Well folks I made it back. Got in yesterday around 3pm. Dak did a pretty
good job, for a V6. I ended up getting a hitch. I couldn't pick up the
trailer without one. So I paid $133 and took it to Northern Equipment's
parking lot, and installed it on black asphalt on a nice 90+ degree day in
full sunlight. Ohh that was fun :) Hitch went in fine, no problems. I
always take a full compliment of tools - used to own Fords, remember.
Uhaul has a pretty good scam. Their trailers don't use a standard wiring
harness. I went prepared with a 4-flat harness and a round harness. Uhaul
uses no wiring harness - simply pigtails that will only plug into their own
$3.95 wiring adapter that you have to buy. Bastards.
So I leave a little lighter in the pocket and enlist my brother, who lives
in San Marcos, for help in loading up. Three seat and two seat sofa,
chair/ottoman, coffee table, two end tables, a fender for a '78 ford, two
trannies for a '78 ford, four five-gallon use oil containers, four oil
change buckets, about four computers in many parts, three computer cases,
copier, and a whole bunch of other junk and I was loaded up to the
max. Had that 6x12 trailer fully loaded from top to bottom, front to back,
and the bed of my truck loaded with the oily/greasy stuff. Ohh, and a door
for a '78 ford to top it off.
It weighed quite a bit. Started off pretty good, lots of pinging and
knocking and squeaks and groans, but it got it rolling. It gained speed
fairly through the gears. I would get a little ping after shifts, but went
away almost immediately. At first it had a real hard time climbing above
60 MPH. It would not go past 60-63 no matter if it was in 4th or 5th, or
how much pedal. After about 20 miles on the highway, power seemed to pick
up. I was able to gain speed fairly easily. Guess the computer was doing
some thinking because I could easily reach 75 now. That was interesting.
Spent the night at my brother's place Sunday night, took off early Monday
morning. It towed quite nicely with the occasional fish tailing of the
trailer and the tail wagging the dog stuff. Adjusted the air pressure in
the trailer and the rear of the truck and the fish tailing quit
completely. Still the tail wanted to wag the dog, but it was minor. Hills
were interesting. More along the lines of speeding down one hill to 80 and
chugging up the next and getting over some at only 50 MPH. Even after a
downshift. After a couple hours, the truck was able to keep speed over
some pretty good hills. 'lil V6 impressed me. Guess that computer had to
adjust to the load.
For the most part is was a pretty good trip. Truck ran great - glad I put
synthetic in the engine, trans and rear end! Drove a little over 1200
miles. Still have to add up the gallons and figure out gas mileage loaded
and unloaded. Stopped off in Waco for the beer. Couldn't leave Texas
without real beer - that Okie 3.2% bread water is bad, to put in
mildly. Ten cases of Miller Lite, ten cases of MGD for myself, and a case
each of Budweiser and Bud light for a friend at work and I was on the road
again. That should hold me for a couple months.
Once home, backing up the driveway was interesting to say the
least. Called a friend over to help unload. When he arrived, I attempted
to back the trailer up 160 feet of driveway at a pretty descent
grade. Backing down the driveway wasn't hard at all, but turning around
and heading back up was a trip. Put 'er in reverse and started to move
backwards, engine knocked under load and I stalled 'er - she ain't
goin. Try it again little more gas and more clutch - rear end stands up at
attention and tires squeal and spin, trailer moves up some. Engine making
all kinds of unhealthy knocks and pings. So doing that while trying not to
glaze the clutch, I manage to get up half the driveway. Let the clutch
cool down for about twenty minutes while we discuss the situation with beer
in hand. Two beers later, we're at it again. We finally manage to get it
up the driveway with clutch intact and no dents in the trailer or truck
from the trees on the sides of the driveway. Back it into the shop and
unload everything. Pull the trailer out and back it up again to the side
of the shop. It backed up so nicely it was unbelievable. The damn must
have weighed 3000+ lbs full. It weighs 1700 empty!
So anyway, I've bored ya'll enough, for those that actually read the whole
damn thing, well, you must be really bored :)
I will be headed to Dallas on Friday. Going to a ball game on Friday and
spending two days at Six Flags with friends - much needed mini vacation.
Mike Schwall
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