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06-24-2005, 04:28 PM
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#1
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Montana Master
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Silver Springs
Posts: 2,873
M.O.C. #2716
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Signed the house away today
Well today we signed the final closing on the house and will not be returning to mow the lawn, shovel snow, weed the garden or do repairs to 3000 square feet house plus yard. Instead we will live in 400 square feet of Monty. We will leave tomorrow for Montana. Idaho, Washington and Oregon first but will start out later then we planned. Yesterday we stopped at T/A to weigh everything fully loaded and found ourselves over the safe zone so today we bought a new Ford 350 Power Stroke Deisel 6.something Lariet and Camping World can't install the new hitch until tomorrow so we will not be able to start out until the afternoon. The new truck will give us a few thousand pounds to spare in case we run into some new toys we can't live without and my new washer/dryer combo. Finally I feel like a real full timer. YAHOO!!!!
Helen
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06-24-2005, 04:49 PM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Forestville
Posts: 6,025
M.O.C. #496
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Congradulations, have a great adventure.
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06-24-2005, 05:18 PM
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#3
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: pearl city
Posts: 91
M.O.C. #1744
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Wow, How cool! New truck, camper, new adventures! Sounds like lots of fun. Have a great time. Enjoy every minute.
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06-24-2005, 10:02 PM
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#4
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Carpentersville
Posts: 468
M.O.C. #2785
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by adelmoll
[...] today we bought a new Ford 350 Power Stroke Deisel 6.something Lariet and Camping World can't install the new hitch until tomorrow so we will not be able to start out until the afternoon.[...]
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Helen,
Read your owners manual for that new truck. I'll bet that somewhere in there it will tell you NOT TO TOW A HEAVY LOAD UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE PUT 500 to 1000 MILES ON THAT TRUCK.
You need to give the gears in the drive line and the engine a little time to wear into each other. I'd make double darn sure that you follow any breakin instructions Ford gives you. Thats a lot of $$$ to not take a little care up front....
The breakin routine I've always heard was good was to drive the first 50-70 miles on stop & go traffic (no cruise control. No steady interstate speeds. You want to vary your speed up & down through the gears in the transmission) then stop to eat somewhere & give things an hour or so to cool off. The first few miles will cause microscopic shavings to wear off all the moving parts. This causes the worst of the heat. If you do that, then crawl under the truck and (carefuly) touch the differential. It will likely be REALLY hot like you had been pulling a heavy load. The rest of the breaking mileage should then be a mixture of stop & go and high speed highway/interstate mileage.
The absolute worst thing you could do is to hitch up to the Monty right away and scream down the superslab at 70mph.....
My suggestion is to take an extra day or two and drive around the old stomping grounds.
My Not-So-Humble-Opinion.
Eric
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06-25-2005, 03:59 AM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location:
Posts: 1,206
M.O.C. #70
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If it is indeed a brand new truck, then ditto to what Eric said!!
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06-25-2005, 05:39 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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All that planning and work and frustrating waiting after the decision to fulltime has ended. That's great!! The time is here!! Have a great new adventure.....
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06-25-2005, 06:11 AM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
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Awww, liberation! I remember it well! And I'm still enjoying it!
Congrats on the closing on the house and the new truck! As Eric said, please be sure to get 500 miles on it before you tow the first time. It does say that in the manual. If I recall, it doesn't prescribe a method but does say to do normal driving, varying speeds, etc. City, highway, a mix of both. Eric's method would work although I always just drove it as I always would but not towing. On our '03 we had just 500 miles when we started towing and did fine for the 51k we put on the truck but this '05 had 6800 before the first tow. You don't want to jeopardize longevity of the truck by being in too big a hurry to get on the road. Good luck. Hope to see you somewhere on the road.
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06-25-2005, 01:59 PM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
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The 500 mile thing is a true statement..I drove mine up and down the interstate till I got 500 miles on it. The thing is you can no doubt hook up the camper and take off and have no trouble..however..should anything..anything at all go wrong within that 500 miles and you are towing a camper when it clearly says...don't do that..you are s----ed.
