From: Ray Fougnier (rfougnier@comcast.net)
Date: Mon Apr 19 2004 - 16:38:35 PDT
I work for an auto manufacturer that you may have heard of. We ship
cars to Denver, stay a week, then drive to Lake Havasu, AZ for another
week or two. We stayed in Ouray for a weekend, enroute, a couple of
years ago and thought it was the coolest place. The tough part, though,
is getting there, because it really is quite a drive from - anywhere -.
Jeeps are everywhere, and the trailheads look intimidating. I met up
with a group of college girls in Durango who gave the advice of taking
the trails from Durango - Ouray - Telluride, and back. It would take
about a day and would be a lot of fun. I had hoped to be back out that
way soon after to take them as 'tour guides' but it never worked out.
Oh well.
As far as driving the Deuce that far? I plan on going 550 miles, one
way, in a few weeks from Detroit to Pigeon Forge, TN, so it's not so
crazy. I'll just crank up the AC, turn on the stereo, and take it
easy. Strike that, I'll open up the window, put in the ear plugs, and
listen to the music from under the hood!
I really need to figure out my tire wear problem up front before I go,
but other than that, it should be good. I'll be taking the gallons of
fluids that you had described, just in case.
Ray
Marc Strangfeld wrote:
>Jim
>
>The following is the original post from last August.
>Rather than making you sort through the archives I
>reposted it. As far as making the truck ready, all I
>did was go through it and make it mechanically sound.
>The list was the greatest help of all and saved me a
>lot of money and time. The only major customization
>was two Bostrom Viking T-bar bucket seats. They came
>out of a M915 tractor.
>
>
>
>Original Post from August of 2003
>
>Some of you may or may not know I was planning to take
>my M35 to Ouray, CO from Eau Claire, WI. The original
>idea was to tow a 34' camper and haul 4 ATV's on the
>bed of the truck. Well, two of the guys backed out so
>I towed the M105 with two road bikes in that instead
>and only two ATV's in the bed of the truck. I assume
>some list members have done long distance trips with
>their MV's but to me this was quite an adventure.
>
>A summary of Ouray, CO is in order first. Ouray is
>located in the southeast corner of the state in the
>San Juan mountains. It is known for being a beautiful
>vacation spot with lots of hiking trails and many
>miles of Jeep trails. (most of these trails are old
>pack mule trails for supplying the many mines in the
>area.) Some trails are easy with many being rather
>difficult for a jeep to travel. We took ATV's on
>these trails rather than risking a wreck with the
>deuce. (many tight switchbacks and no powersteering
>would not be easy) Also, highway 550 also known as
>the "million dollar highway" is got to be the most
>scenic in the US. If you get a chance to drive on it
>don't pass it up. Unless you're afraid of heights.
>
>We made it over several passes on the way out and back
>with most reaching at least 10000 feet. I found that
>5th in the main and low on the transfer worked the
>best on the 6-8% grades up and down. The turbo
>multifuel hardly even smoked at these high altitudes.
> I couldn't really feel a big power drop either,
>maybe that is because it is underpowered all the time.
>
>
>THE WAY OUT
>
>We took a longer route to get there as we had to stop
>and see Big Brutus in West Mineral, KS (Big Brutus is
>a very large strip mine shovel now a museum)
>Somewhere along the line the temperature gage stopped
>working so I stopped at Ranchers Supply in Lamar, CO.
>These guys were great to work with! A used $12.00
>gage and I was on my way. They have an extensive
>surplus supply and great service so check them out.
>Also the transmission developed a noise when shifting.
> It just doesn't sound like a throwout bearing but
>I'll have to investigate. Either way, it held up for
>the whole trip so I'm greatfull.
>
>IN OURAY, CO
>
>We took the deuce on a couple moderate jeep trails
>with no major switchbacks. Yankee Boy Basin and
>Maggie's Gulch to be exact. That was fun and we
>showed up the rock crawling jeeps too. The truck just
>kept crawling away regardless of how loose the footing
>and the steepness. By the way I saw more than a few
>Power Wagons and M37's and yes they were on the
>trails too. One M37 had a 6.2 GM diesel in it and
>really ran good.
>
>THE TRIP BACK
>
>The trip back started with the tach not working but we
>didn't sweat that one. We drove straight through this
>time with one guy sleeping in the "bunk" while the
>other drove. The "bunk" was several layers of carpet
>laid down just behind the cab and was actually guite
>comfortable. I cut the middle out of the headache
>rack and rolled up the back of the canvas cab top so
>we could pass though to the cab without stopping. It
>was also pretty funny to be passed by two trucks
>towing mobile homes UPHILL. Also got passed by a tri
>axle tractor towing a big lowboy with a Cat scraper on
>it. It was also funny to be passed by someone only to
>have them pass you one or two more times because of a
>stop they made. Slow and steady wins the race right?
>
>
>TOOLS AND SUPPLYS TAKEN
>
>2 spare tires mounted and ready to go
>1 gallon of DOT 5 brake fluid
>2.5 gallons of 15w40
>2 gallons of antifreeze (we also had 10 gals. of
>water)
>2.5 gallons of 80w90
>extra starter
>extra alternator
>50' 6" wide nylon tow strap
>grease gun (I greased the throwout bearing enroute)
>an entire assortment of hand tools
>tire changing stuff
>assorted fittings to repair/cobble brake lines and air
>lines
>one liter of Jack, Tennessee's Finest
>and last but not least, true grit and a little
>optimism
>
>STATISTICS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
>
>2935 total miles
>350 gallons of fuel approx.
>$1.51 average cost per gallon
>
>I should mention that the front hubs were left on as I
>couldn't get my freewheeling ones done in time but I
>did take off the interaxle driveshaft.
>8.39 mpg average
>9.68/6.58 best and worst mpg
>
>40.3 mph average including stops for fuel and such on
>the way back
>80 hours total drive time est.
>
>Only "lost" about 1.5 quarts of oil in all those
>miles!
> I think most of the oil was lost due to a couple
>seeps and through the crankcase breather. Eitherway I
>was impressed.
>Also met a lot of reminiscing veterans and fielded
>LOTS of questions for the curious, ignorant, and
>misinformed throughout the trip. This I enjoyed doing
>and if anybody doesn't like such conversations on a
>regular basis then buying a MV is not a good idea. A
>common question was, "did you DRIVE that thing all the
>way from WI?" My answer was usually, "we were going
>to fly it but we just couldn't figure out the wing
>geometry" I have also been asked if I would do it
>again. My answer is YES, but the cost for fuel will
>keep my from doing it again for a while anyway. I
>enjoyed every mile and never got tired of hearing that
>Hercules singing her song.
>
>I'd like to hear if anybody else knows about Ouray and
>any other comments are appreciated also.
>
>
>Marc Strangfeld
>
>PS Next year we should get a convoy going.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢
>http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash
>
>===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===
>To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: <mil-veh-off@mil-veh.org>
>To switch to the DIGEST mode, send e-mail to <mil-veh-digest@mil-veh.org>
>To reach a human, contact <ack@mil-veh.org>
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat May 07 2005 - 20:29:35 PDT