First big(ish) road trip!

[Cabose-1]

Have a safe trip. Went from way down south, brownsville, to way up north, chicago, then spent a week in Colorado, used tow mode in the mountains, and i have towed too! Austin and back, conroe texas and back, austin and back, san antonio and back, tows great.
Enjoy the trip, be safe.
Have fun

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[wanted33]

Enjoy your trip Jay! The longest trip I've done so far in my Ranger is when we went to UT and NV (Las Vegas) back in the fall of 2020. It ended up being just under 1,400 miles and it was extremely comfortable throughout the whole trip.

We're taking off this June for a month covering 4-5 states and I haven't added up the miles yet but I'm guessing it'll end up around 3,000-4,000 miles by the time we're done. I'm still not sure which vehicle I'm taking as I really want to take the Jeep because there's some great places to off road in CO and we're stopping in Moab for 4 days. The Ranger has a lot more room for gear, food etc but the Jeep might just keep my girlfriend from bringing everything she owns including the kitchen sink! Have a great trip and be safe!!

I know of what you speak Dave. Remember also, the smaller the vehicle the less she can buy to bring home. That's worked quite well for me in the past.

 

[TdotReckless]

i've made that trip before, such a gorgeous drive man. Enjoy and stay safe!

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Grab a coffee and comfy chair, it's a long post.

The first day was uneventful. I left early that morning to avoid Toronto-commuters traffic, and pushed -13 hours to be ahead of schedule in case of weather or un-planned events. I parked in the entrance way to Neys Provincial Park. It is closed for the season, but I I was able to get 1/4 mile from the highway in the bush for some privacy.

I slept on the passenger side on an air mattress, feet forward at the dash. It was pretty good, but Kyuss wasn't happy with only 70% of the bask seat area, and insisted on sleeping down near my feet which made it a little cramped. I woke up to 2" of snow on the side road, but the highway had some clearing already and lots of traffic. There were decent ruts and driving was okay.

A few hours in, traffic was at a full stop. 30 semis and 15 passenger vehicles in the line up ahead of me. Way up ahead I see a semi, completely across the road so I took the dogs for a walk to assess the situation. His tractor was in a driveway, but slid off the edge and the right side was in 4 feet of snow. His trailer was almost perfectly 90 degrees to the road and blocking most of the asphalt. There was some pick-ups hooked up to him trying to drag him out, LMAO. I chatted with a few of them, but I knew he was not moving without a heavy truck to pull him out. I checked behind his trailer and decided I had room, so I quietly headed back to my truck. As I did, a few people asked what was going on, so I gave them a brief explanation but not that I was going to try. I didn't want one of them to do something stupid before I could, lol. I jumped in, hazards lights on and proceeded forward. I crawled around the trailer with a few inches to spare, and just as I cleared it, I saw dozens of people pull out to follow me. I was gone before anyone got there, but there was enough room for 1500 series or smaller, so there shouldn't have too much drama unless vehicles got there head to head. I made an extra hour above the schedule again and stayed at a motel, because I desperately needed a shower.

The third morning things got messy. I woke up about 6 am and as I was getting ready I heard a few voices outside and a vehicle running. I assumed they were guests prepping to leave, so I didn't pay much attention. I had to go to the truck to grab some things and unlocked it via a remote before going outside. As I was getting dressed I heard the voices get louded, then the car doors slammed and the vehicle left. That caught my attention a little but when I went out, everything looked fine, so I packed up and hit the road.

About 3 miles away, I felt a little sloppiness in the rear end as I hit a wheel rut, but again mostly dismissed it at first. A few seconds later on a soft bend, I hear a clunk and series of small bangs, which I immediately start to shut down and get to the shoulder. Then more bangs, and I see a wheel stud come over the cab of the truck, and hit my hood. I am almost stopped and another bang. Luckily I was able to make it completely out of the driving lane and on the shoulder.

Before I got out, I knew it was going to be ugly. The rear left wheel had 6 broken studs, the wheel had come off the hub as well, but managed to stay in place, with the rotor sitting on the inside of the rim. I got the jack out and lifted it off the wheel. There was 3 broken studs still in place, and 3 empty holes. One stud hit the hood, but 2 were unaccounted for.

I was momentarily concerned about what damage the 2 missing studs could have done behind the rotor, but then I remembered there is no parking brake back there on the Ranger, and I was relieved.

