ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[Jgaz]

Dayum! Beautiful fabrication!
The outside pitting on the OEM pipes was surprising to me.
As always thanks for the tips, tricks, and explanations

 

[zmotorsports]

Good tip on using the Bic lighter to check how well you've purged the tube. Thanks, Mike!

Dayum! Beautiful fabrication!
The outside pitting on the OEM pipes was surprising to me.
As always thanks for the tips, tricks, and explanations

Thanks for the comments guys. Glad there were some helpful tidbits in there.

 

[Xti04]

Nice work Mike! Piping looks good. Do you have a splitter for your argon to get a purge setup?

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice work Mike! Piping looks good. Do you have a splitter for your argon to get a purge setup?

Thank you. Not a splitter but I use a dual flow regulator that has two flow meters. One goes to the welder and the other is setup solely as a purge hose.

 

[zmotorsports]

Got quite a bit accomplished last night and hopefully at least everything under the coach, the last few items should be able to be reached from the back at the engine bay. That was a dirty and filthy job so I wanted to get it over with so I could clean up for the night and relax.

I started off the evening by marking the locations where the new silicon hoses needed to be cut and got all of them cut.


Then laid out on the table.


Installed the makeup hose elbow and barb as well. I waffled on doing this now or once in the coach because it really impedes the ease of installation, but with space pretty tight once it's in place, it was about a tossup so I just went ahead and installed it on the bench and then faught with the angle of the dangle getting it into position under the coach. It turned out not quite as bad as when I was removing the original so I think I made the right call.


Tube installed and clamped at the engine.


Then once the two hanger were tightened and fully secured the new tube, I added the rear elbow from the tube to the radiator's lower connection.




The makeup barb is perfectly positioned so moving it about 3/4" worked well.



I actually connected the makeup hose, both heater hoses and zip-tied the wiring while I was here before closing up the night, but I forgot to take a final picture of this area. About the time the wife arrived home I was just replacing the coolant filter and came out from under the coach pretty filthy, so it was a good time to close up and clean up for the night.

All that is left at this point is to install the upper hose, replace the thermostat and water pump then I can start adding fresh coolant.

Thanks for looking.

 

[RickP]

Nice work.

You take DIY coach maintenance to the next level!

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice work.

You take DIY coach maintenance to the next level!

Thanks Rick. I have to say if I didn't work on my own coach, there is no way the wife and I could afford the RV lifestyle that's for certain. I know a lot of RV owners do quite a bit of their own work and many do very good work. However, there are some that should just step away from the wrenches as I've seen some horrendous repairs done to these things that more or less ruin them. Seeing as how this will more than likely be out last coach I need to ensure it lasts us through retirement.

 

[aka Larry]

I have to say if I didn't work on my own coach, there is no way the wife and I could afford the RV lifestyle that's for certain.

My old neighbor also had a pusher about the size of yours Mike, and even though he bought it brand new, it spent more time at the dealer's shop than it ever did on any trips. It was all covered under warranty, but it was literally in the shop for 4 months out of the year. The MSRP of his was almost as much as my house with an acre of land. For that kind of coin I'd have to live in the damn thig full time to make it worth it.

 

[zmotorsports]

My old neighbor also had a pusher about the size of yours Mike, and even though he bought it brand new, it spent more time at the dealer's shop than it ever did on any trips. It was all covered under warranty, but it was literally in the shop for 4 months out of the year. The MSRP of his was almost as much as my house with an acre of land. For that kind of coin I'd have to live in the damn thig full time to make it worth it.

Unfortunately Vincent, that is far from a rare story, all too common actually. Many of our RV'ing friends who had purchased new coaches many spent their first year in the shop more than they're on the road. This is sad because it really comes down to quality control with these manufacturers. They let things "slide" as they go out the door and then put the responsibility onto the owners to come back to the factory or dealers with "punch lists" of items that need addressing on the owner's time and dime. How sad for someone to spend their hard-earned money, order their new coach, take possession of it with so much excitement and joy all ready to hit the road only to discover there are a handful of items that need addressing, so back to the shop it goes for sometimes months on end.

