My Epic Moab adventure ...

Rollingmenace · May 06, 2015, 02:17 PM

Well every year a group of friends travel to just outside Moab Utah to a little set of sand dunes called whitewash... We all camp and ride mostly old school 3 wheelers , but also quads and dirt bikes .. I've been going for about 6 years but the last year was by far the toughest as we spread the ashes of my best friend who passed away at only 31 years old... This year will be the first returning...

We usually would camp in tents or stay in my friends toy hauler... But last fall I bought a 76 d21 with a 440 and only 54000 miles.. The po had about 4000 in maintenance including 7 new tires at 51000 miles...

Needless to say the last month has been a whirlwind gettin the ole gal ready for this trip.. I posted a lot in the projects forum.... In a nutshell fixed water leak on tank and lines.. New pump , new hot water heater, all new marker and clearance lights , fixed roof leaks... New belts plugs wires cap and rotor , oil change.. The basics you check before a trip...

Did I mention this is basicly a maiden voyage in the untested coach .. I drove it about 40 miles home and around the neighborhood a little....
Here's a map overview

Rollingmenace · May 06, 2015, 02:26 PM

We got the Winnie all loaded up and ready to go.... It has been raining steady for two days non stop... I did however notice a few issues with a little leak here and there I will address fully once we return...
LOADED AND READY FOR SOME FUN..

Rollingmenace · May 06, 2015, 02:47 PM

To be honest I'm excited and a little nervous it's quite the trip untested in this rig but....
WERE OFF RAIN AND ALL...
The first minor issue arises before we get out of town ... We started backfiring and popping under load... I pulled over popped the cover and went to looking.. It seems the line for the heater control was against a couple of the wires on the distributor and they were loose.. I zip tied the heater line off of the plug wires tightened the wires in the cap and decided to give it a go we rode for a few miles with the cover off so I could monitor... All seemed good so we put the cover on and away we went...

Off and running some things I noticed ... Flat landing it the coach sweet spot is between about 52-60 mph... Over 60 it seems to tax the motor a bit and around 65 I'm picking up a vibration ( driveshaft of tires) who knows ... But heck I'm good with 50-55.... Also this sucker isn't too happy on hills but it's part of it I guess .. When we get home I'm going to mess a little with getting a good tune on her and more motor work...

It kinda had me and Leslie nervous about the rest of the trip as we have several big mountain passes to negotiate... We stopped in a little town at the bottom of the first pass to fill up with gas (so far only running off of front tank)
SO --- 107 miles into trip were averaging 4.1 mpg (may not have had tank totally full previously...

Rollingmenace · May 06, 2015, 03:06 PM

PART 2... Salida, Colorado. To Montrose Colorado... ( monarch pass , serro summit)

We started the haul up monarch in the old girl.. Wow time for a diesel swap... But overall I was happy we were in first gear most of the way and averaged 25-28 mph.... But we made it .. Built a little heat in motor but nothing to concerning she sat right in middle of temp range ... This is no small feat monarch pass is about 8+ miles at 6% + grade and topping out just under 12000ft in elevation 11312ft to be exact..
So far we have had rain entire trip... Up monarch we have had snow...

Rollingmenace · May 06, 2015, 03:41 PM

Through the winshield of the Winnie ...

Then over Serro Summit not nearly as long or as high as monarch it still was a 3-4 pull at 6% but only 9000ft in elevation ...another 20-30mph pull but otherwise she running good...

We arrived in Montrose about 8pm last night... Overall it took us about an hour longer than normal..
Final mileage 232.2 miles .. We did average 4.9mpg on second tank...
We stayed the night last night at a friends who will be caravaning for the rest of the trip with us .. Well get a few things done to her rig today and get the final loose ends tied up and we will leave for Moab tomorrow morning....

So far what I believe was the hardest part of the trip is behind us and I got to say really helped build my confidence in the ole winnie....
OH AND BTW I FOUND OUT SHE IS EXACTLY 16 DAYS OLDER THAN ME....

M & J · May 06, 2015, 05:18 PM

Incredible journey.

keep up the reports and we love pictures. Safe travels!

LJ-TJ · May 06, 2015, 05:23 PM

Well! So far so good. Sounds about normal for the first shake down run. Keep us posted. Mileage for that kind of run sounds about normal. When you get on the flat lands you can expect around 8 to sometimes 10 miles to the gallon. Figure around a buck a mile. Your right about the sweet spot all though when it SOUNDS like she's revving hi at 60-65 that's normal won't hurt her. That's about what my two sounded like at 60-65. W%

Lefty · May 06, 2015, 10:21 PM

Hope you have a safe and fun trip.
A tip about gas mileage. Fuel use drops rapidly above 50mph. take your time, and let the coach run at a speed it's comfortable running at... You'll be more relaxed, and it will be much easier on the coach's cooling system and other parts.

