[coastie65]

The longest trip I ever had to work was 35 miles each way, but not with this car. I had a '69 Chevy Impala Convertible then. About as far as this car gets is the occasional trip up to my Sisters place on a Lake about 45 Miles NW of here in the summer. I will run it up the interstate from time to time to let it know there is more than suburban driving. I am within two miles of everything for the most part, except for the VA, which is about 15 miles, all suburban, away.

[rtfire1]

back in her younger days pre 125k miles we used to run down this dirt track with are stock suv and see what they could do. now I am older and wiser an afried of what would break or sharter from driving that hard. On a side note I am going to look at an 03 R1 (street bike) this weekend if I end up buying it its going to be a very cold ride when i bring her home.

[coastie65]

You ain't kidding. I remember all to well what it is like up there this time up year. Those things are better left in the garage til spring. :D

[rgreen4]

I have a 2006 Dodge 2500 diesel that was intended to be my daily driver, but when diesel went up so much more than gasoline, it was cheaper to drive the mini-van. I bought the truck new in Sept. of '06 and it has 21,000 miles on it. It has been on a few trips, not too many. It showed it stuff this past weekend when out at camp we were trying to pull the old camp tractor out from behind the warehouse to put on a trailer. The other vehicle we had with us was a relatively new Ford F150 pickup, and we started trying to pull the tractor with it. All it did was spin tires and dig two small holes. Then we swapped trucks, I unhooked from the trailer and we hooked his up to hold it down while we pulled the tractor up on it. I was in low range 4WD, and pulled the tractor around just at a fast idle.

We ran into problems when we started to pull the tractor up on the trailer. The F150 was jackknifed so we could get as straight a pull as we could and as the full weight of the tractor go onto the ramps of the trailer, my truck started pulling the entire rig, tractor, trailer and F150 which was being pulled sideways. Again at a fast idle. We had to chock the trailer wheels to stop it all from moving. The Cummins with 650 Foot Pounds of torque will move or break something.

Right before I retired, I replaced my older Chrysler T&C mini-van with a new '08. It is my travel vehicle. It is now almost 7 months old and I have to get the second oil change in it, as it has almost 6,000 miles. I filled it up yesterday for the first time since the 10th of Nov, and filled up the truck saturday for the first time since mid October. Some days, neither vehicle leaves the property. I check my P.O. Box (5 miles away) two or three times a week, and go the the stores (15 miles) about twice a week. A few other short trips, and unless I have an out of town trip (Christmas in Texas will add some miles) I don't put more than 500 to 600 miles a month on both vehicles combined.

It was nice to put 15 gallons of gas in the van yesterday for $24. It was $1.599 at Sam's, their full price (without member discount) for premium was $1.789 and down the stree that was the price for regular unleaded.

[rtfire1]

for the deal i would be getting coastie the 30 mile rided down the hiway would be worth it. that or the 20 min ride to my dads house would work to both ways. my buddy needs to sell it so he can make room for his new to him quad.

[rtfire1]

a diesel truck with 4x4 should pull almost anything as long as you go slow. my dads old 86 f350 with a 6.9 litter diesel has pulled a few broken fire trucks around back when i was a fire fighter we had a dodge 1500 that my friend was trying to us and it just spun the tires. I fired up the old diesel drove it down to the fire station backed up to are 76 checy tanker truck with 1,500 gallons of water in it and pulled that monster around like it was a toy. My uncal has a 95 dodge dully 4x4 that he uesed up at his junkyard till the closed it down and the stuff that thing would tow around the yard was crazy

[coastie65]

rtfire1 said:

for the deal i would be getting coastie the 30 mile rided down the hiway would be worth it. that or the 20 min ride to my dads house would work to both ways. my buddy needs to sell it so he can make room for his new to him quad.

These days I prefer to have 4 wheels under me rather than two. :D I have done my share of MotoCross in my younger days. Got tired of everything breaking, and I'm not talking about the bike either. It was cheaper to fix the bike than the body by far, and didn't take as long. Never did care much for just getting out on the highway and cruising.

[rtfire1]

I like driving up on the back roads in wester ma you have rt2 and rt202 which you can run do at agout 45 and there great rides and thats not even talking about vt witch is a short ride from the house they have a lot of nice roads windy and strait aways

[rgreen4]

The first time I saw something like that was when I was in Virginia. The Boy Scouts had gone out to a local Girl Scout Camp to do some clean up service for them. There was this large oak tree that have been blown over and was in the way. We didn't have a chain saw with us at the time, so my friend hooked a chain to the rear hitch of this '76 Chevy heavy half 4x4 with the 350, and 4 speed with granny low. With the truck in 4 low and granny low, he pulled the tree over out of the way about 500'. You could walk faster than the truck was moving as he was just letting it idle. That sold me on what a 4x4 will do.

