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This relates both to the Truck of Longinus as well as the Flying Civic of DOOM threads, but as both are relatively high power signal to noise, I'd like to draw a partickler issue out on its own for discussion. Namely, I have some road trip experience, both in and out of snow. The previous rear end callus distance record holder was DFW to Sacramento with my cousin with alternating drivers and a total of 3 hours actually not moving forward when we both finally shut down and took a nap on the bare sand about 20 miles north of Phoenix, where a park ranger woke us up carefully and told us to very slowly shake out as much of our personal clothing as we were able to, because don't sleep on the ground at night in the desert idiots. The balls to the wall previous record holder was Willits to Shasta in January using a 1959 VW Bus in caravan with 20 others, 20 hours solo drive time straight using only topo maps and CB to coordinate. Then there was San Jose to Seattl, with it basically being a one shot one kill mission. Seattle to Nebraska is nearly twice that distance, with guaranteed hardest weather I've seen, in a 1975 Honda Civic on 155R12 snow tires. The little fucker is a serious handful to drive at the best of times. I want to actually make it to Nebraska. Fully aware Nebraska is not just a city, and that the exact location of the Truck can change the total mileage and drive time significantly, these seem to be the 3 main options for reaching the ballpark all through areas I have no idea about terrain. I need advice. My main desires are knowing and prepaired for mountains and snow, but would prefer to take the flattest, safest route. I'm also expecting long, long stretches of isolation so if I break down, I may very well be out of cell range on my own and will be packing winter survival stuff. Guide my arrowhead, AI. I am the Fury and the Storm, but I know not what I do. 
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Oct 16, 2016 22:38
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| # ? May 5, 2024 05:12 |
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I've driven I-80 almost coast-to-coast, and about the eastern 100 miles of I-84 on your southern route, so that's all I can speak to. You can expect to be out of mountains just after you enter Wyoming, but you're still at elevation and there will be wind (mostly west->east). Oh yes, there will be wind. It'll be reasonably flat, and a pretty straight drive. It'll look boring as gently caress...there's no scenery of any value along I-80 between the UT/WY border and...like Chicago. What all of your options have in common is that you seriously need to check the weather. Storms will cause problems on any of them...but I doubt there's that much variation in how much. You're still in snow elevations in all three scenarios.
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Oct 17, 2016 03:33
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Yeah, I'm aware of that. I was just seeing if there was anything jumping out like "oh poo poo avoid the middle route because of Dickfucker Pass on highway 420, it's a 90% grade and 12,000 foot elevation."
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Oct 17, 2016 06:07
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Nah. Once you're into Utah (I've never been of there NW on 84), and for the rest of the drive, it's pretty tame. Though I did see a Clydesdale that had wandered onto 84 just before the highway passes into the mountains toward WY. I saw the car that hit it a few days later at a body shop. Neither survived. UDOT was trying to pick up the horse with a front loader, and it didn't seem to be going well.
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Oct 17, 2016 06:12
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Godholio posted:Nah. Once you're into Utah (I've never been of there NW on 84), and for the rest of the drive, it's pretty tame. Though I did see a Clydesdale that had wandered onto 84 just before the highway passes into the mountains toward WY. I saw the car that hit it a few days later at a body shop. Neither survived. UDOT was trying to pick up the horse with a front loader, and it didn't seem to be going well. Pretty sure the Civic would just roll right under a loving Clydesdale anyway
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Oct 17, 2016 12:17
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How the gently caress do you hit a Clydesdale? That's like running into a brick wall.
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Oct 17, 2016 12:20
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Fermented Tinal posted:How the gently caress do you hit a Clydesdale? That's like running into a brick wall. In this case the brick wall is mobile and prone to making dumb decisions at the worst possible time.
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Oct 17, 2016 12:46
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Fermented Tinal posted:How the gently caress do you hit a Clydesdale? That's like running into a brick wall. A sweeping left turn in a wooded area (I-84 in Riverdale/Uintah, Utah, just a couple of miles outside Weber Canyon). On the opposite side of the wooded median is where I careened off the road at 55 mph due to dangerously bald tires in bad weather. The car that hit the horse was an early 90s Chevy...Cavalier or Lumina, that type of thing. I saw it at the Chevy dealer's body shop (mom just bought a new Monte Carlo and there was a scuff in the paint they needed to fix). It was shaped like a goddamned doorstop, just a flat wedge until as far back as the front seat-back. Hopefully the driver was short to begin with. There were tufts of brown/white fur all over the place. The driver would've had a few seconds to react...I'm guessing disbelief played a factor. There are deer all over the place, it's not unusual to have to dodge them on the same stretch. Godholio fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 15:59
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I did your I-84/I-80 route (and then onward) in the middle of winter once. If you've got snow tires and supplies to wait out a storm, and keep an eye on the weather, you'll be fine. The really treacherous parts have gates that the state closes when it gets really bad. I've driven that route more times than I can count, it's really loving boring. Some parts of it still have snow on the ground during the summer, but otherwise boring. So boring. Happy to answer any further questions about road-tripping across the middle of the US. It's really boring. Do truckers still talk on the CB?
