EcoDiesel, A Maiden Voyage

[S2kiHemi]

You should take a video of the speedo when you are going up a hill pulling the trailer. Would be cool to see how the diesel pulls up a hill.

 

[P90XKirk]

x 2

x3 !

 

[Mr.Asmith9]

I'll do that! (video thing) as for now I picked up my buddy this morning from Spokane, and we are now in Republic. We did some cliff jumping this afternoon it was awesome I also have a sunburn on my arms Haha. I'll give a real update probably tomorrow. For now I'm partying with my friend. Here are some pics though. I also haven't showered since Monday... So I used my first cliff diving experience as a freezing bath.

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[popcenator]

Really enjoying this journey vicariously through you. Thanks for the updates.

on the move..

 

[Spur]

Fans should always come before friends

 

[Mr.Asmith9]

Morning everyone.
Thursday morning I awoke in another Walmart parking lot sore and stiff from my trucks floor, I skipped out on breakfast to make up some road time. I needed to make it to Kellogg ID early enough to get an oil change and then drive the remaining distance to Spokane. The wind had died down and it was a beautiful day.

When I got to Kellogg I drove around the dealership like 4 times trying to find a place to park with my trailer, eventually I ended up parking 3 blocks away and left the trailer there. When I drove up to the service area I had it in Offroad 2. Got out went to the desk and this little cutie was working and took down all my info, walked back to my truck and she climbed in... And I mean climbed cause she couldn't of been more then 5'4"... Anyway so she took my milage with was 2001. She then proceeded to tell me that I had a very big truck and she would like me to move it. Seeing as she was already in the driver seat and looking just stunning I step back and shut the door and say it's okay, you can do it. I tell you what I wish I had my phone on my I would of taken a picture. Something about a beautiful woman driving a truck just... Yup I was in love <3... Okay that's a lie but I did have a huge smile for the rest of the day. Before I left Kellogg I stopped by the accessories department and picked up my friends bumber guard, man that was huge and heavy so I through it on the trailer.

Finished driving to Spokane and guess what, found a local Walmart by the airport to make picking up my friend Friday morning easier.

My stats for Thursday were
407 miles
15.1ampg
48 amph
Elapse time of 8:28

Friday morning I woke up after a good 10 hours of sleep very well rested. Most sleep I've gotten sense I left. I was actually rather comfortable that night in my truck I think I'm getting use to it. I ditched the trailer at the Walmart very well secured mind you and headed over to the airport to pick up my good friend Peter who is accompanying me for the rest of the trip. We went and got some IHOP. Saw two of his friends, picked up the trailer and headed out to Republic WA. That's where Peter is from. On the way there we passed a weight station and I got some new #s with a full tank of gas and Peter as a passenger. This also includes my weight.
Total weight: 13,180 of 13,500
Front axle 3,740 of 3,900
Rear axle 4,060 of 3,900
Trailer axles 5,380 of 15,000
As you'll notice I'm over my read axle again *sigh* going to try and balance my trailer out a little but the truck is still running great, hauling like a champ for a little 3L engine. After that we stopped at Lake Roosevelt a did some cliff jumping. I had never done it before and it was AWESOME! The water was colder then I'd of liked probably around 45 degrees. But we manned up and did it anyway. After the first jump I lathered up with soap to clean off all that "road grime" I had accumulated during the week. Hey. A traveler never wastes an opportunity! Peter just laughed Haha. We were jumping for about an hour and finally decided to get on the road again. We pulled up to his parents house about an hour later, dropped the trailer, went and picked up his friends and went to the local brewery. Had a few beers, went back to his house where his mom was grilling steaks. Had an amazing dinner around a back yard camp fire retired a few hours later and it was a good day. Minus the sunburn I've got on my arms.

Stats for Friday.
162 miles
14.5 ampg
31 amph
Elapse time of 5:08.

I'll be staying here in Republic until Sunday evening and will head over to Edmonton Canada. I'll have a hard time updating when I get to Canada because no cell service. But I'll do my best.

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[Brakelate]

NO PICS OF THE CUTIE IN YOUR TRUCK????



-Unsubscribing-

 

[River Hill]

Holy shoot 45 degree water. You are nuts or maybe they disappeared in the cold water

 

[Stangshcky12]

Looking over your fuelly logs it seems that you have averaged ~13.5 mpg over the 1850 miles or so that you have been pulling a 5,400 lb trailer. Have to say that I am rather impressed.

