Crater Lake Trip

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raytwntrvlr

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Sep 28, 2021
Threads
8
Messages
157
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485
Location
Raytown, Missouri
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger XL
Occupation
retired
Decided to save the Colorado stops for another swoop. Instead we deadheaded straight home from Reno. That turned out to be no fun at all. First day was fine then the 60 mph crosswinds of Wyoming had us sitting in a rest area for over 12 hours.
We racked up 5200 miles on the trip. Averaged 12 mpg. I never locked out any gears but let the transmission do the shifting. The drive home through Nevada Wyoming and Nebraska was dominated by many low passes and I saw that the truck lived in 8th and 9th gear most of the time with probably 10% 7th gear and 10% 10th gear.
I see some on here claiming that good towing practice is to lock out 9th and 10th. I don't get that. I think probably half the time the truck chose 9th or 10th gear and it did not seem to be lugging.
Good news for me was the oil level has remained exactly where it was at the start of the trip. Not a teaspoon more or less. That's remarkable to me considering the hard work the truck was doing.
While at Crater Lake we met a retired air traffic controller. Nice retirement for those guys. Full retirement at age 56. Anyway, he was driving a 40 foot diesel pusher towing a new F150. I mentioned that we shared the same transmission in our trucks. He had a funny look when I said that. Maybe F150 guys feel bad about having Ranger transmissions.
Anyway was glad t get home. Grandson had the lawn mowed and everything was in good shape. Heading to Florida over the winter and our big trip next year will be to Maine in the fall.
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