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+--- Thread: Our first long trip in our BB (/showthread.php?tid=8190)
Our first long trip in our BB - jburgessx2 - 05-29-2009 16:56
Well, we just finished our first long trip in our 85 PT40. As I've mentioned
before, we sold our Beaver to buy the Bird in Feb. We full time and have done
so for the past 7+ years. This is the first trip and the wife was looking
forward to a road trip! She noticed right away how smooth the BB goes down the
road. The Detroit with turbo is much better than the Cat 3208 with no turbo!
The tag axle seems to really help keep the coach from straying and helps reduce
the bouncing in the rear. In our Beaver, the wife could never sleep on the bed
in back while driving because of the bouncing - she had a hard time staying in
bed!
We left Port Hueneme on 14 May and headed north on 101. 101 is always a
beautiful drive and the scenery is wonderful. Of course, it comes at a price.
We made it almost to Eureka the first day and that included some long hours of
speed-up/slow-down, go-up-hills-slow/try-not-to-race-down-the-other-side. Also,
try not to hit those big Redwoods that are virtually on the pavement! Watch out
for the deer, critters, bicyclists, and lousy drivers. No bigfoot sitings,
though.
Our second day took us all the way to North Bend, OR (our destination). We
spent the next week there camped at The Mill Casino (didn't really gamble - just
used the RV park). We visited the wifes family and friends. On our arrival, I
had to immediately wash the toad as it was covered in drops of oil. Even though
I built a slobber collector, there appears to be some small oil leak/leaks that
still managed to coat the car in oil.
Our second week started with us heading back south on 101 to Smith River, CA
where we spent the night camped in a friends yard. They live right on the ocean
and have steps down to the beach. The sunset was awesome and we slept well with
the sound of the waves splashing on the shore. The next morning we took highway
199 north to Grants Pass, OR (we own property close) and spent the next 5 days
enjoying the hot weather and good food. The drive on 199 was white-knuckle at
times because it is narrow, has cliffs, rock slides and crazy drivers! But, the
scenery was awesome!!
This past Thursday, we headed towards home by taking I-5 south (no more 101 on
this trip!). We crawled up the hills a little faster this time because I
decided to do some shifting myself rather than letting the Allison do it's
"auto" thing. We had no problems as the engine, oil and tranny temps stayed
normal during the hot climb. I also learned to down-shift at the crest of the
hill to help control the descent. I used the retarder and the service brakes
and had no problems - a great feeling. We spent the night in an RV park
somewhere south of Fresno (didn't pay attention). This morning, we headed out
for the remainder of the drive home. The Grapevine was a long, slow drive and I
had plenty of company with all the 18 wheelers! This really gave the tranny a
workout and I pulled over once to let it cool down (at about 225 degrees). I
down shifted on the descent again and it did wonders for controlling my speed.
We arrived home this afternoon (actually, we were already "home" since we full
time - we just returned to familiar ground). Again, I had to wash the toad. I
need to figure out where the drips are coming from...another project.
All in all, it was a great trip and the BB ran like a champ. I finally turned
the valves to the heat off so the wife would stop complaining about the 105
degree heat coming from the vents. . . it was a much cooler drive today.
I only saw one BB the entire trip. It was an old one and it was parked in the
dry-cramp area at the casino in North Bend. It has seen better days - it had
some obvious rust areas and was in need of a paint job. But, it's still on the
road! I took a photo but not sure of how to attach it to this post.
We'll get to meet some of you this October. We plan on going to the Flying
Flags Rally in Buellton, California. I look forward to seeing some other BB's
and learning more about our coach. I still have lots of questions and I'm sure
many of those in attendance will have lots of answers.
Jerry
85 PT40