Road trip (goona be interesting)

[blazer72]

So, I fly out of OKC tomorrow A.M., land in Fargo, ND early P.M. My brothers meeting me at the airport with my 71 I bought from him a year ago. The bed of the 71 will have a 29 ford body in it, filled with sheetmetal parts for the 55 pickup that will be on the trailer behind the '71. The bed of the 55 will have my dad's 1940's TQ midget racecar in it. I will be heading straight south to Wichita, dropping off the load, then proceeding south back to OKC. Honk if you see me, cuz with my load, you'll see me. Wish me luck - I'm goona need it. this similie has nothing to do with the context, I just like STAR WARS. But a little help from the force wouldn't hurt.

[kulturekat]

youre supposed to bring that 29 body back to okc with you so i can buy it

good luck on your trip

[Swifty]

that trip is going to kill you on gas mileage. i can't imagine how slow you'll be going. Good luck & may the force be with you.

[blazer72]

I'll post pics of the load after/if I get back.

[Bob 68327]

Good Luck !!

[cparman]

We need pictures !!!

[Longhorn Man]

you can call me for help if you get lost... but if you end up in my neck of the woods, then you would be officially beyond help.

[BarryB]

May the force be with you! I have towed a few loads like that in the past, there always fun. I keep looking in my side views making sure nothing is rattling loose.

[Jtrux]

Yeah I once had a buddy ask me to pull his boat to the coast for him in my '77 F100 (302, 3 on the tree). My truck maybe weighed 3800 and his boat was a 25' cabin cruiser tipping the scales at 6500lbs. It was interesting...and slow.

[4x4s4allie]

not a terrible drive, tho ... i recently picked up my 1978 shortbed in montana ... drove it up to almost canada with mrbeast's air compressor ... and drove it straight down to manhattan, ks with the air compressor still ... 1300 miles ... stopped for a 1 hour powernap ... granted i didn't have a trailer or anything ... if you're stuck in kansas, i'm around ... doubt you'll be back on the internet to ask for help, but have a safe trip!!!

[special-K]

May The Force be with you,Luke.This is great.Get pictures.This is what it`s all about.It`s not a job...er hobby?,uh truck?,well anyway...it`s an adventure.............Am I right?

[72BlckButy]

Good luck on the road trip, and hope all goes well. Watch out for all the nuts on the roads....

Keep safe and keep truckin'!
Nate

[andrewt2]

PM me if you want my contact info in case you run into any trouble around Topeka, KS i would be more than willing to lend a hand!

[blazer72]

Originally Posted by andrewt2

PM me if you want my contact info in case you run into any trouble around Topeka, KS i would be more than willing to lend a hand!

thanks, I just read this 4 days too late. I don't know what it is about Topeka, but every time I go back to ND from OKC, either there or back, I will get turned around in Topeka. This time I missed my 35S exit towards Wichita and ended up 80E to Junction City, then had to head 77S to El Dorado.

Anyhoos, this trip was the worst ever. Here goes:

OK, so I fly into Fargo Saturday around 2:30. Installed a new cig lighter and dash lights for the trip. I get on the road after having steak and shrimp with the fam around 4:30. I make it 2 hours in rain/fog to the Watertown, SD exit, and run out of gas (guage broken). I had put two 5-gal cans in the back for emergencies. I checked the fluids, topped off the tank, and pressed on.

I'm cruising about 50-60 until I hit massive fog around Sioux Falls - 40 mph. for a good half hour to hour. Make it to Sioux City ok. Using about a qt of oil every 100 miles. Averaging about 5-7 mpg. I make it to Council Bluffs/Omaha, and it all starts going south (metaphorically and physically). I noticed I was slowly losing power, acceleration, speed, etc. I was beginning to think I had pushed the old 350 too hard. I limped on at about 40-50. I took the wrong exit and ended up 10 miles West. By this time the truck was acting like it was on its last leg. To make matters worse, I was going so slow with such a noticeable load at 2:30 in the a.m. that some drunk hefty blonde drove by and flashed her huge 40-50 year old chest at me. I was so fried at this point she was a quarter mile ahead of me by the time I realized what she had actually done.

So, I limp (15 miles per hour on hills) to Nebraska City, find an O'reilly, and stop at 3:30 A.M. to realize that I had smoked two of my spark plug wires on the exhaust manifold. I slept in truck til 6, started assessing damage, adjusting, then at 9 they opened. Back on the road at 10am. Truck was a lot better, but not great. I tooled towards Topeka. Missed exit. Made it to Junction City and headed south. Hills the whole 100+ miles to I-35. Slowly started losing power again. Took 3 hours to go 100 miles. I actually remember the moment I lost my mind - so does my perfect dash pad (not perfect anymore). I made it to El Dorado, KS and called my dad, who was about an hour away and said I couldn't do it anymore. I camped for an hour, hooked up the trailer to dad's 1 ton. My truck purred at 60 mph all the way through Wichita.

Unloaded the 29 and extra sheet metal from bed and hauled butt to OKC at a cool 75 mph. The truck's not right, but it's not dead. I definately have some vacuum advance, detent issues. Carb and other adjustments.

Anyhoo - 30 hours of hell. Made it home at 10 pm last night. I will NEVER haul that far again in a truck I haven't had in my posession.

Here's a pic

[Hart_Rod]

, (not laughing at you, laughing with you, ). Been down that road.....

[andrewt2]

Sounds like a story you'll keep with you for the rest of your life. who's 29 was it looks like an awesome start to a hot rod project. anyways glade ya made it home safe!

[thirdstreettito]

Wow, horrible trip. But guess what! You lived through it! That was one hefty load! Thank God I have never had to haul more than a uHaul trailer!

[special-K]

Heh heh...Yeah,I knew you were gamblin` when you announced this journey.Been there,done that.It`s just something you gotta go through.It`s the real deal.I was glad to see you going for it.You`re bonified now!Makes ya see how we take miles for granted.Just one is a long way on foot.One inch is a long way to move all that stuff.You got it all,though.

[1956cameo]

Been there many times. Actually I broke down on the way home from Austin this weekend bringing a 72 suburban home. It is always a major pain to have stuff happen during a trip but at least you can usually get a good story out of it.

[rambler]

been there done that, bought the T-shirt....

Glad you made it back, I've had a few trips like that, and always glad to finally make it home... without have to be towed back.

[special-K]

There oughta be a t-shirt for this kind of thing.Long distance junk haulers unite!!!

[68,69 K20]

Originally Posted by blazer72

I was going so slow with such a noticeable load at 2:30 in the a.m. that some drunk hefty blonde drove by and flashed her huge 40-50 year old chest at me.

[68C15]

that was actually me and the wife. we were trying to wake you up. LOL

you know you could have stopped by my place and waited out the fog. there's always a next time though.

for the record I am up for helping a fellow board member out whenever needed.

[andrewt2]

Originally Posted by 68C15

for the record I am up for helping a fellow board member out whenever needed.

i second that, always willing to give food,lodging, tools , spare parts, an extra hand for anyone stuck in my area!

[blazer72]

better pic added