| [GMCnet] Back from the big trip [message #214918] |
Thu, 18 July 2013 22:35  |
kincaid76royale
Messages: 71
Registered: February 2005
Karma:
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Member |
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On the Road
Well, here we are, back from our first long trip with the GMC that wasn’t just going to a rally somewhere..
We had a really great time and saw many places that we had wanted to visit for very long time.
We travelled for three weeks and 2500 miles to the “four corners” area of the Southwest. We visited the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Four Corners and Sedona in Arizona. We parked the GMC in Cortez CO. for a week and travelled by rental car to Mesa Verde, other Anasazi sites, Durango and Silverton, where we took the narrow-guage train trip. We also enjoyed some fun times and some relaxing times in a lot of places such as Williams, AZ and Needles CA.
The weather was very warm and windy with temps up to 124*F
The coach performed well the whole way but we did learn some limitations to driving a 37 year old vehicle. When driving in 110* temps, especially in hills, we experienced some overheating until we slowed to 55 MPH and set the cabin air to Low. The engine fan sound was continuous so, at first, we thought that it was not working. When driving in steep hills the generator, driving the roof air, will starve and stop If the gas tanks are not nearly full. Above 3500 ft. the GMC struggles for power and above 6000 ft the slightest grade requires WOT and/ or downshift just to keep moving. BTW at 8000 + ft. there is no need for high gear, ever. We could not have handled the steep hills and tight curves in CO without the rental car. Note: at 120*+ the lone roof air did not keep the coach cooler that 90*F so we travelled in the early morning (3:00 AM) and spent some afternoons in Campground “Cool Rooms”
We are so thankful that the old GMC never quit on us anywhere and provided a snug home for us the whole time.
Thank you to Jim and Grace Kanomata, Nick Gutierrez, and Alonzo …. At Applied GMC in Fremont, CA who spent so much time working on the old GMC and making sure that it was reliable and ready for the trip. They rebuilt and renewed the entire dash air conditioning, installed radiator air ducting, flushed the brake system, lubed and serviced the entire engine and suspension and made the air ride system operate They installed the spare steering gear box and aligned the front end. They spent a lot of time trying to make the oil pressure warning work.
We could not have made this trip without their help and encouragement and they did so much of this work without charge just because they wanted us to have a great, first long trip, experience with the GMC.
They are special people and we have been told that they are just as helpful and supportive to many others in the GMC family. We could not own this old GMC Motorhome without them.
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