I've actually seen and heard of this much more in the past 5 or so years than I did prior, but it still happened more than it should have. I think there were some manufactures that did a better job of putting out higher quality builds than others, but no manufacturer was exempt from this scenario. Personally, I think the late 90's through around 2007/2008 were some of the best years for some of the upper middle coach manufactures of when they put out some of their best work. I see so many people looking for these old 2000-2007~ish Monaco's, Country Coaches and Foretravels right now, even with all the new stuff on the market. People are realizing it is better to go back even nearly two decades rather than buy new, at least those who are really doing their research anyways.

The wife and I have never been in the position to be able to purchase new and in many ways I am glad. Granted it would be nice to get a brand new coach right from the manufacture and know that any scratch or chip that found its way into it was put there by me, but there's something to be said about buying one that's had the bugs worked out. I know when we were looking I had a specific coach chassis design, build quality, construction and a lengthy list of requirements which required us on a 9+ month search of serious looking to find ours. Even when we did find it, there was a lot of work to be done from the first 4 years of its life and 55k miles. Nothing that wasn't fixable, but there was some sweat equity put into it and there still is even 18 years later with the same coach. At 23 years old and approx. 150k miles now, I choose to view it as a labor of love to enjoy the RV lifestyle, otherwise it wouldn't be something to be able to justify or rationalize.

At this point, I actually like doing mods such as this because not only do I continue to learn, but I get to continue to give our coach a chance to provide more miles of enjoyment for me and the wife. I also love being in a campground and having people wonder how "new" our coach is and watch their reaction when I tell them.

 

[Xti04]

Thanks Rick. I have to say if I didn't work on my own coach, there is no way the wife and I could afford the RV lifestyle that's for certain. I know a lot of RV owners do quite a bit of their own work and many do very good work. However, there are some that should just step away from the wrenches as I've seen some horrendous repairs done to these things that more or less ruin them. Seeing as how this will more than likely be out last coach I need to ensure it lasts us through retirement.

That is boating for us Mike. If I couldnt do the work we couldnt get afford to go out and play. Luckily too one of my childhood friends also does fiberglass repairs as well as warranty work on boats so I have a great resource in the industry to help out as well.

 

[bigdave_185]

Good morning Mike!

I’d be interested to see a few sections of the old radiator pipe cut in half. Just to see how much material thickness is left.

Beautiful Saturday morning to be in the shop today!

 

[M.Brane]

Nice work on the coolant tubes.

Our HR toyhauler was built in 2006. It's a lot heavier than newer models, but also more robust. It lives on despite the PO's lack of maintenance. I've made some upgrades/repairs to it to keep it going since to buy new would not even be an option for us.

The dude, and his son were drag racing an Acura Integra. OK.... LOL

 

[PhantomEB]

When I plumbed the FSB's OBA system I decided to put the QD's in the middle of each side rather than at the front and the back. That put them in the "firing line" of rocks etc. from the front tires. To keep that from becoming a problem I made some simple guard/deflectors from a short piece of square tube and two layers of Delo 400 gallon jug (reduce, reuse, recycle, HA!) pop-riveted to the tube. Those jugs are made from HDPE, the same material that most lower air dams etc are made from. Tough, pretty abrasion resistant, and flexible. Can see one of them here:

So far they have worked well.

Any chance of doing something like that to deflect debris away from that lower tube?

I putting mine on top of the Rock sliders, will have QD’s in front of each rear tire as well one under the hood.

 

[zmotorsports]

Good morning Mike!

I’d be interested to see a few sections of the old radiator pipe cut in half. Just to see how much material thickness is left.

Beautiful Saturday morning to be in the shop today!

Yes, it was a nice Saturday to have the shop doors open and working. After a few cups of coffee on the deck listening to the birds I decided to head out and get busy.

