Made it home from Montana

[Tony J.]

Drove pretty much straight through yesterday (no truckload of teeny bladders to make me stop all the time!). 25 hour drive pulling my 7,000 lb-ish trailer. Truck ran GREAT. I wish I got better mpg towing, though. I've got 4.10s, and going about 63 mph I get between 8-9 consistently, but then I only get about 16 empty on the highway.

Anyway, the new HO water pump definitely helped. Only got warm a few times on long hills. I do wish my tranny stayed cooler. Never red-lined, but closer than I like. Is there a bigger tranny cooler available for these things? I'm seriously considering that Mag Hi-tec (sp?) tranny pan. Anyone have one and notice a difference? I'm definitely thinking intercooler, new exhaust and downpipe, and pillar gauge pod, then I need to be DONE... =)

Hey 16ga- I ran over some animal (couldn't avoid) about 40 miles east of Missoula the other night. For the life of me, I can't figure out what it was. It ran out in my lane, and I had a trailer behind and a car next to me, so all I could do was smack it. It looked BIG in the second or so that I saw it. Running on all fours, looked dark color, and hairy, even down it's legs (like 3" fur or so). It's midsection was high in the air- not low-slung like badgers or anything. It seemed like it was about 2 1/2 feet tall to the back. It's gait reminded me of a bear "trotting", but it didn't look thick enough through the midsection to be a bear- it was leaner. Odd looking- any ideas what it may have been? By the time I stopped, I was too far ahead to walk back in the dark, so I looked under the truck for damage (there was NONE, although I heard it thud over the radio, so I know I definitely took it out). STRANGE.

Anyway, I like my Heath 2.0 chip, and I'm pretty happy with my $8,000 paid-for truck at the moment. tongue.gif

It was fun meeting some of you guys at the rendezvous, too, by the way!

[ttpost]

big coyote or small worf?

[markrinker]

Racoon? Don't think you would have seen many of those if you grew up in Arizona...

[ttpost]

2 1/2 foot tall raccoon?? they are only about 18" tall in the northwest at least the ones ive seen. do they get that big in minnesota? :eek:

[Tony J.]

What was odd about it is that it's legs even had long fur. It was WAY bigger than a coon- and it's whole body was high off the ground. It was shaped more like a bear than a canine (wolf, coyote). Maybe I killed a baby Sasquatch or something... :D Now, as crazy as it's driving me trying to figure it out, I kinda wished I'd have walked back and checked it out... :confused:

I have the image in my mind, but it's hard to explain.

[MikeC]

Tony,

Look in the readers rigs section at my suburban. I got my Trans pan and diff cover from yourcovers"dot"com. They are well built. Diff between them and Mag-hytec is mine seal will RTV and not an O-ring. Magnetic drain plug is there and they run "normal level" in diff but the volume is still greater. Price is right also.

Mike Cooper

[markrinker]

Sounds way too big for a raccoon, although a large male can go 35lbs and look pretty tall in the headlights if they are trying to get somewhere fast. Also, their fur does go down the legs. Raccoons from the southwest are much smaller and thinner, more of a brown rather than silver and black in the north and west.

If you did kill a baby sasquatch, you might be glad you didn't go back to check it out. Mama's always waiting...

[ 08-03-2004, 05:00 AM: Message edited by: Mark Rinker ]

[Marty Lau]

Hmmm, here is a long shot they are pretty rare but sounds a little like a wolverine. racoon don't get that big here in Montana and sounds like you know what a badger is, they run like a pancake flopping. Either that maybe a back bear cub? Glad you made it back what about your leaking fuel???????
Exhaust next it should have been one of the first items. (IMHO)
I make it many winters to AZ & NM and other Quail desinations. :cool:

[ 08-03-2004, 08:41 AM: Message edited by: 16ga SxS ]

[Tony J.]

Wolverine was about the only thing I could come up with too. Sure freaked me out. He looked big- I expected a lot more of a THUD and damage after hitting him/her. It's a bummer to kill something like that, but I'm glad it didn't hurt my truck!

[radrecon69]

Gage SxS

What can of dog you use to hunt quail? I got a GSP but she is getting a Little long in the tooth so will probley start looking for a new pup next tear the ole girl still got the heart just not the stamina (kind of like her owner :) )

Tony glad to hear you Had a great trip I can't wait to get my truck and my TT out a traveling

Rick

[Marty Lau]

Originally posted by radrecon69:
Gage SxS

What can of dog you use to hunt quail? I got a GSP but she is getting a Little long in the tooth so will probley start looking for a new pup next tear the ole girl still got the heart just not the stamina (kind of like her owner :) )

Tony glad to hear you Had a great trip I can't wait to get my truck and my TT out a traveling

Rick Rick;
I have a couple of German Wired Hair Pointers.
They hunt everything, upland, waterfowl, cats, skunks, gophers, find down and crippled big game.
(my wife dosen't like the cat eradication part tho)

[Marty Lau]

Hey Tony; what was the scoop on your fuel leak???

[Tony J.]

It was actually two leaks, I'm told (and I'm not very knowledgeable about the hose layout under the hood). One was one of the two hoses under the intake manifold going to the fuel drain?, and the second was a return line to the IP they said. Both were just brittle from age/heat. They said they were moving them around while troubleshooting, and after messing with most of them, had to start the truck to facilitate moving another truck out of the shop. When they started mine after jiggling the hoses, one of the two leaks was SPRAYING all over the place. I'm sure glad I found the problem and had it fixed before my marathon tow that weekend!

[ttpost]

i have a gsp, i had him retrieving ducks and geese at 8 months old. he loves to swim even with ice on the water. i just keep an old hunting jacket with me and throw it on him when he comes back to the blind. i like him so much i just bought another one. just start em out young in the bath tub. oops this is the diesel page huh :D :D