Getting ready for the meet...

July 18-22, 2011, near Silverton, CO

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Myers
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

frankenstein wrote:You could try and slip the clutch a time or 2. If there is some rust or stuff in there it will be gone after you've done that!
Frankenstein, I sure wished you could make a meet over here so we could meet you. Better yet, bring a boat load including Vidar and others. I have a family type pontoon boat and although we are 600 miles or so inland, it is less than 100 miles to a navigation system that would make it all water between here and there. However, at 70 years do not think I would live long enough to make the round trip even if I did not get lost. Sure would be nice to meet you folks in person.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by nickademusss »

Just let the clutch out a little and let it grind on it a bit?
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by stevec »

nickademusss wrote:Just let the clutch out a little and let it grind on it a bit?
Yes, that is what he is saying. Let it partially disengage, so it slips along the flywheel, rubbing off any rust/grime.

And Frank, I have an extra seat if you can make it! :wink:
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Frankenstein »

stevec wrote: And Frank, I have an extra seat if you can make it! :wink:
Not a chance I can make it this year but the idea stays in the back of my mind :wink:
I hate rust...

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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Smuz »

Well, the brakes and bearings are done on the 5'er. I don't think those brakes had EVER been adjusted.

My fix on the water tubing held, but now I seem to have a split tube up under the kitchen sink. Drat! I think I'm gonna end up buying me some of that bastard tubing and renting a crimper. If I hafta chase more leaks, I may just throw some 5 gallon jugs of water in there and go with that.

I still gotta build a trailer hitch, mount my reverse camera, and replace the batteries. Then I turn it over to Alice for cleaning and stocking.

I shoulda started last year.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Tweedy bird »

Whether the tube is gray poly tube or white pex tubing call around and locate a brand of fittings called Flair-It these will solve your water line splicing trobles without any special tools.They fit both types of tubing and wont leak or break (good stuff) Lows or Home Depot should have.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

Just a little venting.

The logical route from Kaw City Oklahoma to Silverton Colorado is about 780 miles. The first 350 is through flat farm land with two lane roads. Being not dumb and to save to cost, the beef and pork industry fatten their animals where the grain is grown. For me the only way it could be considered scenic is if I owned it all and was viewing it from my private jet. I do not own it or a jet so it is boring.

When traveling through this area all I can look forward to is the pretty non-farm area that starts in NE New Mexico. Now I am informed a good part of this scenic area is burning due to wildfires.

My belief is if I owned the area burning and was standing watching it burn, it would still be more enjoyable than driving through the Oklahoma Panhandle. Smoke is irritable alright but not as bad as the smell, nausea, watery eyes, and half inch of bugs plastered on the windshield you get due the feedlots where the nation's fine, high dollar table fare starts.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by nickademusss »

We are driving back to TN for about 10 days, if we follow the GPS when set to fastest route it takes me north to Wyoming, threw Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri, some of the flattest most boring states I have ever been in, time 24 hrs on road.
If I select shortest route we go threw Colorado and strait threw, time 30 hours...

Although last year in Nebraska, we saw a single semi truck and trailer escorted by six armed Humvee's two Cobra helicopters and a couple of those big 6 wheel drive tanks. Not sure what was in the truck but it was well guarded. My guess was a nuke or nukes... :ohno:

Wish I had my own rig to haul Yoda in, Dad would get a kick out of it, he hasnt seen it in person.
Maybe when we move back to TN, we can vacation out here at the LJ meet!

Trip to Silverton for me is about 385 miles one way, thats not a bad trip at all 8)
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

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It's a bit longer for us - a little over 1200 miles one way. We'll be in Southern Utah the week before, visiting Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Kodachrome, etc.; about 2800 miles total in the truck, and hopefully a couple hundred in the LJ's. 8)

We probably won't arrive at the Eureka campsite until Monday morning. We'll be in Durango Saturday, and are taking the train to Silverton Sunday. This is the trip we had planned to do (and had paid for) back in 2005, when the transmission went out in Utah, so we're giving it another try this year. The train does not return to Durango until 7:00pm, and I don't fancy driving up to Silverton and Eureka in the dark, so we're staying one more $45 night at our campground near Durango, and will head up early Monday morning. The campground is about 12 miles north of Durango on 550, so it is only about 45 miles to Eureka, but I think it'll take us over an hour (I'm planning an hour and a half). If anyone is in Silverton Sunday, we'll be on the 10am train, which I believe arrives in Silverton around 1:00. We're planning to leave the campground by 8:00am Monday morning (which for my family usually means 8:30!) so we should be there by 10:00.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by stevec »

Reminder: I'll be bringing a stash of parts again, but if there is something in particular you want/need, let me know and I'll throw it in. Need to know by the 7th though!
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Smuz »

Little update:

Water system in the 5er is fixed (Thanks for the info, Phil). The last leak turned out to be bad seals where the tubing hooks to the sink faucet and not split tubing. It's all better, now.