I thought about cutting the tube Dave, but I don't want to destroy them quite yet. IF I decide to build another set for someone, I'd like to have a pattern. Not sure that I will, but I'll hold on to these just in case I decide to before cutting and tossing. I did measure some pitting however, and I discovered many of the pits were in the .030"-.040" deep, so those areas the remaining thickness of tubing would only be approx. .025"-.030".

 

[zmotorsports]

Saturday morning after a few cups of coffee, I headed out to the shop to pickup where I left off.

I grabbed my inch/pound torque wrench and went around and double checked the constant tension clamps on the lower hoses.


And while I was lying underneath the coach, I didn't like the way this hydraulic line laid against the coolant tube. From the factory, the line was routed under the coolant tube, but it had quite a bend in it which I didn't care for so upon re-routing it, it then laid against the tube which I didn't like either. I didn't have a large enough Adel clamp, so I grabbed two smaller ones that were perfect size for each hose and joined them in the middle to hold them apart and the one off the coolant tube.


Then installed the upper coolant tube and the two silicone hoses. The one between the thermostat housing and the 90-degree rigid tube I had to make just a couple inches longer than the original. Once happy with the fitment I torqued the Breeze constant tension clamps to spec. @ 90 in/lbs.


Upper hose completed and clamp tightened securing everything in place.


Then it was time to remove the belts and swap out the water pump.


Water pump removed and needing a little cleanup.


With everything cleaned and wiped down, the new water pump was installed and torqued to spec.


Serpentine belt reinstalled and the A/C V-belt reinstalled and tightened to the proper tension.


Before just dumping coolant into the system and with having the entire system open, I thought it would be a good idea to apply some pressure and ensure it holds with no leaks. Used my modified pressure tester hooked to shop air to apply approx. 12-13 psi of pressure and left it for about 15 minutes while I cleaned up tools.


After filling the system with 11 gallons of coolant mixture, it was already later in the day than I was hoping for, so I immediately racked the Jeep and began servicing it and giving it a once over.



By the time I finished up the Jeep it was getting late and I was beat so closed up the shop, cleaned up and took the wife to a nice relaxing dinner.

 

[zmotorsports]

Sunday morning after a few cups of coffee sitting on the deck, I pulled the coach out of the shop and took her for about a 20-mile test drive to make sure everything was good to go.




I headed north and found a large parking lot and being a Sunday, it was empty so I pulled in to crawl around under the coach and check for leaks. Everything looked good so snapped a few pictures of the coach out on a sunny day.







Thanks for looking.

 

[PugetDude]

Unfortunately Vincent, that is far from a rare story, all too common actually. Many of our RV'ing friends who had purchased new coaches many spent their first year in the shop more than they're on the road. This is sad because it really comes down to quality control with these manufacturers. They let things "slide" as they go out the door and then put the responsibility onto the owners to come back to the factory or dealers with "punch lists" of items that need addressing on the owner's time and dime. How sad for someone to spend their hard-earned money, order their new coach, take possession of it with so much excitement and joy all ready to hit the road only to discover there are a handful of items that need addressing, so back to the shop it goes for sometimes months on end.

I've actually seen and heard of this much more in the past 5 or so years than I did prior, but it still happened more than it should have. I think there were some manufactures that did a better job of putting out higher quality builds than others, but no manufacturer was exempt from this scenario. Personally, I think the late 90's through around 2007/2008 were some of the best years for some of the upper middle coach manufactures of when they put out some of their best work. I see so many people looking for these old 2000-2007~ish Monaco's, Country Coaches and Foretravels right now, even with all the new stuff on the market. People are realizing it is better to go back even nearly two decades rather than buy new, at least those who are really doing their research anyways.

The wife and I have never been in the position to be able to purchase new and in many ways I am glad. Granted it would be nice to get a brand new coach right from the manufacture and know that any scratch or chip that found its way into it was put there by me, but there's something to be said about buying one that's had the bugs worked out. I know when we were looking I had a specific coach chassis design, build quality, construction and a lengthy list of requirements which required us on a 9+ month search of serious looking to find ours. Even when we did find it, there was a lot of work to be done from the first 4 years of its life and 55k miles. Nothing that wasn't fixable, but there was some sweat equity put into it and there still is even 18 years later with the same coach. At 23 years old and approx. 150k miles now, I choose to view it as a labor of love to enjoy the RV lifestyle, otherwise it wouldn't be something to be able to justify or rationalize.

