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[GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320730] Thu, 20 July 2017 17:24 Go to next message
BobDunahugh is currently offline  BobDunahugh   United States
Messages: 2465
Registered: October 2010
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA
Karma: 11
Senior Member
Heading South on interstate 35 just into Iowa from Minnesota last night. Hit that 80 mph side wind with visibility at under 100 ft due to HEAVY rain. Got to the side of the road to stop. Wind rocked it a little. Saw 4 tucks rolled over. Bob Dunahugh
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Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320797 is a reply to message #320730] Fri, 21 July 2017 15:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Sandra Price is currently offline  Sandra Price   United States
Messages: 709
Registered: May 2006
Karma: 1
Senior Member
Glad y'all are safe, Bob. Sounds scary.

Sandra and Bob

On Jul 20, 2017 5:25 PM, "Bob Dunahugh" wrote:

> Heading South on interstate 35 just into Iowa from Minnesota last night.
> Hit that 80 mph side wind with visibility at under 100 ft due to HEAVY
> rain. Got to the side of the road to stop. Wind rocked it a little. Saw 4
> tucks rolled over. Bob Dunahugh
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320798 is a reply to message #320797] Fri, 21 July 2017 15:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
James Hupy is currently offline  James Hupy   United States
Messages: 6806
Registered: May 2010
Karma: -62
Senior Member
We went through a similar storm on that same highway during our route 66
trip. Never want to do that again. No fun at all. Black sky, wild winds,
rain in buckets. Glad you survived it intact.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

On Jul 21, 2017 1:46 PM, "Sandra Price" wrote:

> Glad y'all are safe, Bob. Sounds scary.
>
> Sandra and Bob
>
> On Jul 20, 2017 5:25 PM, "Bob Dunahugh" wrote:
>
>> Heading South on interstate 35 just into Iowa from Minnesota last night.
>> Hit that 80 mph side wind with visibility at under 100 ft due to HEAVY
>> rain. Got to the side of the road to stop. Wind rocked it a little. Saw 4
>> tucks rolled over. Bob Dunahugh
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>>
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Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320801 is a reply to message #320798] Fri, 21 July 2017 16:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
USAussie is currently offline  USAussie   United States
Messages: 15912
Registered: July 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Karma: 6
Senior Member
Helen was an avid gardener and when she learned of the International Peace Gardens that straddle the border between the USA and
Canada she put it on our bucket list.

To get there you drive due north on ND-3 N. While driving we encountered heavy cross winds coming from the west at 50 - 60 mph (I'll
explain how I know that in a bit). The difficult part of driving came when I was steering to the left to compensate for the wind and
came to a section of the road that had a stand of trees on the west. The wind was blocked and dropped so much that I'd wind up
across the center line! I'd correct and when I had passed the stand the wind would pick up again and it would blow the GMC into the
soft shoulder. Helen was quite scared and noted she didn't know if she REALLY wanted to see the gardens after all!

It didn't take me long to figger out that I had to keep an eye out for trees and get ready to adjust quickly. I also slowed down to
50 mph from the speed limit of 65 mph.

As we were driving all of a sudden I heard a loud THUD and the coach swayed badly. I looked in my side mirror and noted that the
awning had deployed! The westerly winds were strong enough to unroll it! Needless to say I slowed down quickly and heard a second
THUD when it rolled itself up.

I realized I was going to have to come up with a quick fix. I wound up drilling a couple of small holes in the drip lip, and
enlarging them so I could put a tie wrap through it and around the awning.

While I was working a State Trooper pulled up to see if all was OK, I explained what had happened and he noted, "yep, we find
awnings by the side of the road all the time when it's this windy." I asked him how strong were they and he noted 50 - 60 mph is
common.

I found out that Zip Dee makes a little clip that holds the awning in and installed it as a permanent fix.

Regards,
Rob M.
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces@list.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of James Hupy
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2017 6:58 AM
To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night.