Now we've decided not to take the 5th wheel after all! Alice is really leery about pulling two trailers that far and I'm leery about getting everything done in time. I've only pulled this 5'er three times since I got it. Home from Phoenix (where I blew 3 tires), once to Memphis (where the main water tank sprung a leak), and once to Disney (where the AC compressor had to be replaced just before I left). So you can see that I'm not ready to trust it on a long trip, Looks like we're tenting again this year.

I took Mouser to Kansas Rocks Offroad Park on Saturday. He did ok, but not excellent. I was breaking in a new clutch, so it was jumpy for a while. Plus the clutch pedal arm is 3" as opposed to a Samurai 2.5", so that also made it a little jumpy. The clutch is wore in now and re-adjusted, but I think the next time I work on him I'm gonna put a Sammi arm on the clutch pedal to make it a bit smoother.

I ran the tires at 6.5# and they did very well. I think I'll be running them at 10# in Colorado.

The biggest disappointment of the day was that stupid Weber carb. It has a bad "stumble" just off of idle, plus it floods badly in extreme "nose high" conditions. These 2 probs make technical climbs very difficult to impossible. But he'll do for Colorado.

I did take him thru the technical course where I took 2nd in the competition with my Sammi and he did very well, even with the carb probs. I think if I get the carb probs fixed, he could really compete in this.

I did come down hard on a BIG rock and scrunched the left side rocker. And he broke a poly transfer case mount. I've replaced the mount and kicked myself over the rocker. Just need to check all the fluids, throw a license plate on him and he's READY!
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by nickademusss »

Well Yoda is ready, but I may have to work, one of my plants in Wyoming is bitching because their monitoring equipment isnt working the way they think it should, they are afraid the EPA might fine them.....

I am hopeful but detect only a 30% chance that I can make it. I see my plans for tent camping may be a bit snowy anyway.
I will also bill the stupid plant for my Uhaul fee's if I have to cancel my reservations.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

Decided to do an engine swap with Miss Alice. Something telling me the noise she is making is getting louder each year. Swapped Miss Iowa's engine into her plus a new front tranny seal and clutch assembly. Miss Iowa came with leaking front tranny seal so her engine needed pulled anyway. Hard work for old and fat at 100+ degrees.

Miss Alice now has more quiet and more power and no clutch chatter. Will look into her original engine later in fall or winter. Had found the new clutch disk in an old ice chest full of stuff that came with the LJ20 I bought after the SD meet. Was actually one year ago today.

Stevec, the new metric instrument cluster you sold Miss Alice at 2007 Cooke City meet has 12,189 kilo on it and her original odometer had 13,000 miles so she did pretty good engine wise.

If we do not do the train ride Monday 18th we should be at the camp site in the a.m.

Our room reservations = Raton, NM Sat 16th, Durango, Co Sun. 17th, Silverton Mon 18th thru 22nd.

Time is getting short.

Have a good one.

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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by stevec »

Larry,

We have reservations in Durango for Saturday and Sunday nights, at a campground just north of town. Our CG is close to $50 a night, so I shudder to think of what you're paying for a hotel! We've got train reservations for Sunday (kids are free :D ), but it doesn't return until 7:30pm, and I don't want to drive that road in the dark!

12,189 kms is about 7,600 miles - impressive for an LJ20 in four years. I think I've put about 1,000 on each of my LJ10's, maybe more on Cheez Whiz since I've had her longer (11 years now). My LJ81 had 34,000 kms on it when I bought it in late '05; it now has over 71,000. Less than a year ago I was driving it back from the Whipsaw trip, watching it turn over 60,000!