At this point, I actually like doing mods such as this because not only do I continue to learn, but I get to continue to give our coach a chance to provide more miles of enjoyment for me and the wife. I also love being in a campground and having people wonder how "new" our coach is and watch their reaction when I tell them.

Mike, you know the sad saga of our new 2021 Super C. It was going to be our retirement dream coach, but ended up being our worst nightmare. Spent 9 months out of the first year in the shop on warranty issues with no solutions in sight.
My wife was at wits end before we finally settled with a very exasperated manufacturer after 7 months at their worse than worthless local dealership and two unsuccessful repair visits back to the factory in Indiana.
This was our third coach and the one that finally turned us off on RV'ing. My wife's biggest frustration was that she could not comprehend buying into any business model where initial and ongoing failure is an accepted norm in all aspects of the supply and service chain.

Glad you enjoy it. You're living our RV dream. We enjoyed the social aspects, but the ongoing mechanical issues and logistical uncertainties took all the fun out of our trips.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, you know the sad saga of our new 2021 Super C. It was going to be our retirement dream coach, but ended up being our worst nightmare. Spent 9 months out of the first year in the shop on warranty issues with no solutions in sight.
My wife was at wits end before we finally settled with a very exasperated manufacturer after 7 months at their worth than worthless local dealership and two unsuccessful repair visits back to the factory in Indiana.
This was our third coach and the one that finally turned us off on RV'ing. My wife's biggest frustration was that she could not comprehend buying into any business model where initial and ongoing failure is an accepted norm in all aspects of the supply and service chain.

Glad you enjoy it. You're living our RV dream. We enjoyed the social aspects, but the ongoing mechanical issues and logistical uncertainties took all the fun out of our trips.

Scott, I do remember your battle with the ongoing issues and I agree with the sad state of the whole RV business model as you described it. While your story is at the extreme end, it is not all that uncommon which is sad as well as frustrating.

While I am very grateful for the wife and I to be able to enjoy the RV lifestyle, as you know it isn't all rainbows and unicorns as issues do arise even on well-maintained rigs. I try to do my best to perform preventive maintenance and keep our older coach in tip top condition, but it is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Unfortunately, the "social aspect" of the lifestyle seems to be waning as our RV group is shrinking, and fast. I miss the happy hours and trail runs with the group that we became so familiar with as most have either hung up their keys or have passed. The wife and I were sitting on the deck yesterday afternoon reminiscing about some of the places we were fortunate to have been able to travel with our group of friends while they were still able. I kind of long for those times again, but they are forever gone with that particular group.

It seems the younger RV'ers, huh, as I say that I realize that even the wife and I that in our mid-50's are considered the "younger" group , but they don't seem to be social at least not about the same things. We do have a pretty nice group with the FMCA 4-Wheelers group that we are still members of that seem to continue the happy hours, dinners and outings, but we just can't seem to attend many rallies or gatherings each year at this time due to still working full-time. We hope that when we retire we will be able to become more active in the club and participate much more frequently.

 

[ScepterToad]

Nice job on the coolant tubes and project completion Mike! You're making it look easy!!

On the RV front, it is sad to see the way folks have to deal with issues on newer coaches these days. I don't think I'd every buy a "mainstream" coach, even if I had that kind of money. Not sure I'd buy a Marathon or Prevost either. Undoubtedly, those higher level brands are built on customer satisfaction (and probably way less problems). In any case, we love our '07 HR. She's mostly trouble free and a super nice coach (IMHO).

Speaking of which, your coach is looking great out in the sun!

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice job on the coolant tubes and project completion Mike! You're making it look easy!!