Good luck through Canada

 

[Spur]

Just FYI, if you go to Edmunds you can read about the adventures of their new Ecodiesel that they just bought. You can also read about the 2009 Ram 4x4 that they bought back then and drove for a year while writing about it. It under the "Long Term Road Test" page. Similar to following this thread.

 

[Mr.Asmith9]

Good news everyone, I'm not dead =) although the 20 or so deer and elk we passed on the way to Edmonton would of liked otherwise. But unfortunately for them we are whole and undamaged.

Sunday evenings around 7pm Pacific time we left Republic WA for Edmonton Alberta Canada. Estimated at 12.5 hour drive. We really didn't want to leave, after all the 4 wheeling, mountain climbing with the jeeps, hanging out at the old brewery, and last but not least BBQs with all of our friends made it truly difficult not to stick around a few days longer. Unlike the rest of my long drive stretches now I have a co-pilot as an extra set of eyes and a relief when I'm to tired to stay awake. Just outside Republic we went through Shermans Pass (could be spelled wrong) a good steep grade and lots of sharp winding turns. Like normal my little Diesel just pushed right through them. It did make my rig a little thirsty though. About 3 hours into the drive we hit the Canadian border at the Metaline Falls Port of Entry. The guys there were nice however they did insist on searching my entire rig and all its contents. From there we took the crowsnest Highway up through Kootenay Pass one of Canada's highest passes opened year all year round, minus bad weather. The pass is 5,823ft in elevation. When we drove through it was dark, below freezing, snowing and worst of all, extremely foggy. We were forced to take the pass at around 35mph and use a lot of engine breaking on the downward side. The vehicle handled everything fine but with those speeds I can't say it's impressive. At about 1am I pass the rains off to my friend who has been napping in the truck for several hours now so he's rested and ready to go. I try and take a power nap and maybe get an hour in over the next 3 hours as my friend drives.

Around 4am we switch back because he's to tired and we keep chugging along. Before he fell back asleep he told me that he can hardly feel the trailer at all, that I have good power for a little 3L V6. That ment a lot to me cause his rig is an 09 Gmc Sierra 1500 with the Duramax. Anyway I drove the remaining 5 hours or so to Edmonton. We get there exhausted, check into the hotel get some breakfast just to come back and power nap. And by power nap I mean get a good 4 hour nap in. We spent the rest of the day walking around the mall. Tomorrow (today) we are going to see the water park and amusement park. We will probably leave first thing Wednesday morning so you probably won't hear from me until we get back into Alaska after we leave.

Stats for the drive from Republic to Edmonton.
656.9 miles
14.2 ampg
50 amph
Elapse time of 12 hours 59 minutes.

We also put more stuff on the trailer before we left Republic. I'm now towing a Dump Trailer carrying a potato harvester/planter, cattle guard, four 4 Wheeler tires, and wood stove + several smaller assorted items putting me not only over my Axle Weight, but over my Combined Weight rating as well. Here's what I'm now at.
Total 13,756 of 13,500
Front Axle 3,725 of 3,900
Rear Axle 4,079 of 3,900
Trailer axle 5,952 of 15,000.
Everything seems to be fine, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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[River Hill]

What a great trip. Thanks for the updates. I think your mileage is doing great with the load you are pulling.

 

[Spur]

Glad to hear your little diesel is performing so well. I simply CAN NOT wait to own one!!

 

[JuJube]

Welcome to Edmonton! Please enjoy our Potholes.

 

[Mr.Asmith9]

About to leave Edmonton I'll check in when I get back into the US. As a side note my current whole trip status is
2866.6 miles
14 ampg
47 amph
60 hours and 35 minuets.
See yall soon!

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[Esgordon123]

Good luck.


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[Mr.Asmith9]

Hey everyone, I made it home safe late last night and I'll post an update later today when I can get things unloaded and what nots.

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[toofart]

Glad you made it home. I enjoyed the play-by-play of your road trip.

A few pages back you made a comment about the 8 speed not shifting after a hill, and mine does the same thing (on the gas engine). It kinda holds the gear longer until it's sufficiently convinced you won't be going up another hill. At first the feature annoyed me a tad, until I did a 2000 mile trip with a loaded trailer. It's definitely trying to do the right thing, and that's OK in my book.

Looking forward to more pics.

 

[Esgordon123]

Glad you made it home. I hope the truck did what you expected out of it. I have been watching this thread from the start.


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[katokahn99]

Glad you made it home safely. Thanks for taking us along on this virtual (for us) road trip. Get some good rest. Looking forward to the wrap-up post!

14.5 MPG is really good for towing the load you had! I might just look into an EcoDiesel for myself in a few years.