Going to get my new Motor/Tranny on Friday!

[belfert]

For Brian Diehl it doesn't matter anyways, if the weather was good he should be there already. If he checks in before the return trip it might make him change the route back.

He wasn't leaving until this afternoon so he must have jet assist if he is there already.

We are suppposed to get a fair amoutn of snow here in Minneapolis starting Friday evening.  The worst part of the trip might be getting home.

Brian Elfert

[paulcjhastings]

Ooops, I was a whole day off. See what happens when you don't have real job, everyday is Friday.

[Fredward]

Brian and Hillary called me tonite (Friday) around 5:00 CST. They left Mpls Thursday around 2. Drove straight thru and got to the truck dealer in Utah Friday morning around 11:00am. The shop was still taking the front axle and other components off. They hooked it up and fired it up; engine started and ran great with good oil pressure and no foreign sounds. (It only has about 75,000 miles on it). They cut the top off the cab and cut the frame rails off behind the cab and set it on the trailer. It needed blocking to clear the oil pan. When Brian called me they were 30 miles from Wyoming already and planned to drive until they got sleepy; sleep in the jeep awhile and then get going again.

The roads in Wyoming Friday morning were totally ice covered. He is expecting rain in NEbraska on the return trip. His drive home is quite a bit slower because of the load; every time they hit dip in the pavement the rear suspension on the Jeep bottoms out - so he's keeping it around 60 MPH.

He called me to let me know my trailer was OK and to complain about my out of round tires. I told him I never noticed that pulling it behind my F250D  I told him I would update this post.

FRed

[Brian Diehl]

Hey Guys,

Yeah, that rain in Nebraska never materialized!  We got the blizzard with lightning instead!  It is something for it to be snowing at 40 degrees!  We ended up stopping in North Platte and got a hotel room for the day/night.  The snow is stopping, but the winds are still terrible and drifting snow is now the problem.  We are hoping the insterstate will be better tomorrow and will try to leave early morning and see how far we can get.  We wanted a blizzard this year, just not on the trip!  :-)  Before we got off I-80 we were encountering white out conditions where the trucks 1000' in front of us would dissapear.  Then the trucks behind us decided they wanted to go faster than 25mph and decided to reopen the fast lane.  UGH!  The funny thing was is they would get in front of us and then find we had been following a whole line of trucks and they would end up having to pass a line of at least 10 - 15 trucks to go faster. 

We are safe and sound, no problems to speak of and really love having all wheel drive!  The  brakes on the trailer have worked great and have had no problems stopping, even on the ice.  We got about 14 mpg heading out to UT and gotten from 8mpg to 12mpg on the way back.  Our first part of the return trip through WY was with a tail wind and that is when we were getting 12mpg.  The Eastern most part of WY and NE has all been with the North wind and doing about 50 is about all we could do at about 8mpg ( before the snow started)!

Oh, and I was not calling Fred *just* to complain about the tires!     I really wanted Fred to know how much I appreciated him letting me borrow his trailer.  It truly has done a great job.

We also got to meet up with another silent board Bus Nut -- Kent.  It was great to meet another Nut and shoot the breeze for awhile.  It was also great to have another set of ears with as we started and ran the motor to help me know what I was and was not hearing.  Thanks a lot Kent for coming down.  It was truly appreciated.

That Cummins is one smooth machine!  I couldn't believe how there was no vibration from it even when running at governed speed.  I can't wait to have it in and working.  :-)  This should be one great adventure getting it all to work!

-Brian and Hilary Diehl
Stuck in NE -- lovely North Platte.

[gumpy]

Before we got off I-80 we were encountering white out conditions where the trucks 1000' in front of us would dissapear. 

Didn't I warn you about that?    BTDT.  Can't see the truck in front of you and you don't dare slow down or the one behind you will run you over.

Don't get in a big hurry tomorrow. The storm is just getting going up here. It put an inch of ice down last night, and now we're up to about 6 inches of snow, and the wind's blowing it all into big piles. There's been a couple hundred accidents around the state today, and you know how this state handles just a little bit of snow.

You might want to consider coming up I29 to I90 and across, or up 169. The news was showing it hitting pretty hard down I35 towards Des Moines.

craig

[Fredward]

Brian,
Glad you're all safe and sound, I've been thinking about you and Hillary all day! I would reinforce Craig's advice. It is now 12:46am Sunday morning and its blowing and snowing out there real serious. I ran through the driveway with the plow an hour ago and its drifting big time out here in the open. I heard 8 - 11" total accumulation before its supposed to taper off Sunday evening. Take your time; you got your favorite person with you.
Fred

[rv_safetyman]

Brian and Hilary,

Glad you guys are in a safe place.  Hope the weather clears for you.  In CO, I70 is still closed on Sunday morning.

Isn't Kent a nice guy?

For those who are interested in the engine/transmission source that Brian used, you can go to:

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=1372.0