Rollingmenace · May 07, 2015, 11:02 AM

Round two of our journey... Montrose Colorado to Moab Utah....
Finishing up final touches and getting ready to hit the road

sasktrini · May 07, 2015, 04:03 PM

This is awesome!!! Congrats!!!

tntwardell · May 07, 2015, 05:33 PM

I see your from springs we're in woodland park how did you like the pass it hard to stay in one lane and always thinking about side swipping the cliffs.White knuckle to Pikes Peak turnoff.

xerofall · May 07, 2015, 11:39 PM

Have fun in Moab and the area... I am still waiting for my Jeep to be fixed and now my own RV to be fixed as well.

Take lots of pictures!!!

Rollingmenace · May 11, 2015, 03:11 PM

Well a bit of an update .... Made the second leg of the trip from montrose to Moab ... The Winnie ran flawless as can be for a 39 year old rig ... And now I have the confidence In her... My only issue is with the horrible gas mileage I expected bad but we averaged right at 5mpg.... I think it is running a bit rich .. I'm looking at a edelbrock swap for now to get rid of any thermoquad issues .. I'm hoping we can get around 7 or more with a better carb and tune... We're gonna need a little better mileage for our return trip to salt lake in September ... I'll post some more pics from the Winnie and some of the ride once I get unpacked

Rollingmenace · May 11, 2015, 03:17 PM

Quote from: tntwardell on May 07, 2015, 05:33 PM
I see your from springs we're in woodland park how did you like the pass it hard to stay in one lane and always thinking about side swipping the cliffs.White knuckle to Pikes Peak turnoff.

Awesome more Colorado People.... Other than having to pull the pass in first gear at 25mph it isn't too bad.. Fortunately the steering in the rig is pretty tight still... I've driven the pass hundreds of times I'm kinda used to it now... Being in a big coach is a bit different but just have to keep that in mind ... There were a few hairy spots side by side with a semi but still doable...

LJ-TJ · May 11, 2015, 04:35 PM

Be careful chasing gas mileage. You'll spend more on parts with little than you'll get results. It sounds like a good tune up will be a big help but it sounds like with all the hills (mountains) your climbing 5 to 8 is the best your ever going to get. That's base on my experience with a 440 in a 21 footer driving around New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania hills. Now if you let the wife drive you'll probable get 8 to 10. D:oH!

Rollingmenace · May 11, 2015, 05:32 PM

Thanks TJ I'm not gonna spend tons really at most 300$ on a new carb I think I can stretch this sucker in the 6-8 range is the goal... I don't plan on spending a ton... I'm allready sourcing parts for a 12 valve cummins 6bt swap

Rollingmenace · May 12, 2015, 12:11 AM

Day two pics from Montrose Colorado to Utah state line .. Through the winshield of the Winnie

Rollingmenace · May 16, 2015, 12:05 AM

Last group of pics heading in on the dirt road back to camp
Pic of me driving along

Made it to camp safe and sound 393 miles from home... Not bad in an untested rig .. No major issues other than wickid bad gas mileage...

There are more pics in my photobucket account feel free to check em all out

Rollingmenace · May 16, 2015, 12:23 AM

Had a awesome weekend of riding and just hanging out and visiting with friends...
Here's the ole Winnie at camp

Here's a pic of Leslie on one of my trikes... I'm so proud of her this was the first trip she was able to get one of the big two stroke bikes started on her own

Here's my baby 85 250r bike was actually a Selvys 200r factory racer back in the 80's

Rollingmenace · May 16, 2015, 12:28 AM

Here's a pic of the ride that was all the ladies from camp

Well minus one lady in the pic she had a crash earlier in the day here are the results once she got home.... But I gotta say she tuffed it out all weekend with this bad boy

Rollingmenace · May 16, 2015, 12:30 AM

Here's a cool video montage one of my friends put together of the weekend
http://youtu.be/V0XLxRAMgN4

Mr. T · May 16, 2015, 06:41 AM

Love the video, and really love seeing the kids safely harnessed to the drivers. Right on, my man, right on.

Don T.

Rickf1985 · May 25, 2015, 04:29 PM

OUCH! Been there, Done that and I can tell you if she toughed it out for a couple days she is on the iron woman list!

BrandonMc · January 11, 2017, 10:15 PM

THis is awesome! You did well mechanically all things considered.

I have also gone and camped and rode dirt bikes all over this whitewash, it's an epic place. Do you get to the ten mile wash, and not to mention kokopelli trail?

HandyDan · January 12, 2017, 01:24 AM

My son just asked me yesterday if I would be interested in driving my motorhome to Moab for the Jeep Easter Safari. I've never done any Jeeping and have never driven a motorhome through mountains. You make it sound doable. Maybe I'll reconsider.
Dan