Last week was our annual Ouray/Silverton, Colorado trip so I've been away for a while.
It was a great trip and this year our son and DIL were able to come with us so it was even more special. My son has never driven his own Jeep(s) there and has really only been with the wife and I about three of our trips since our first in 2007. Once he graduated high school in 2010 he has traveled less with me and the wife. My DIL has only driven through Silverton with her family years ago so this was a very enlightening vacation for the both of them. My DIL is really taking well to this whole off-roading thing and my son has been hooked since he was younger so it's a win/win.
As for me, I was nervous as hell the first couple of days as I now had another Jeep to worry about and stress over besides my own. I think I've mentioned before that SW Colorado has a way or torture testing vehicles as far as cooling systems, brakes, transmissions and all other systems due to the elevation itself as well as the climbs and descents. So with that in mind I was very anxious during the drive there as well as the six days of off-roading, although after about the second day my anxiety seemed to lessen when I saw how well our Jeeps were doing.
As for how the Jeeps performed, I am really pleased. My Jeep performed even better than it has over the previous three years with the current powertrain. This is the fourth year we've had the Jeep to Colorado in this configuration. It also turned over 50k miles on this powertrain during our trip last week. I think the ECM replacement and getting the operating system corrected was the major factor in overall performance at those elevations, although it never did poorly before. During previous years my only concerns were with the altitude causing fuel trims to be off from where I thought they should be and coolant temps were around 233-235 degrees on the steepest of the grades, which is not that bad and still under control but I thought they should be lower. Transmission temps stayed about normal over the grades being around 185-195 degrees most of the time. I think the transmission temp hit 200 once on a long grade where I stayed in 2 hi a bit too long and should have geared down into 4LO sooner. In previous years when fueling up at around 7500' elevation after being over 13k feet my adaptives would be all over the place and fuel trims would go high positive then negative. This is why I always thought there was something fishy about the operating system.
This year however, Long Term Fuel Trims (LTFT) stayed near zero being plus/minus 2.3-4.6 range but quite often sitting at -2.3 to 0.7 so damn near perfect. Then when a fueling event would reset the adaptives, it would be almost -1.5 to 0.0 to 0.7 or so back to camp and the coolant temp would sit right on the thermostat and trans temp would settle down to around 160~170 range. I couldn't have been more happy with the Jeep.
As for my son's, I was very impressed with how well his suspension flexed without any rubbing issues and no weird noises or handling issues. His cooling system would sit around 200-210 most of the time but his transmission temps would get a bit higher than I like so we are going to add a bit larger transmission cooler. Separating the engine and transmission cooling duties completely has made a big difference overall. I think I was more pleased with his Jeep than he was because I don't know that he truly understands or comprehends what an accomplishment it is to drive 425 miles on the highway, wheel for 6 days straight and then drive another 425 miles back home with zero issues and coming straight out of the shop. We nailed his suspension geometry as far as limiting droop, controlling the upward travel (bump) and not having any interference issues, especially in the high stress elevations and environment that SW Colorado throws at these vehicles. I tried explaining that his Jeep was a question mark because the suspension system isn't a mass produced, off the shelf system that just gets bolted on and performs like every other one installed and that it was all completely custom built and put together in our shop and the fact that it performed so well straight out of the shop is a HUGE accomplishment, but maybe he didn't expect anything any different.
I was also able to meet Quinn @
macgyver and his wife during our trip.
Funny story about that. It was our first night in Ouray and the four of us headed down into Ridgeway to eat at True Grit. After dinner driving back to camp and our kids into town to their motel room, we took a small detour down around some farms and along the foothills to see if we could spot some wildlife as it was nearing dusk. As we drove past the Ouray KOA where we normally stay, I spotted a Monaco Signature that looked familiar from posts and pictures that I had seen over the past few years. I told my wife "I think that's Quinn's Sig there in the KOA". She didn't seem to believe me because after all, how would I know one from another. But us guys know and pay attention to such things.
As we pulled back into our campground and was getting out of the Jeep my phone went off with a message. It was Quinn letting me know that he and his wife passed us on the highway.
We ended up meeting up for breakfast the next morning before he and his wife headed out on the next leg of their vacation but it was so nice to meet Quinn and his wife and finally being able to put a face with a name on the internet. Thanks for taking the time to meet up with us Quinn. It truly was a pleasure to spend some time with you and your wonderful wife.
Now for the picture dump from last week's SW Colorado trip.
Hooked up and heading out. Hardly a drop of rain over the previous few weeks and as SOON as I pulled the coach out of the shop to hook up the Jeep, it started to sprinkle. It quit after only a few drops but then around Spanish Fork Canyon south of us the skies opened up and it was a torrential downpour for about 60 miles or so.
Day one airing down before climbing up and over Owl Creek Pass. My son deflating tires and disconnecting front sway bar links.
Overlooking Silverjack Reservoir.
On the way back we pulled down by the river for lunch. Lawn chairs out and sitting beside a babbling brook for lunch. Doesn't get much better, especially with the kids.
Son and DIL posing at the sign for Owl Creek Pass at just over 10k feet.
Airing down on Day # 2 before climbing over Corkscrew Gulch, Hurricane Pass and California Pass. Jeeps did great and really set my mind at ease after Day # 2.
Poser shot at top of Hurricane Pass, around 12,700 feet and clouds moving in fast.
By the time we hit the top of California Pass at nearly 13k feet the clouds were dissipating and we had blue sky again.
Another poser shot at the top of California Pass. We took in the views while we waited for some uphill traffic to go by.
During another day's adventures it took us past the Red Mountain Mining area where we saw a lot of abandoned mines, some of which were still standing.
More pictures to follow.........