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Oct 17, 2016 16:01
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Fermented Tinal posted:How the gently caress do you hit a Clydesdale? That's like running into a brick wall.
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Oct 17, 2016 17:51
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That's what it looked like. The windshield and front half of the roof were caved in pretty good.
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Oct 17, 2016 18:09
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As someone who has driven questionable cars in snow country (New England) Here's what I would carry on long trips: For me: Water Blankets (at least two) Meal Bars (like a box) Jerky Flashlight For the car: Bailing wire and lineman's pliers Roll of Duct (back then) or Gorilla (now) tape Set of screwdrivers and the 4 most common sockets better than stock jack (mine was a cheap bottle jack) maybe one jackstand? (I think I took it once) Misc: Podcasts, audio books, real books, stuff to keep you busy if you have to wait a long time for AAA AAA Membership (the gold one with the long rear end tow allotment) One of those Cell phone USB supplemental batteries (Anker makes good ones)
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Oct 17, 2016 18:34
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beep-beep car is go posted:One of those Cell phone USB supplemental batteries (Anker makes good ones) This is easy to overlook but important, if you get stuck your poo poo has to work and you might not be able to idle for an hour to charge your phone up.
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Oct 18, 2016 12:07
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I'm actually kinda disappointed you're asking for advice, this is not the 14" I know.
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Oct 18, 2016 16:10
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I've driven that 80 route from Omaha to Portland a few times, and besides the snow danger, and the winds through Wyoming, it isn't bad. Blizzard-like conditions in Nebraska sucked, but if you kept going and puckered your anus at 30-40mph it went away eventually. Not like you would hit anything, and there was largely nobody on the road. I drove it in a 2004 Civic though, not your awesome car. Be wary of the trucks on the mountain passes, and realize that if passes are closed, there's not much for alternate routes. The stretch between Rock Springs, WY and Rawlins, WY especially, 108 miles on the freeway, but 225 miles if you go north, and 267 miles south.
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Oct 18, 2016 18:38
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Olympic Mathlete posted:I'm actually kinda disappointed you're asking for advice, this is not the 14" I know. 14 is a survivor. Such is my level of concern, it overrides everything else.
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Oct 18, 2016 21:14
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Tire chains, if you have no route choices that don't take you through a pass where they are required in certain weather. We don't have that out here, but I know in the rockies and PNW they have rules like that, they'll actually turn you back if you don't have chains. Not sure if snow tires exempt you from that. Stuff to bring: water water water water water also food. I recommend ultimateforce-style trailmix and some jerky of whatever sort you prefer. the warmest blankets or preferably sleeping bag you have. DRY SOCKS. BRING ALL YOUR DRY SOCKS. You're a smoker, so "a lighter" goes without saying, normally I recommend that. Also a torch. Jerry can full of gas wouldn't be a bad idea. If you forget you need gas going by the exit for Lake Bumfuck Egypt and have another 75 miles to go before the next exit with a gas station, a couple gallons in a can will really save your rear end. Any critical spare parts that car needs. I'd strongly recommend a matching spare on a wheel, if your chosen snow tires are directional, things will get interesting. At least a bicycle tire pump, preferably a real powered air compressor. A few plugs and spare valvestems aren't a bad idea and are small. Spare brake fluid, since your brake system is hinky. Hell, I'd bring more rebuild kits for the calipers since you just rebuilt them, nothing like a defective or slightly torn O-ring during reassembly to gently caress you over mere days later. If you've never done them... I would bring wheel bearings and any seals required. IIRC that car has mostly stayed around Seattle and you haven't been miles from civilization going highway speed for a significant period of time yet, which tells me that either the wheel bearings you just replaced, or the ones that are fine and don't seem to need replacing are going to gently caress you over. Random fuses, wire, etc that you can rig your ignition system and starter relay with if it really comes down to it, though you just rewired the whole car. IIRC it's a cable clutch. I'd bring a spare cable for it, if they're as cheap as the Justy's was on rockauto. A spare belt would be an excellent idea. And some coolant just for shits and giggles. Oh, flashlights (of course) and a ton of batteries for them.
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Oct 18, 2016 22:07
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| # ? May 5, 2024 05:12 |
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When are you doing this? I think homestake pass on I-90 in MT probably will get snow tonight. I rarely see chain restrictions in MT, but I think it is more common in WA. Here's a pass outside of helena right now, you wouldn't drive over it but it has a good view of the road: http://rwis.mdt.mt.gov/scanweb/SWFr...tatus=&Camera=1 jamal fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Oct 19, 2016 |
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Oct 19, 2016 03:54
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