help I think we can get you through without traveling the toughest roads.

Don

 

[handcannon]

Huskers post #448 reminded me that I also was wondering about your highway RPMs. I have an 8 lug K2500 with 4.10 gears and my RPMs are 2000 at 60 MPH. This is with 265/75/16 tires. You may be dealing with an incorrect size pulley on your alt which is giving false readings. Or something other than 4.10 gears.

Don

 

[Paveltolz]

In google earth, you can hover the cursor over any point and it will give you an elevation read out at the bottom center of the screen, at least with the PC versions it does, not sure about the tablets. Most maps will give you pass elevations at least.

Utah: I-15 out of Las Vegas, Several 6% climbs of 2 - 3 miles which start out climbing out of the Las Vegas valley, up to Mesquite, up to St George through AZ and the Virgin River Canyon (30 miles of twist with the long climb up to Utah. Most of the climbs are followed by nice long downhill runs so it balances out.
Climb out of St George to Cedar City, Climb out of Cedar City and down to Mt Pleasant, Up and down to Beaver, Up and down to Filmore, up and down to Scipio and then again to Nephi and fairly level from there all the way through the Salt Lake area which will work out to about 90 miles. This is the route I took out of Vegas with the truck in OEM trim to include cooling and exhaust and 5000 lbs on it and trailer. I was 11000 total.

You could leave Phoenix and head to the Colorado River and follow US 95 up to Vegas. Much easier pull than Wickenburg to Kingman and over or straight up to Flagstaff though the side routes are beautiful as WarWagon will tell you. The side roads you're choosing to roll will have the luxury of allowing you to slow down, let the speedier guys pass and then continue on. Enjoy it all and do so slowly. You can always interstate it if you want or need too. Side roads have friendlier people too.

Anyway, Leaving Salt Lake on the Freeways..Junction at 1-15/1-84 you have three climbs before descending to the I-82 junction and on to Twin Falls, Boise. Mostly gentle climbs through Idaho to Oregon. Longer pulls of 5% up to Le Grange as Don said. Going over the Cabbage Mountains or "Cabbage Patch" would be a slow pull but there's nothing to them or any of the other hills mentioned. Just longer pulls and so you'll slow down.

Rather than Free Way it, you can take side roads again and go over the norther side of the Great Salt Lake to see Promontory Point (Golden Spike) and other sights on the side roads.

Cooling issues. In my opinion, what you need is a fan clutch that will engage gradually to keep up with the heat so it is working ahead of the motor's needs, keeping things cool and not allowing it to get hot in the first place. That way you don't have the clutch finally engaging at 210 and then full off when it cools off only to repeat. I guess this is the purpose of the fan clutch mod but as far as I know, it still comes on full right? Mine never comes on full and I only hear it when the motor is pulling long grades with the AC on and I'm running over 70 mph. Course I'm only 5700# empty.

 

[Husker6.5]

That's the whole purpose of the D-Max fan/modified clutch link I posted above. Kicks in 30* earlier than stock, draws WAY more air, also way lighter than stock fan so less stress on bearing and clutch. Preemptive strike on over heating.

 

[Pruittx2]

Wasn't 4:56 gears available in the 3500 Duellys?

 

[Brooklyn Tow]

That's the whole purpose of the D-Max fan/modified clutch link I posted above. Kicks in 30* earlier than stock, draws WAY more air, also way lighter than stock fan so less stress on bearing and clutch. Preemptive strike on over heating.

AGREED!:thumbsup:

Still need a clean Stack......Also, from the very many combos I've tried, JUST the D Max 21" composite makes a huge difference.......That Blade moves some SERIOUS air.

 

[orrum]

Time for a update. Remember the old Eagles song "Stuck In Lodi....Again"???? Well I am stuck in Mathis Tx. I am disabled due to a lot of different processes. One is that as a non healing diabetic I occasionnally get small ulcers that erupt out of nowhere on my foot. Had one come to visitSunday when I did my foot inspection. Figured the easy way out was to go to the Chorpus Christi Emergency Room n get them to trim the dead skin and dress it and give me some scripts for antibiotics n be on my way. Then I would schedule podiatrist appointments ahead of my travels every week. Not a good plan. LOL The hospital there took all day n most of the nite to get around to examine my foot! Then told me they dont do outpatient surgery, they wanted me to check into the hospital and actually be worked on under anethesia in a operating room!!!!! They stabilize only, dont so much as put a stitch in if u cut u finger. Thats medicare, medicaid fraud inflating like that!!!! Got some antibiotics, I had to show them a letter from my podiatrist cause they had no idea what to prescribe without a consult with a wound care specialist!!!!! Anyway walked out got in the truck and went to get bfeakfast at Mcdonalds ans used my tablet to get a podiatrist phone number and I have a appt for Monday.. Stuck here but I can do day trips n come back here each nite. Fridge pilot wont stay lit so gonna look into that tomoro. Never worked on a pilot on a gas fridge before. On camper water heaters its usually a cobweb or soot. Hope this is a easy one.

So summarry is The Lil 6.2 is doing great! The beer is hot but I am in the campground n got it plugged into the service and set to electric so it will cool down eventually. Stopped n got ice for my insulin to keep it cool. The driver is broke down n pissed but not upset.....yet. Lets c we need to count our blessings.......I am saving my fuel, trucks good, lots of mesquite wood here so got ribs in town n gonna grill em over mesquite coals tomoro, never cooked over mesquite before, I got my old camping spot back, I have figured out how to turn the ac on and off while driving 55 to keep cool. My foot will heal, it has before and these things are jusg opportunities not problems. Sorry about the pics guys but it was just too blah in the emergency waiting room to play with the tablet.

 

[NVW]

Good luck healing Bill.

Isn't that an Eric Clapton song?

 

[orrum]

Might be now that u mention it. Thanks Leo.

 

[btfarm]

Bill, by now I am sure you know how careful you have to be with the foot. Take it REAL easy. You don't want to lose another one. Stay cool!

 

[orrum]

Thanks Mike. I b chillin !

 

[Crankme69]

That's is one of the best things about yr schedule Bill...you don't really have one...

Hope yr feeling better real soon.