Most people don't realize that one of the secrets is not only the fact that you have the extra traction with power to the front, but that you are able to use more of the torque since it is split between the front and rear and won't break loose as easily. If you had the diesel and RWD, you are putting 650 Ft Lbs to the rear axle, with a 4x4 you are putting 325 to the front and 325 to the rear, so you are able to use all of it.

There's a photo I saw of a Dodge 4x4 with the Cummins shortly after they were introduced, pulling a city bus that had broken down. That version only had 420 foot pounds of torque.

You do have to use common sense though. My former neighbor was a transmission repair tech, and he was working on a Dodge with the V-10 when they still offered them. This guy had gotten it stuck and was rocking it back and forth at full throttle. It finally broke the transmission shaft. Full throttle on a V-10 and shifting suddenly from low to reverse and back again repeatedly will break the truck. Any truck.

[coastie65]

Never broke a shaft doing that, but did blow a seal. Not a pretty sight.

[techie4fun]

Ah, the power of a true diesel engine.

[rtfire1]

when my buddy ordered his v10 pickup they had the option of the viper motor. so for the few extra grand he was like cool I will order it. It was a 4x4 but the motor burt gas like it was a race car. there where so many issues with the truck they ended up getting him in to a 2500 with a Cummins for what he owed on the truck. I remeber one time something in the trany broke and they had to order the parts it was a month before he saw his truck because the v10 in his truck had a "better trany" then the stock v10 truck motor trany. The new pickup he only brings in for service and thats it.

[rgreen4]

You weren't trying to rock a 6,000 pound vehicle with 450 Ft Lbs of torque at full throttle, either.

I sheared a drive shaft once. The Scout Troop I grew up with in Houston, had an old School Bus. While I was in college, I was driving them to a camping trip (I had a Texas Commercial Drivers License then) and going down a long descent on I45 with the throttle closed the speed built up and the back pressure was enough that it twisted one of the three driveshaft sections.

We went to a junkyard and had to crawl under about 10 buses before we found one that still had that particular section. Put new U-joints on it, and installed it. That bus was still running when I went into the Navy and lost track of it. (I had other distractions then).

[Adama]

Well, I'm back from my blood test ordeal. Apparently my veins are very small, so the technician had a really hard time finding one.

We finally settled for the one on the right hand. Boy, was I relieved when it was all done! phew!

[Tech4me]

My is 2004 ......85K..so far ..not a hitckup......Just tires..oil.....Oh..Brakes pads....rav4 is good on snow too....I like AllwheelDr.

[coastie65]

Nope, Buick Regal, but it was Floored. ( I was Mad )

[coastie65]

Why, pray tell, would you want to put a Viper motor in a 4x4 ? That's crazy, in my opinion.

[rgreen4]

They take mine every three months. They don't have trouble finding a vein in the crook of my arm to draw blood. IV's, now that's another story. When I was in the hospital in 2003, they alternated hands (8 days), but the next year they couldn't get any on my hand, so ever since they have to use the crooks of my arms, which is bad because as you move your arm it works out. Once they put one in, I'm good for about a day and half before it comes out. Comes with age, I guess. !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[coastie65]

Adama said:

Well, I'm back from my blood test ordeal. Apparently my veins are very small, so the technician had a really hard time finding one.

We finally settled for the one on the right hand. Boy, was I relieved when it was all done! phew!

Hey Adama, Yeah I go through the same thing for the same reason. I remember getting stuck some 15 times when they were trying put in an IV spike. That was fun. I usually get stuck three times on average to draw blood. They went for the back of my hand the last time as well. I know you are happy to have that behind you.

[coastie65]

rgreen4 said:

They take mine every three months. They don't have trouble finding a vein in the crook of my arm to draw blood. IV's, now that's another story. When I was in the hospital in 2003, they alternated hands (8 days), but the next year they couldn't get any on my hand, so ever since they have to use the crooks of my arms, which is bad because as you move your arm it works out. Once they put one in, I'm good for about a day and half before it comes out. Comes with age, I guess. !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/

1!


Mine usually stays put once it is in there and they have it duct taped down. :D They usually find a place along the side of my wrist. I think my veins gave out from all the blood donations in the past.