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06-25-2005, 04:22 PM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Prescott
Posts: 505
M.O.C. #1344
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The hardest part of getting that new truck is the break-in period, and not being able to tow during it. We spent 2 weekends driving up to Santa Barbara and down to San Diego to get our 500 miles on. Just do it.
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06-26-2005, 04:55 PM
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#10
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Montana Master
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Silver Springs
Posts: 2,873
M.O.C. #2716
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Thanks to all of you for your good advice. When the dealer found the right truck for us it was close to 200 miles away so it already had that many miles on it by the time we got it and then they took it to Camping World to have the hitch put on which added another 60 miles round trip. We put the rest of the break in on by driving around Minneapolis saying good-by to our kids. We are now in Medora, ND. We bought tickets for their famous fork fondue and nightly musical. We had a wonderful steak dinner that was put on pitch forks and fondued in hot 50 gallon drums of oil along with all kinds of other good food but then the rains came and they had to cancel the musical. Now we are sitting in front of our fireplace in the Monty with the rain beating down and reading our manuals on all the features of our new truck. We have a little over 1000 miles on it and it's just great. We feel so much better now that we know we are not overweight.
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06-27-2005, 05:23 AM
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#11
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
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You picked a terrific truck for a tow vehicle. By now you've already figured that out. Good luck, sounds like you're enjoying the rig immensely and that's what it's all about.
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06-27-2005, 11:37 AM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Yuma
Posts: 856
M.O.C. #1935
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Heck 500 miles break in is nothing,when ever I get a new rig I can't keep out of it. My wife thinks that I have gone back out to Sea.
Speaking as a Diesel Engineer it is important not to overload the engine for to long of a time until the rings and bearings are broke in. As for towing I would not worry about it if you are not going over a steep pass before you reach your 500 mile point, all of the engines are load tested and dynoed at the plant. These diesels are far more stronger then most of us think. We will most likly get tired of our truck long before our diesel engines get tired of us.
Just another thought.
All most forgot congradulations, We are about a year from what you have done.
Mel
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06-27-2005, 04:20 PM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location:
Posts: 1,502
M.O.C. #3142
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Congratulations ...sounds like it is smooth camping now!
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07-08-2005, 04:32 AM
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#14
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Spokane Vallley
Posts: 268
M.O.C. #3532
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The house just sold and we will be living in our Montana full time. Got rid of all the stuff. Don't even have a storage unit. Washer and dryer goes in on monday. We will hang around the Spokane area until we we head south in the fall.........Les
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07-08-2005, 04:43 AM
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#15
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Yuma
Posts: 856
M.O.C. #1935
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Sounds great Les.
We are looking at selling after the first of the year.
We will be heading south this year, to the rally and Yuma
But we have to be back in Nov. to go back to work.
Mel
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07-08-2005, 07:58 AM
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#16
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Down the Road
Posts: 5,627
M.O.C. #889
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Les,
Congrats. Glad to hear everything went smooth on the sale of your house. Will be on the lookout for you around the area. Enjoy the summer.
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07-12-2005, 12:17 PM
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#17
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
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Congratulations, Les! Where is "south" for you in the Fall? Maybe you folks can make the rally in Minden, NV, 10/5-11?
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07-28-2005, 04:53 AM
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#18
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
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Congratulations on the sale of your house and your new adventure. Nice looking rig, too.
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07-28-2005, 05:11 AM
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#19
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
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Mel and Joy, I just read and enjoyed your trip journal. I can tell by your pictures that you're going to love Alaska. We're here at Denali as I write. If you have any questions, anybody, our email is bamatravelers@earthlink.net. (The one on our profile is closed but I cannot figure out how to get it changed.) Well, now the email address listed is the correct one.
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07-28-2005, 08:37 PM
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#20
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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Les,
I sure like your rig. Paint your Ford blue over silver and the whole thing would look like a mirror iimage of my rig. Congratulations and Happy RVing....
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