Moab 2012: The Journey Begins

[vt_maverick]

Finally got away around 5 last night and stopped over in Lexington, KY for the night. Now that I've finally got my O2 sensor issue corrected I'm going to track my MPGs so we can assess how much of a difference the 5-speed makes on fuel economy. Right now I'm pretty much in the worst case scenario so it should only improve from here. My VX is wearing around 250 lbs. in underbody armor (Kilby + Rocky Road Supersliders + Rocky Road Diff Guard), oversize (265/60/18) tires on heavier rims, a 40 lb roof basket, full size spare, swing-away cargo box weighing probably 250-300 lb fully loaded, two adults, two kids, a dog, 10 lb air tank, and pretty much everything else that can be fit inside a two door SUV. I always use 89 octane.

Fill-Up 1: Blacksburg, VA to Hurricane WV - 197.5 miles - 10.916 gallons - 18.08 MPG - Driving due west through the mountains, lots of long uphill climbs, fairly cool weather (mid to upper 60s).

Here are some pics:

[tom4bren]

Best o luck on your trip.

Looks like you got the kinks worked out on the hitch. When you get back, you'll have to fill me in on what you had to do.

[evillecutter]

looks awesome - i hope you dont have a great dane

[pbkid]

Lookin good. Cant wait to see ya!!!

[Mile High VX]

Keep the shiny side up Ash...

When are you going to be in CO?

[vt_maverick]

Tom - Lots and lots and lots of grinding. Blew through 3 Dremel grinding wheels before it fit. And LOTS of axle grease to make sure it doesn't get stuck. . Also used a dozen flat washers on the hitch platform to balance it out.

Earl - I'll be in Denver Saturday night if all goes well. Wanted to get there a day earlier than necessary to give the girls a break. 30 hours in a car seat is a LONG time.

[MSHardeman]

Mav, when are you guys going through to Moab from Denver? Are you going to wait for the Monday convoy, or are you going on Sunday? If it's Sunday then you and I could convoy over. I'm heading over on Sunday, and we could meet up in Glenwood Springs (about three hours from Denver towards Moab).

[vt_maverick]

Mark - Not totally decided just yet, it really depends on two factors: (1) how the girls are feeling after day 3 of the journey and (2) whether or not something bad happens or someone can help me in Moab on Sunday with this:

[vt_maverick]

Okay so got about 20 miles shy of Columbia, MO and decided to pull over for gas. Noticed that the cargo box was leaning slightly to the right but figured it was just a loose bolt and decided to wait until after dinner to tighten it. Fortunately there was a fantastic steak place only 20 miles up the road (G&D Steakhouse in Columbia) so after dinner I took a closer look. Turns out the problem is bigger than I thought - one of the welds that attach the platform support "arms" to the swing away bar is failing, as per the pics below. I immediately moved not only the heaviest items from the box into the VX, but pretty much every single thing that would fit. (Amazing how little stuff was actually left in the box when I was done.) I put the box back on (it detaches from the platform) and the sag was less pronounced so I decided to drive on to Kansas City. Just checked it out again and the crack and subsequent sag don't seem to be worsening. Here's what it looks like as of about 30 minutes ago (note that the hole you see is supposed to be there - the crack is along the horizontal weld):



Reverse angle:



Pic showing the difference in angle between the two arms:



So my question to you guys is how scared should I be to drive the remaining 15 hours to Moab, and once I'm there, can anyone help me fix it? Don't suppose anybody has any welding supplies they want to bring along. Or if anyone knows a welder in Denver who works on Sundays that would be great too. My perception is that the crack doesn't look any worse after nearly two hours of driving, so given the dramatic weight reduction, maybe it will be okay until Moab.

Thoughts?

[vt_maverick]

By the way, I've had it loaded this full several times before on both my VX and Sonya's Axiom without a problem. I suspect that when I installed the air lift kit I transferred the weak point to these arms. Before the kit I assume the springs and bump stops would absorb most of the down travel when you hit a bump, but now that the air bags are pretty much eliminating any down travel this weld is the new weak link. In the morning I'll probably drop the pressure in the air bags back to 20 PSI or so (it's at 30 PSI now) to see if that helps.

[MSHardeman]

Hopefully some of the Denver crew will chime in. I know Jon (VXorado) used to know a welder, and may still have someone that he works with.

If you do wait until Monday to head to Moab I can get you in touch with the shop that did my front bumber. The build tube buggies and I know that they can weld anything up, but they are in Rifle, Colorado which is three and a half to four hours past Denver toward Moab.

If you do make it all the way to Moab, I know that there are MANY fab shops there that could weld that up lickity-split.

[VXorado]

Bad timing for me on the welding. I'm in the process of moving to our new house and don't have any welding equipment set up... really too bad since you'll be in town today.

Like Mark said, I'm sure there will be a welding shop in Moab that can get you a nice solid bead for relatively cheap. All depends if can hold off until Moab.

[yellowgizmo99]

Dang Ash, just missed you I was going thru Lexington about 6pm yesterday with the engine I picked up. Good luck on the rest of the trip.

[vt_maverick]

Well we made it to Denver about an hour ago without incident. I managed to cram even more stuff in the VX this morning, which became imperative when I saw just how bad the crack was in full daylight. Some shop in Moab has its work cut out for them.

Really weird being back in Denver nearly 6 months to the day that I first test drove (and subsequently crashed) my current VX. Even staying in the same hotel tonight... It's truly come full circle for me.

[Mile High VX]

Well we made it to Denver about an hour ago without incident. I managed to cram even more stuff in the VX this morning, which became imperative when I saw just how bad the crack was in full daylight. Some shop in Moab has its work cut out for them.

Really weird being back in Denver nearly 6 months to the day that I first test drove (and subsequently crashed) my current VX. Even staying in the same hotel tonight... It's truly come full circle for me.

Glad you arrived safely with the family...rest well.