On the RV front, it is sad to see the way folks have to deal with issues on newer coaches these days. I don't think I'd every buy a "mainstream" coach, even if I had that kind of money. Not sure I'd buy a Marathon or Prevost either. Undoubtedly, those higher level brands are built on customer satisfaction (and probably way less problems). In any case, we love our '07 HR. She's mostly trouble free and a super nice coach (IMHO).

Speaking of which, your coach is looking great out in the sun!

Thanks Keith, I don't know about making it look easy though. I'm definitely glad to have that upgrade completed. It wasn't a difficult upgrade or process, just a bit time consuming and a dirty project, which makes me wonder however.

I see some of these videos online about various coaches of this era and they talk about this one being a "cream puff" vs. this one is not a "cream puff". I'm not sure where the line is in the sand exactly. I will hear people talk about looking like it just rolled off the assembly line and as clean underneath as it is on the surface. I have been around some really nice high end coaches and although some are cleaner underneath than others, I have yet to see one with more than about 50k miles that isn't dirty to some degree underneath. Grease slowly works its way out from joints and collects a little dirt, dust or debris as well as mechanically sealed joints on engines, transmissions, rear ends, etc. all seem to "weep" just a small amount of lubricant which also attracts some dirt, dust or debris so ultimately, all of these things begin to gather or collect residue over time and miles.

When people talk about a coach being a "cream puff" and not having any signs of this, I don't necessarily know how that can be without rigorous cleaning underneath constantly. I know how I maintain our coach and it definitely isn't spotless underneath. I feel it looks good overall and shows normal wear and tear to the underside of the chassis, but I don't know that I would call it a "cream puff" knowing what it looks like with pushing 150k miles after 23+ years of use now. I guess if someone never used their coach it could remain spotless underneath, but with normal use I just don't know that is possible.

I appreciate the kind words Keith and think ours looks good, but I'd love to hear other's take on the topic though.

 

[zmotorsports]

I don't think I'd every buy a "mainstream" coach, even if I had that kind of money. Not sure I'd buy a Marathon or Prevost either. Undoubtedly, those higher level brands are built on customer satisfaction (and probably way less problems). In any case, we love our '07 HR. She's mostly trouble free and a super nice coach (IMHO).

Personally, I wouldn't have any of the mass-produced coaches built in the past 5-7 years, but that's just me. Seems quality has always been an issue or least "questionable" in much of the RV industry, but even more justified over the past several years as I feel overall quality has really dropped off, plus I don't want to deal with all of the newer emissions **** on the 2008 + model coaches, so I may as well keep what we have. I partially blame the manufacturers, but I also blame the consumer. We have become such an instant gratification society, and we want, want, want more as consumers, but often times I don't think people know what they want and sure as hell don't demand certain things from manufacturers. I feel the average consumer wants the "fluff" and doesn't give the meat and potatoes enough consideration, then they wonder why things fall apart. But hey, they have their multi-colored mood lighting and dozen televisions with surround sound. I feel if the consumer demanded higher quality and quit "settling" for this substandard business model, then the manufacturers would be forced to change. Maybe I'm being naive, but I still think manufacturers go after the masses and not the minority consumers who demand high quality of workmanship. People would rather have more "fluff" than good old solid accessories that work time and time again, or a chassis that is built like a tank.

I used to think the wife and I would someday be able to step up to a Prevost conversion, Newell or even an older Wanderlodge or Foretravel, but over the past few years I think we resorted that nothing really impresses us lately and what we have is leaps and bounds better than anything built in the past decade so we may as well just keep what we have and not worry about upgrading again. IF we were to upgrade it would pre-2008 so we may as well keep what we have.

As I've gone about doing modifications and repairs to our coach, I have enjoyed the challenge and the ability to fine tune my skills during the process. I joke with my wife that it is my nature to want to keep our things nice as long as possible and probably why I feel like I didn't choose my profession, it chose me.

 

[ntsqd]

I don't think that you're naive in thinking that's what needs to change. I place the odds of it changing very low.