I was in the middle of nowhere. Not a building in sight, one road sign about 1/4 mile away was the only not natural feature I could see. Somehow I had cell service and internet. I called Ford Roadside and we were able to get enough info for a location. Luckily the tow truck was only an hour away, and the Ford dealer was less 10 km away.

Overall I'm feeling pretty good at this point, although embarrassed about the situation. I had removed my winter tires and installed these wheels 2 days prior. Even though I re-torqued 3 hours after leaving the house, and checked them again at the end of the first night, I assumed I missed something and I was at fault.

With a tow truck and dealer fairly close, I was confident I'd be back under way within a few hours, even if I had to buy 6 studs/lugs and do the work myself in the dealer's parking lot. The wheel had some damage, but I have a full size, full speed spare which I knew would carry the remainder of the trip. I strapped the wheel to my Diamond back, and left the truck on the jack waiting for a wrecker.

While waiting a few good people stopped to offer assistance, and one of which suggested I may not be at fault, as wheel theft is a semi-regular issue for tourists in the area. Then I recalled the morning chatter outside my room and starting connecting dots. The towie arrived and he frame lifted my ass end, dollied the front and we were off. We stopped at the motel I had stayed at, and there they were, 4 lugs nuts on the ground which were tossed under my truck when the thieving POS had removed them. I had scared them off when I un-locked my truck as they were still removing nuts. I spoke to the Motel staff, but it was fruitless.

Into the dealer, I explained the problem and that I was mid-way between Ontario and Alberta on a tight time line. He said it'd be a while but should be able to look at it today. About an hour later he returns to talk to me "Everything looks good, no other damage, spare is good to go, lugs nuts are in stock, but I have no wheel studs for you. Ford parts is 6 days for delivery, local parts store don't have them." We talked about a few options, most of which involved not getting the truck back until the next day, which if I was able to get a rental would have been acceptable, but no rentals available.

Together we came up with a solution that got me under way that day. They were very helpful to make it happen, but also charged me a significant premium to do so. I'm not getting into the how and why, because I'm not going to argue with any Karens about it. Suffice is to say I'm happy enough with the final result, because I was under way. I'm also leaving all the motel and dealer info out.

In total I lost almost 6 hours that day, but was able to make Edmonton by 10pm, because of the extra driving on day 1 & 2. I got a hotel that night, and picked up Trixie at 10 am Saturday. We stayed at the hotel Saturday night as well, giving Kyuss and Trixie time to get a little familiar. They were besties almost immediately. Even at 8 weeks old she is full on Terrier. She'd hide under the edge of the bed, reach out to swat him or bite his face, then run back under. We all played all day, and it was great day.

The weather forecast was calling for big snow storms throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba, so I decided to push at least 18 hours Sunday, to try and get passed it before it hit. GPS said 35 hours (10:30 pm Monday) to be home. Traffic was good, and travel went well until about 5 am. I was clear of the plains by then, and into the semi-mountainous region. Not The Rocky Mountains by any means, but constant elevations changed and tight windy roads (for a 90 km/h highway). The snow was big fluffy flakes and falling real heavy. Visibility was bad with low beams, and completely blinded with high beams on.

The road was covered with 2-3 inches of snow, temp was -2c, and there was no traffic. I was driving 30kmh in a 90kmh zone, 4 ways on. There was nothing to see where the lanes should have been, so I was breaking trail using the center line rumble strip as a feeler. I finally saw some headlights coming from behind me, so I pulled off and gave him the road as soon as I saw him approaching. It was a semi, and he blew passed me doing at least 60km/h. He was cutting allot of the curves, and using both lanes, which made it worse than if I hadn't let him pass. Before anyone says it, my 'summer' tires are Goodyear Duratracs which are 3 peak M&S rated with only about 10,000 km on them. They are spectacular in snow, especially in mild temperatures. My spare is a brand new Wrangler. Traction and control was not the issue for me, visibility and other drivers were my only concerns.

I decided to pull-off at the first safe place, and there was dozens of vehicles there. Many already stuck in the snow. The forecast said the snow was mostly done, but because of the temperature and type of snow, I knew it was going to be increasingly slippery until ploughed and some material was put down. I jumped in on the passenger side floor again, and set my alarm for 2 hours. I woke up, skies were clear, the road had clear defined ruts on wet asphalt, so I got underway.

