| 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   |
James Hupy
Messages: 6806
Registered: May 2010
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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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
>>
>>
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