Regarding getting ready, the rigs are all ready, so it's just a matter of packing. I'm hoping to get everything packed and loaded tonight, so when I get home from work tomorrow I just have to drive the LJ81 onto the trailer, strap it down, and go.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by SuzukiTom »

stevec wrote:We've got train reservations for Sunday (kids are free :D ), but it doesn't return until 7:30pm, and I don't want to drive that road in the dark!
Nancy and I did the train to Silverton a few years ago, and they had buses waiting in Silverton for passengers that didn't want to do the train back to Durango. We chose to ride the train for the return trip, but if we did it again, we would probably choose to return by bus. The highway is pretty scenic too, and quicker.

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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

stevec wrote: We've got train reservations for Sunday (kids are free :D ), but it doesn't return until 7:30pm, and I don't want to drive that road in the dark!



Stevec, Are you still doing the train? Earlier we had thought about doing it which is why I did not reserve room for Sunday nite in Silverton. Yesterday we talked some more and decided an all day train issue was too much for us.

We are slowly getting used to hi-dollar rooms in places with no attractions and even highetr where there are. The slots seem to make other things like rooms seem ok. With a room you at least get 12 hours or so and a "kind of" breadfast for your money.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

Tom, we must have been posting at the same time. I just saw yours. Will talk to the Bride about the busses.

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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by SuzukiTom »

We're planning in being at the meet for the whole week. My job has me working up in the TX Panhandle right up to the time we have to leave. I'll be getting off the worksite about 6-ish, Check out of the hotel, drive 4.5 hrs back to Sweetwater, load up the trailer, pack the gear, and leave for a 14 (optimistically) hour drive to Silverton. Repeat in reverse for the return trip!
The job has also interfered with 3 major LJ improvement projects that I wanted to showcase at the meet, and so they won't be ready :-( Oh well, there's always next year.
Still, we can't wait to go. We love that area, and if it wasn't for the severe winters, I'd love to live there. I can't wait to see how the LJ runs at 12 thousand feet above sea level! What is the usual calculation for power loss per thousand feet of altitude, 10%? Assuming 22 starting Hp at sea level, should be down to 6.5 Hp at the top of Red Mountain Pass :shock:

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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Tweedy bird »

Tom I do agree with you on the horsepower loss due to altitude, but wer also have to remember the air we are driving through is also thinner (meaning lower air resistance(lower horsepower to acheve speed)). Also farther from center of gravity (vehicle & cargo appear to weigh less) so less power needed to climb at altitude :))): have fun wish I could be there
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by tweeder »

stevec wrote:Our CG is close to $50 a night, so I shudder to think of what you're paying for a hotel!
When I was in Durango a few weeks ago, the hotel (Best Western by the train station) the rest of the group stayed at was $170 a night plus taxes and whatever hidden charges they tack on. I slept in my truck and bummed showers, as needed... :roll:
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by stevec »

We thought about taking the bus back - actually the thought was that six of us would ride the train there, but only two of us would go back to Durango, and drive back to Silverton. But with the kids being free for this round trip, it didn't save us anything, and we're driving the highway between Durango and Silverton both ways anyhow.

And Tom, Engineer Pass is 12,800', so we'll be down to about 5.9hp up there! :wink: You will definitely notice the difference; I remember from the '05 meet the lack of power we had, but we did make it to the top of Engineer Pass. At the Cooke City meet we were around 8,000'; advancing the timing helped my LJ's run better there. I meant to look for some carb jets, to see how much it would help, but never got around to it. Is anyone else rejetting for the altitude?
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

Tom, glad you are making it.
Nickademuss, hope it works out so you can be there... :hail: We used to camp all time. Really enjoyed it. Last time was in 1975 and that about cost us a d_ _ _ rce so we have not camped since. If you make it to the meet and need some entertainment, might ask my Bride of almost 52 years why we do not camp now.

Stevec, I don't know what jets are in the replacement carb. Will probably check. The original carb worked ok at Cooke City.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by tweeder »

stevec wrote:You will definitely notice the difference;
Truth. Even with 11x the displacement and fuel injection, I noticed a HUGE difference.
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Lift-Dr »

My wife has a few questions. Where is the nearest place to get potable water? Are campfires allowed in the area? Are any of our fellow campers interested in more shared evening meals than the shared potluck? See you'all next week I hope. Mel
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Re: Getting ready for the meet...

Post by Myers »

Someone that has been there before will need to answer.
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