I needed 4 high to get moving and out of the parking lot. None of the cars had even tried to move yet, but 7 semis were spinning wheel and going no where. It was slow-ish driving for a few hours, I passed 13 vehicle off the road, 2 semis in real bad shape, but still on their wheels. I used 4 high selectively for an hour or so, then things got much better.

After all the bad, the GPS adjusted to 1:30 am Tuesday for arrival time. 3 hours later than the original ETA, so not too bad and I had 2 hours of nap time. I pulled in the driveway at 1:23am with nothing else to note.

I am generally not a MPG monitor, but set the trip-meter and it happens to list MPG as well. The truck shows 14.2L/100km but I haven't calibrated for my tire size increase, so I deducted 7% from that for ~13.5L/100km (~17.4 mpg). I use cruise control 95% of the trip set to 60mph for about half, and 70mph the other half.

Overall I am happy with the truck and performance, my only real complaint it the small fuel tank. In many cases it's not an issue, but the remote areas of this route, put fuel stops few and far between for some of it. I ran below 1/4 tank when I could, but many times filled up with 1/2 tank because I didn't know how far to the next station. I did have 5 gallons in a Jerry can, but wanted to avoid using it because it's a PITA.

Yesterday I removed the spare and put it back under the Ranger. For my summer tires I have 6 matched rims/tires so I'm back to full size and fully matched again. I haven't taken a better look at the damaged rim yet, but the tire looks fine, so worst case scenario I may have to replace the rim and re-mount the tire.

...And as always not one photo of any of it while I was in it. It's not something I generally think of until way after the opportunity is gone. None of the Ranger roadside, none of the ranger on the wrecker, none of the rotor or any other damage. I will get a photo of the damaged rim later today or tomorrow.

Most importantly we are all home safely. Kyuss and Beatrix are getting along famously. He may already love her more than he loves me. She bonded with me very quickly as well, 3 hours after I got her she had a nap on my shoulder. She snuggled into my neck and snored away like it was her everyday routine.

She was in the 'crate' for much of the trip but I allowed her out for short periods as well. Here they are on the way home.

 

[AzScorpion]

Wow Jay sounds like you had a heck of a trip, glad you made it back in one piece! After all that the picture at the end tells me it was well worth it and hopefully the new pup gives you years of happiness. ?

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Broken wheel stud damage on the hood. HTF does a stud go from under the truck, to over the top and hit the hood hard enough to scratch and dent it?

 

[AzScorpion]

One in a million chances Jay. That'd be my luck too but it would've also smashed the windshield. Glad no one was hurt and it was a good trip overall.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

One in a million chances Jay. That'd be my luck too but it would've also smashed the windshield. Glad no one was hurt and it was a good trip overall.

Yes sir, there's always a silver lining. No injuries, no other body damage (that I've noticed yet) and I was able to maintain the ETA to pick-up Trixie.

If the wheel had come off, there would probably be extensive wheel well body damage, rear bumper/cover, rear quarter, rotor, caliper, brake lines, and maybe axle or drive train as well. All things considered it could have been much worse.

Also, the hood is aluminum so rust isn't an issue, and it should be easy to dolly back out. It's not the first scratches on the truck, and probably won't be the last.

 

[Big Blue]

Wow! Quite the adventure. Glad you and the dogs all made it OK. Guess I need to add a new item to my morning checklist when traveling to check all the lugnuts.

By the way that Trixie is a cute little thing.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

I took a closer look at the rim today. The tire is flat now, although it wasn't when the incident happened, or when I put it in the garage the Tuesday.

The rim does have extensive damage, but the tire looks to be okay. I didn't have the time or supplies to check where the leak is, but hopefully the tire is not fkd. A new rim is only about $300 (although not in stock right now) a new tire is over $400. Less than 12,000 km (7500 miles) on that tire and rim.

Two of the lug holes are serviceable, but the other 4 are key-holed pretty nasty.

 

[wanted33]

Adversities encountered, and overcome. All arrived home safe, and all is right with the world. She's a cutie Jay, and I'm sure you're well on the way to spoiling her rotten.

 

[D Fresh]

Wow. Hell of a trip. Glad you made it home safe.

You got the only picture needed. The pups!

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

So the tire is fine, but the rim is leaking on the inside wall. I didn't get a photo of the bubbles, but I will when I do the change over. The new rim is back in stock, and I've placed my order. $311 delivered, and another ~$40 to mount and balance after it arrives.

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