I had more or less the same thought cycle go through my head this morning as I was leaving AutoZone. Locally we have 2 AutoZones and two Oriellys only. We used to have 5 'real' auto parts stores in town. The ~2 year old NAPA that we used to have closed in spite of my making it a rule that I only bought from the others, or online, when they didn't have and couldn't get whatever I needed. I'm in the extreme minority with that attitude. Everyone is looking to save literally pennies, and will drive across town to do it. We're out-voted and out-spent.

 

[ScepterToad]

Mike I forgot to ask yesterday. What's that belt tension device you're using, and what's the spec on something like that? Are all v belts the same? Or is it size or application specific?

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike I forgot to ask yesterday. What's that belt tension device you're using, and what's the spec on something like that? Are all v belts the same? Or is it size or application specific?

Keith, there are numerous brands of belt tension gauges on the market, at least there used to be before serpentine belts were the norm over the past 30 or so years. Mine is made by OTC, I've had it for a couple of decades at least. There is a specification as to how much deflection there should be within a certain distance along the belt. For example, it might say midpoint between 12" should have .250"-.450" deflection as an example. The reason I like the OTC belt tension gauge is because it takes all of the measuring out and is easily slipped in along a length and just has a range for new belt and a range for used belt.

 

[BSWS]

Personally, I think the late 90's through around 2007/2008 were some of the best years for some of the upper middle coach manufactures of when they put out some of their best work. I see so many people looking for these old 2000-2007~ish Monaco's, Country Coaches and Foretravels right now, even with all the new stuff on the market. People are realizing it is better to go back even nearly two decades rather than buy new, at least those who are really doing their research anyways.

I agree 100% Mike. I did a lot of research a few years ago and determined I had to have a Country Coach. Long story short, I ended up with a 2005 Monaco Dynasty and found out it had a few advantages over the CC. I loved most everything about that coach, but I was living in fear of that long radiator tube, that you replaced, blowing out. It was a rusty mess. I was in the middle of many other repairs and updates, that I could do myself, keeping me from getting to that rusty pipe replacement.

Once I realized I don't have the skills you have, and a few completely different reasons, we ended up selling it and sticking with our nearly new Class C that we started with.

Your work always amazes me, this particular project hit close to home.

 

[zmotorsports]

I agree 100% Mike. I did a lot of research a few years ago and determined I had to have a Country Coach. Long story short, I ended up with a 2005 Monaco Dynasty and found out it had a few advantages over the CC. I loved most everything about that coach, but I was living in fear of that long radiator tube, that you replaced, blowing out. It was a rusty mess. I was in the middle of many other repairs and updates, that I could do myself, keeping me from getting to that rusty pipe replacement.

Once I realized I don't have the skills you have, and a few completely different reasons, we ended up selling it and sticking with our nearly new Class C that we started with.

Your work always amazes me, this particular project hit close to home.

Thank you for the comments. I think there are a couple of radiator shops that actually build the long tubes and if memory serves they can be purchased in either carbon steel or stainless steel, but they carry a hefty price, which is why I opted to purchased raw materials and build them in house. I was basically able to get stainless steel for less than the cost of carbon had I purchased them.

Not a bad project overall though, thanks for following along.

Sorry to hear to sold your '05 Dynasty, those are nice coaches.

 

[zmotorsports]

The wife and I took off last week and headed down to the San Rafael Swell area of central Utah for a few days of much needed R&R. We haven't had a vacation or any days off other than normal weekends since mid-October and we looking forward to it.

Wednesday we weren't in any hurry so took our time hitting the road and felt like it would be better to head our after the morning rush hour so after a few cups of coffee on the deck, I opened up the shop and pulled the coach out. Jeep is backed up alongside the fence prior to pulling the coach out of the shop for easier connection in the back yard.


We stopped in Spanish Fork Canyon for a break and noted that along Highway 6 there were still patches of snow remaining.