We went through a similar storm on that same highway during our route 66
trip. Never want to do that again. No fun at all. Black sky, wild winds,
rain in buckets. Glad you survived it intact.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or


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Regards, Rob M. (USAussie) The Pedantic Mechanic Sydney, Australia '75 Avion - AUS - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428 '75 Avion - USA - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320802 is a reply to message #320801] Fri, 21 July 2017 17:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Jerry Wheeler is currently offline  Jerry Wheeler   United States
Messages: 246
Registered: January 2013
Karma: 2
Senior Member
I was driving west on Interstate 80 out of Cheyenne on June 16th and
encountered a steady 30mph crosswind and gusts of 55+ mph. There were
about 5 electric signs that warned of gusts 55 and over. I had the same
problem of trying to stay in my lane. Needless to say, it was a struggle
all day long until I got to Green River and eventually turned onto highway
30, heading northwest to Idaho. One gust was so hard that it blew my
driver's side Ramco mirror over and I spent the next 5 hours reaching out
the small toll window and bending it back into position. At Green River, I
stopped for gas and found a small auto shop that allowed me to borrow the
hex tool I needed to tighten up the set screws. I was delivering this
coach to the new owner in Idaho; it was not my coach and the coach should
have had the hex tool that came with the mirrors. This was the second time
I drove that stretch of road and encountered those same strong winds about
15 years ago.

JR Wheeler 78 Royale NC/OR

On Fri, Jul 21, 2017 at 5:46 PM, Rob Mueller
wrote:

> Helen was an avid gardener and when she learned of the International Peace
> Gardens that straddle the border between the USA and
> Canada she put it on our bucket list.
>
> To get there you drive due north on ND-3 N. While driving we encountered
> heavy cross winds coming from the west at 50 - 60 mph (I'll
> explain how I know that in a bit). The difficult part of driving came when
> I was steering to the left to compensate for the wind and
> came to a section of the road that had a stand of trees on the west. The
> wind was blocked and dropped so much that I'd wind up
> across the center line! I'd correct and when I had passed the stand the
> wind would pick up again and it would blow the GMC into the
> soft shoulder. Helen was quite scared and noted she didn't know if she
> REALLY wanted to see the gardens after all!
>
> It didn't take me long to figger out that I had to keep an eye out for
> trees and get ready to adjust quickly. I also slowed down to
> 50 mph from the speed limit of 65 mph.
>
> As we were driving all of a sudden I heard a loud THUD and the coach
> swayed badly. I looked in my side mirror and noted that the
> awning had deployed! The westerly winds were strong enough to unroll it!
> Needless to say I slowed down quickly and heard a second
> THUD when it rolled itself up.
>
> I realized I was going to have to come up with a quick fix. I wound up
> drilling a couple of small holes in the drip lip, and
> enlarging them so I could put a tie wrap through it and around the awning.
>
> While I was working a State Trooper pulled up to see if all was OK, I
> explained what had happened and he noted, "yep, we find
> awnings by the side of the road all the time when it's this windy." I
> asked him how strong were they and he noted 50 - 60 mph is
> common.
>
> I found out that Zip Dee makes a little clip that holds the awning in and
> installed it as a permanent fix.
>
> Regards,
> Rob M.
> Sydney, Australia
> AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
> USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
> USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces@list.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of James
> Hupy
> Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2017 6:58 AM
> To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I
> thought last night.
>
> We went through a similar storm on that same highway during our route 66
> trip. Never want to do that again. No fun at all. Black sky, wild winds,
> rain in buckets. Glad you survived it intact.
> Jim Hupy
> Salem, Or
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
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Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320803 is a reply to message #320802] Fri, 21 July 2017 17:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
James Hupy is currently offline  James Hupy   United States
Messages: 6806
Registered: May 2010
Karma: -62
Senior Member
The Columbia River Gorge is notorious for very strong winds. Sometimes they
are headwinds, sometimes following, and always buffet you from both sides
as you round curves in the highway. Lane changers for sure. But, the tail
winds sure help the gas mileage.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

On Jul 21, 2017 3:02 PM, "Jerry Wheeler" wrote:

> I was driving west on Interstate 80 out of Cheyenne on June 16th and
> encountered a steady 30mph crosswind and gusts of 55+ mph. There were
> about 5 electric signs that warned of gusts 55 and over. I had the same
> problem of trying to stay in my lane. Needless to say, it was a struggle
> all day long until I got to Green River and eventually turned onto highway
> 30, heading northwest to Idaho. One gust was so hard that it blew my
> driver's side Ramco mirror over and I spent the next 5 hours reaching out
> the small toll window and bending it back into position. At Green River, I
> stopped for gas and found a small auto shop that allowed me to borrow the
> hex tool I needed to tighten up the set screws. I was delivering this
> coach to the new owner in Idaho; it was not my coach and the coach should
> have had the hex tool that came with the mirrors. This was the second time
> I drove that stretch of road and encountered those same strong winds about
> 15 years ago.
>
> JR Wheeler 78 Royale NC/OR
>
> On Fri, Jul 21, 2017 at 5:46 PM, Rob Mueller
> wrote:
>
>> Helen was an avid gardener and when she learned of the International
> Peace
>> Gardens that straddle the border between the USA and
>> Canada she put it on our bucket list.
>>
>> To get there you drive due north on ND-3 N. While driving we encountered
>> heavy cross winds coming from the west at 50 - 60 mph (I'll
>> explain how I know that in a bit). The difficult part of driving came
> when
>> I was steering to the left to compensate for the wind and
>> came to a section of the road that had a stand of trees on the west. The
>> wind was blocked and dropped so much that I'd wind up
>> across the center line! I'd correct and when I had passed the stand the
>> wind would pick up again and it would blow the GMC into the
>> soft shoulder. Helen was quite scared and noted she didn't know if she
>> REALLY wanted to see the gardens after all!
>>
>> It didn't take me long to figger out that I had to keep an eye out for
>> trees and get ready to adjust quickly. I also slowed down to
>> 50 mph from the speed limit of 65 mph.
>>
>> As we were driving all of a sudden I heard a loud THUD and the coach
>> swayed badly. I looked in my side mirror and noted that the
>> awning had deployed! The westerly winds were strong enough to unroll it!
>> Needless to say I slowed down quickly and heard a second
>> THUD when it rolled itself up.
>>
>> I realized I was going to have to come up with a quick fix. I wound up
>> drilling a couple of small holes in the drip lip, and
>> enlarging them so I could put a tie wrap through it and around the
> awning.
>>
>> While I was working a State Trooper pulled up to see if all was OK, I
>> explained what had happened and he noted, "yep, we find
>> awnings by the side of the road all the time when it's this windy." I
>> asked him how strong were they and he noted 50 - 60 mph is
>> common.
>>
>> I found out that Zip Dee makes a little clip that holds the awning in and
>> installed it as a permanent fix.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Rob M.
>> Sydney, Australia
>> AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
>> USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
>> USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces@list.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of
> James
>> Hupy
>> Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2017 6:58 AM
>> To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I
>> thought last night.
>>
>> We went through a similar storm on that same highway during our route 66
>> trip. Never want to do that again. No fun at all. Black sky, wild winds,
>> rain in buckets. Glad you survived it intact.
>> Jim Hupy
>> Salem, Or
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
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Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320827 is a reply to message #320803] Sat, 22 July 2017 07:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
USAussie is currently offline  USAussie   United States
Messages: 15912
Registered: July 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Karma: 6
Senior Member
Jim,

You are 100% correct about tail winds! Last year it took 12 hours and 20 minutes to fly from Sydney to LA and 14 hours to fly back
even though it was downhill! :-)

Regards,
Rob M.
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces@list.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of James Hupy
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2017 8:09 AM
To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night.

The Columbia River Gorge is notorious for very strong winds. Sometimes they
are headwinds, sometimes following, and always buffet you from both sides
as you round curves in the highway. Lane changers for sure. But, the tail
winds sure help the gas mileage.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

On Jul 21, 2017 3:02 PM, "Jerry Wheeler" wrote:

> I was driving west on Interstate 80 out of Cheyenne on June 16th and
> encountered a steady 30mph crosswind and gusts of 55+ mph. There were
> about 5 electric signs that warned of gusts 55 and over. I had the same
> problem of trying to stay in my lane. Needless to say, it was a struggle
> all day long until I got to Green River and eventually turned onto highway
> 30, heading northwest to Idaho. One gust was so hard that it blew my
> driver's side Ramco mirror over and I spent the next 5 hours reaching out
> the small toll window and bending it back into position. At Green River, I
> stopped for gas and found a small auto shop that allowed me to borrow the
> hex tool I needed to tighten up the set screws. I was delivering this
> coach to the new owner in Idaho; it was not my coach and the coach should
> have had the hex tool that came with the mirrors. This was the second time
> I drove that stretch of road and encountered those same strong winds about
> 15 years ago.
>
> JR Wheeler 78 Royale NC/OR
>
> On Fri, Jul 21, 2017 at 5:46 PM, Rob Mueller
> wrote:
>
>> Helen was an avid gardener and when she learned of the International
> Peace
>> Gardens that straddle the border between the USA and
>> Canada she put it on our bucket list.
>>
>> To get there you drive due north on ND-3 N. While driving we encountered
>> heavy cross winds coming from the west at 50 - 60 mph (I'll
>> explain how I know that in a bit). The difficult part of driving came
> when
>> I was steering to the left to compensate for the wind and
>> came to a section of the road that had a stand of trees on the west. The
>> wind was blocked and dropped so much that I'd wind up
>> across the center line! I'd correct and when I had passed the stand the
>> wind would pick up again and it would blow the GMC into the
>> soft shoulder. Helen was quite scared and noted she didn't know if she
>> REALLY wanted to see the gardens after all!
>>
>> It didn't take me long to figger out that I had to keep an eye out for
>> trees and get ready to adjust quickly. I also slowed down to
>> 50 mph from the speed limit of 65 mph.
>>
>> As we were driving all of a sudden I heard a loud THUD and the coach
>> swayed badly. I looked in my side mirror and noted that the
>> awning had deployed! The westerly winds were strong enough to unroll it!
>> Needless to say I slowed down quickly and heard a second
>> THUD when it rolled itself up.
>>
>> I realized I was going to have to come up with a quick fix. I wound up
>> drilling a couple of small holes in the drip lip, and
>> enlarging them so I could put a tie wrap through it and around the
> awning.
>>
>> While I was working a State Trooper pulled up to see if all was OK, I
>> explained what had happened and he noted, "yep, we find
>> awnings by the side of the road all the time when it's this windy." I
>> asked him how strong were they and he noted 50 - 60 mph is
>> common.
>>
>> I found out that Zip Dee makes a little clip that holds the awning in and
>> installed it as a permanent fix.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Rob M.
>> Sydney, Australia
>> AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
>> USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
>> USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces@list.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of
> James
>> Hupy
>> Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2017 6:58 AM
>> To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I
>> thought last night.
>>
>> We went through a similar storm on that same highway during our route 66
>> trip. Never want to do that again. No fun at all. Black sky, wild winds,
>> rain in buckets. Glad you survived it intact.
>> Jim Hupy
>> Salem, Or
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
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Regards, Rob M. (USAussie) The Pedantic Mechanic Sydney, Australia '75 Avion - AUS - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428 '75 Avion - USA - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320828 is a reply to message #320803] Sat, 22 July 2017 07:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Matt Colie is currently offline  Matt Colie   United States
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
Senior Member
We have a wind story that will live with us for a while more.

This was back when Mary was still working and we often had to do a Bonsai run to a rally. This was one of those. It was 1108 miles to Shawnee and we had a day and an half to do it.

We had just taken on fuel in Terra Haute and I had taken over driving. The sky turned ugly and then the winds came. It was spring and the trees were still bare. I was looking at those bare trees bent way over and having to pay attention to stay in the lane. Then the rain hit. It collected on the road surface such that I was having trouble with the one year old tires (we had 6ea 1-year old tires at that time) hydroplaning. I had about 30° of wheel to hold the lane. Then I looked in the mirror and realized that rear was so loose that the back of the coach was half in the other lane. (Remember this is a light 23 and it has barely 5Klbs on the rear.)

Then the rain got heavier and harder. I hadn't though it could. (I have sailed in real hurricanes.) I had to concentrate on keeping Chaumière on the road at this point, but I saw a row of lights leading away from the highway. I said to Mary I see lights.... Then I shouted at Mary "I see lights I'm going that way!" She shouted back, "It's a rest area!" Shouting was required with the wind and rain noise on the coach.

I had some trouble negotiating the ramp at the now much reduced speed and then saw a slot between a semi and a monster coach. That was where we hid until the coach stopped shaking. The windshield was leaking on the horn button (again). When the sky cleared and we stopped shaking, I got us back on the road. We were about 45 minutes late at the next waypoint.

Experiences like this have taught us just how good our coach is and as such, we fear very little other than other people doing stupid things in front of us.

Matt


Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
Re: [GMCnet] Our GMC handled 80 mph side winds better then I thought last night. [message #320834 is a reply to message #320827] Sat, 22 July 2017 11:13 Go to previous message
Ken Burton is currently offline  Ken Burton   United States
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
Senior Member
USAussie wrote on Sat, 22 July 2017 07:30
Jim,

You are 100% correct about tail winds! Last year it took 12 hours and 20 minutes to fly from Sydney to LA and 14 hours to fly back
even though it was downhill! Smile

Regards,
Rob M.
Sydney, Australia



I was on a charter flight one time from Auckland, NZ to Chicago. We were suppose to make a quick fuel stop in LA. The tail winds were so bad that the captain announced that we would not be stopping in LA. We flew Auckland to Chicago non-stop.


Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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