Due to a death in the family, I just completed an unplanned 2290mi round trip excursion to Riverside, CA, and back in a week. My average mileage for the entire trip was 18.76mpg, with a single-tank high of 19.78mpg. This was driving my little brick-shaped V8 truck with the AC on at 80mph most of the way. Given the type of engine and the poor aerodynamics I’m pretty pleased with the performance. Of course, passing and maintaining speed up hills is no problem. From 80 the truck rockets past 95 and beyond in a heartbeat (heh).

This trip was a quick and dirty affair. My grandmother died the morning of Thursday, September 10th. My dad called around 1-2pm. I left work at 3pm and was on the road at 4pm. That night I stopped at 11:30pm in Lehi, UT. I arrived in Riverside around 8pm PST on Friday the 11th. On the return trip, I left 6:30pm PST, Tuesday, September 15th. That night I stopped in St. George, UT, at 1:15am Wednesday the 16th. Later that day I pulled into my driveway at around 10:30pm.

The only real problem occurred on the way down. I stopped in Fillmore, UT, for gas only to hear a horrible noise coming from the engine. “Here we go,” I thought as I pulled into the gas station. Popping the hood the problem was immediately diagnosed. The air pump pulley was coming off. One bolt was missing, another was loose leaving only the third to hold the thing on. Having left in a hurry I brought no tools. I bought a cheap crescent wrench from the gas station store and tightened up the loose bolt, then headed into Fillmore to find a shop. Upon closer inspection the pulley was trashed and a replacement would be virtually impossible in that locale with any alacrity. Since the air pump is only used for emissions control, I decided to have it removed and I was on my way.

I still dig this truck. The vanity plate will be some variation on “money pit,” and appropriately so, but I like it. However, for long trips cruise control would be a welcome addition.