On Thursday we aired down and hit the trail, this was the first time the Jeep tires had touched dirt in nearly 6 months and that is way too long. We took the Green River Cutoff and headed over to the Wedge where we stopped at our favorite spot overlooking the canyon below. We didn't see a single vehicle on the trail until we stopped for lunch, then a couple of noisy side by sides had to go ripping past us and break up the silence.




As we headed back south towards I-70 we took a detour down into Cane Wash and then Coal Wash and discovered a section of the trail blocked by some falling rocks. We were able to go up and over the edge of it but it definitely looked relatively recent.


We then headed over Fix-It Pass and continued south until we picked up the main trail that led to the tunnels going under I-70. First one is going under the westbound lane.


We then went under the eastbound lane of I-70.


The next day we thought we'd take a trail we did a couple of years ago but I had read about a miner's cabin and thought we would deviate from our track on our tablet. We started out at Temple Mountain and headed to the Behind the Reef trail.


The trail meanders around the canyon floor and then takes a turn up the narrow shelf road climbing to the top of the canyon wall.


Up on top we stopped for a little break and to enjoy the scenery and the solitude as we hadn't seen another vehicle all morning.



Stay tuned for a few more pictures of our trip.

 

[zmotorsports]

Here is where the trail deviated from where we've been before. We took a side trail that lead us towards Wild Horse Canyon. On both Friday and Saturday mornings therw was a dirt bike rally going on in the area and we tried to stick to trails I knew the bikes wouldn't be on. As we were airing down on Friday morning about 25 bikes headed out ahead of us so we took our time airing down to allow them plenty of distance ahead of us. They travel much faster than we do anyways so being behind them was a good thing. They were very respectful as they passed us while airing down so that was nice.

Here we took the side road to Wild Horse Canyon and I got out to investigate and noted that the bikes took the main trail to the right so this was a good call for the day.


We found the old miner's cabin that I had read about so that was kind of intersting and cool to see.


We then started nearing the main trail again and we could see the group of bikes down below headed to the main trail as well so we figured this would be a good spot for lunch well up above them. Plus we were nearing McKay Flats where we usually see the herd of wild horses and we wanted to be well behind the bikes so they hopefully didn't spoil our chance to see the horses. Although we were not expecting to see them on Friday due to the bikes.


Great lunch spot though.


As we hit the main trail and it was early afternoon, we opted to take another detour as we weren't ready to be done for the day, so we turned towards Red's Canyon.


Just as we were exiting Red's Canyon and heading back towards I-70 by mid-afternoon we came around a curve and there were some wild horses. My wife even spotted a little one but it was hard to see. We slowed and although they looked our way, they really didn't seem to be bothered by us.


When I stopped a little closer to get a few more pictures they started skirting the hillside along the fenceline and I was able to get a much better pictures of the cold and her mother.


On Saturday, we headed about 50 miles west of Green River to Justinsen Flats thinking it was far enough from town that we would be alone. Nope, the parking area was stuffed with trucks and trailers and a rather large group of dirt bikes taking off. Oh well, we'll take our time airing down and get out behind them again. This group was not equipped to go too far as they would have to turn back so we thought we'd lose them after the Copper Globe Mine. Sure enough, we stopped at the mine and they were there eating lunch. We visited with a few of them while we walked around the mine and learned that was their turning around point and they'd be heading back to the parking area from there.

Great. We continued on south and west of the mine to our favorite lunch overlook spot.


After lunch we took another detour back to I-70 that we had not done before. We saw these large dark rocks along the hillside that looked like they were just dropped there.


Then just as I-70 was in sight, we saw some other rock formations that were rather unique.



After passing these we hit I-70 about 65 miles west of Green River so we aired up and hit the road back to camp. Saturday was much cooler temperatures than the previous couple of days and the wind was blowing a bit, but it still was a rather nice day to finish off a few days in the area.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Xti04]

I love the terrain your pics always show. Nothing like that out here. Awesome trip I hope!

 

[zmotorsports]

I love the terrain your pics always show. Nothing like that out here. Awesome trip I hope!

Thank you. Yes, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable trip.

