Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:35:54 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Towing.. (no van,
but tow related) Delete if long off topic story isn't of interest
to you.
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it's like driving on ice.
you do *all* inputs and changes very gently and carefully,
and as you say Don, you anticpate way, way ahead.
and with a long rig and a trailer ...........you need to watch constantly
that you don't get into a trapped situation.
All fun !
Man you must of burnt up a lot of fossile fuel doing all that hauling and
racing !
My miles and low cost per fillup btw...........is : .................5
speed 1.9TD Vanagon, spare 10 gallon fuel tank on baord........
in the 90's when diesel fuel was 1.48 per gallon, several times I drove 600
miles on a fuel load, and refueled for 28 bucks !
Glad gasoline is back to under 4.00 per gallon, Not quite yet in southern
orgeon, but up in Portland it is.
San Francisco is a trip all right. Dynamite beautiful city with endless
fresh ocean air pouring throug the Golden Gate.
Live in Sausalito for 13 years.........during that Turbo diesel vanagon
period. One of the nicest cities there is.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 10:12 PM
Subject: Towing.. (no van, but tow related) Delete if long off topic story
isn't of interest to you.
> Someone recently was inquiring about the easiest route over the Sierras.
> Another cautioned about being careful and having the proper tow package.
> I,
> myself, commented on the cardinal rule of towing or driving a long complex
> vehicle package.."Never get somewhere you can't be sure of getting out
> of."
> I had my racecar towing package quite 'wired' after 3 years of towing to
> all the tracks in the west repeatedly and shoe-horning in amongst all the
> race trucks and all..but on one trip, I totally pushed the envelope. My
> race mechanic's shop is in Belmont, on the east bay peninsula south of
> city
> center in San Francisco. I needed to get onto his alignment rack and to
> swap a transmission between weekends and to make a race at Infineon
> Raceway
> (Sears Point) near Sonoma. So, of course, I combined a bunch of races...A
> test day at Thunderhill raceway about 5 hrs north of SF on Thursday
> before,
> then into his shop for Friday, then on to Sonoma.
> Except, of course, he ran over and we didn't finish the car until Friday
> at about 6:30. So I decided to short cut and go across the Goldengate
> Bridge, direct . But I got lost and ended up downtown, going round and
> round with my 18,000lb rig..the Ford 250 Diesel and camper pulling my 30'
> carhauler. Some of those hills are pretty tough..I used low range on a
> few
> until a couple of motorcycle cops (even they ride dual sport motos
> downtown)
> took pity on me and asked if I'd like some help.."Sure" says I, so they
> went
> one ahead and stopped traffic, while the other lead me back to the
> freeway...Kind fellows...I eventually would have found my way free of
> downtown SF..but with their help, I only ended up making about 10 laps...
> Then after the weekend of racing at Sears Point..(I got a second) I had a
> week until another event east of Reno at Fernley. Not time enough to
> return
> to Portland, so I towed over Sonora Pass, and spent a few days on my bike
> in
> the mountains. I figured, after towing up Beacon Street in SF (or
> whatever
> the streets are) I could tow anywhere...And other than a few fairly tight
> switchbacks and a couple of more shifts into low range, I had no problems
> whatsoever with Sonora Pass. But I did go real slow downhill, using my
> gears to keep the brakes in the rig and I drove about half a mile ahead of
> myself, anticipating the worse.. I won the Fernley race, my only race win
> in
> three years...
> You must anticipate when hauling a big weight..Your stopping distance is
> long..Your rig doesn't like to change directions or speed very quickly..If
> you keep that in mind and take good care with all your equipment, making
> sure it's all properly loaded and sized, you should be ok..
>
> sorry for off topic, should have waited till Friday, I guess..
> Don Hanson
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