Seems like a good idea... Run down to Georgia, pick up my father, along with some of his equipment. He has a small (25hp) tractor, with some 3 point hitch attachments, a rear-tine tiller, and some boxes of miscellaneous tools. My son and I headed out, had a great trip down. Seems we always have a good time while we are in the truck, (or wheeling). We picked up my father, and decided to leave in the late afternoon. I prefer to drive at night, so there is less traffic, and I don't have the sun in my eyes, especially down south. We drove about two hours, and made it to the Wal-mart near the interstate at about 9pm.
After coming out of the store, I noticed a small puddle of oil under my truck. Upon investigation, I found that the high pressure oil pump (which drives the fuel injectors) was leaking a small amount of oil. I worked on it for a couple of hours, until the flow of oil slowed down. Since it was now almost midnight, we decided to go across the street, and stay in a hotel for the night.
Things seemed much better in the morning. I decided that the leak was manageable, and bought a couple of gallons of oil to keep in the truck. So off we went! We had been on the interstate for about 45 minutes, when the right rear trailer tire decided it had had enough. When we got stopped, all that remained of the tire was the sidewalls. Wow. We did have a jack, but couldn't lift the trailer enough, and ended up digging a hole under the tire to allow us to install the spare. At this point, the leak above the engine was coming into play, as it was allowing my clutch to slip a bit as well.
Off we went, in search of an International dealer. We made it to an International dealer in South Carolina, at about noontime. One of the techs walked by my truck, and we struck up a conversation. Turns out, he has nothing scheduled for the afternoon, so he was available to change the oil pump. The threads around the plug were stripped out, and not repairable. By 6pm, we were on the road again.
Back onto the interstate. Now, remember, we already used our spare. There was no place to buy another one at this time of night. I decided that we would just go easy, and keep the speed down. Unfortunately, in North Carolina, we got comfortable with the truck again, and joined the flow of traffic, at about 65mph.
Blam! Fwap!fwap!fwap!
There goes the left front trailer tire.....
Now, it is about 8pm. Tire stores are closed. Wally world doesn't carry this size trailer tire. We wandered around this town for a couple of hours, trying to find a tire. Nope..... So, another night in a hotel.
This hotel was interesting. I am towing a 24 foot trailer. It doesn't turn around easily. I ask the clerk if the driveway around the hotel had an outlet. He replied, in broken English, that it most certainly did. So off we went. The driveway became narrower as we went, until we ended up in a narrow, fenced in area.
I no longer cared. I just wanted to sleep. For several days, if possible. Unfortunately, the room would not open. After a trip down to the front desk, and a very long, confusing conversation, I was led to believe that the door would open with the right combination of pushing on the door, and turning of the key. He is very lucky that we were able to enter the room, as my sense of fun and games was exhausted.
The next morning, the clerk opened the rear gate for us, and we were able to find a tire store, where we purchased a new tire for the trailer, and a spare. We only had one more tire that was old. (a new one had been installed on the right front last trip). So off we went, with all the optimism of a salmon, trying to get upstream in a drought year.
We made it out of North Carolina, and into Virginia. Again, with the truck running good, and two new tires, I gradually gained speed, until I was matching the speed of traffic again.
Blam! Fwap!fwap!fwap!
Left rear. Wow! I was lucky enough to witness this blowout. Very spectacular! Picture all of the outside portions of a tire, leaving at the same time, and traveling outwards. Very dramatic, yet enough to make certain portions of the anatomy clench.
This blowout, unfortunately, is on the traffic side of the trailer. I do have a spare, but this is a very busy highway. Luckily, the state police in Virginia have safety patrols traveling the interstate to make sure that fools like me are protected from oncoming traffic.
Wow, My jack will hardly lift the trailer. Luckily, it was just able to allow me to get the new wheel on. I (finally) began to wonder how much weight was in the trailer. After getting the spare on, and heading up the road in search of yet another spare, I began to do some mental calculations. The trailer is rated for 7000 pounds. By my rough figuring, I had almost 10,000 pounds of equipment on the trailer. Hmmm...... That's not good. Also, this is not a good time to be doing the load calculations.
The rest of the trip passed without incident, but also without passing 60 miles per hour. On the other hand, even with that load on the trailer, since I went so slow, I got great mileage. Believe it or not, I got almost 17 miles per gallon. Considering that traveling with no trailer, I get around 19 to 21, I think that was pretty good. On the way down to Georgia, traveling empty, I was going with traffic, which was normally about 75. This dropped my mileage to about 13 - 14 mpg.
This was a very interesting trip. Usually, I do this in about 26 hours, but this trip took 4 days. But, if I had the opportunity to head out tomorrow morning, I would still do it. To me, driving through the night, and seeing the sun come up on the landscape is a great experience. I would love the opportunity to see more of this great country of ours, but not while every other tourist is there. I don't mind missing my exit (usually), I love the back roads, I love going the road less traveled. Usually, it is better if you don't have an overloaded trailer behind you.
So, who is ready to head out on a road trip with me? We can hit some of the ATV parks up and down the east coast, maybe out towards Texas, and back up into Arizona. We can head up into the Pacific Northwest, and up into Canada. Crayfish in Louisiana, chili in Texas, crabs in Alaska? We could go fishing in the horseshoe lakes in Canada, and cook the trout over an open fire. Sounds good to me. Maybe, this time, someone else can haul the trailer.