I did lose a clockspring in the Jeep at the end of day one though, driver's airbag circuit, so I had to listen to that stinkin' thing chime about every time I turned the steering wheel. Couldn't have lost it the week before we left. Oh well, it's an easy fix once I get the part. I replaced it about 8 years/70k miles ago.

 

[rd65]

How low do you set your tires when you air down?

 

[zmotorsports]

How low do you set your tires when you air down?

Usually I go down to 12 PSI, which is what I have my set of deflators set to.

 

[ScepterToad]

Looks like a great trip Mike! Nice to get out of Dodge the first time of the year!

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like a great trip Mike! Nice to get out of Dodge the first time of the year!

Thanks Keith. Yes, it was nice to get away and give the coach and Jeep a good shakedown run before the season kicks into high gear.

 

[Jayman17]

Thanks for sharing the Photos Mike, I'm amazed how few people you encountered except for the bikers. That must be nice!

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for sharing the Photos Mike, I'm amazed how few people you encountered except for the bikers. That must be nice!

Thank you. Yes, it is nice, I think it's because of the remoteness and lack of nearby populations. It seems there are a lot of overlanders that frequent the area, but it's not a really technical area so it keeps many of the weekend warrior types away at least. I really hope more people will just stay away and it won't turn into the other areas we like to go to. I remember back in 2005-2010~ish, when we would go to Ouray/Silverton Colorado area there was hardly anyone there in August. We could make reservations a few weeks ahead of time and still have vacant sites at the campground, but then the secret got out and now if you don't make reservations a year in advance, you aren't getting any. Same with Moab. We used to host gatherings there in October, usually around Halloween, and we had almost the entire RV park to ourselves with our small group of about 14-20 rigs. The trails were dead except for our group. Then around 2012 or so that all changed and October turned into one of the busiest months there.

 

[bigdave_185]

Wonderful trip photos Mike as usual

 

[csp]

It's crazy what social media has done to attractive landscapes. My dad was a small business owner in the 1970s/80s on the Colorado front range and we never had time to take real vacations. We basically never left the state. If there was a three day weekend we were headed to Silverton/Ouray/Telluride with a 62 CJ3b in tow. Even on 4th of July/Labor Day weekends we hardly saw a soul, mostly locals.

 

[zmotorsports]

It's crazy what social media has done to attractive landscapes. My dad was a small business owner in the 1970s/80s on the Colorado front range and we never had time to take real vacations. We basically never left the state. If there was a three day weekend we were headed to Silverton/Ouray/Telluride with a 62 CJ3b in tow. Even on 4th of July/Labor Day weekends we hardly saw a soul, mostly locals.

It wasn't quite that way when we started going back in 2005~ish timeframe, but close. The first couple of years we didn't even make reservations and just showed up and the RV park had plenty of sites available and there were days we never saw another vehicle on the trails, other days maybe we'd pass 3 or 4 at the most.

The last 8 or so years we've been making our reservations a year ahead of time, basically while we're there we'll make them for the upcoming year just to secure us a site. The trails are quite busy and many times we're pulling off to let a group of 12+ side by sides past or a couple of Jeeps. The side by sides are definitely outnumbering the Jeeps (or any other 4-wheel drive vehicle) these days, same way with Moab, except for this week of course.

 

[zmotorsports]

Arrived home last night to mow my lawn. I was pleased to see it green up so much when we pulled back in the driveway on Sunday afternoon. I had commented to my wife about our neighbor's trees being in full bloom the morning we were leaving last week and how pretty they looked.

Upon arriving home on Sunday afternoon the buds on ours were just beginning to open, by the time I got home from work yesterday they were in full bloom. This is the first time since we planted them six years ago that our trees and our neighbor's trees were in bloom at the same time. Usually ours lags theirs by about 3+ weeks, so this is new this year. Must have something to do with the timing as they mature because the same species of trees at our last home usually bloomed right about Easter time and these seemed to lag by several weeks, until this year that is.

Had to snap a couple of pictures of our trees and the neighbor's in full bloom.