On 12/5/2015 10:31 AM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:46:51 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 12/5/2015 9:24 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 16:22:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 12/4/2015 2:36 PM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 17:10:20 -0800, Califbill billnews wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/3/2015 1:12 PM, Keyser Söze wrote:
On 12/3/15 1:04 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:38:51 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:
On 12/2/2015 4:58 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:09:12 -0500, Justan Olphart
wrote:
Did you drive the Honda 90 MPH down US 75?
===
On occasion, more often 80 to 85. The car was always very solid at
that kind of speed - good tires of course, and everything in balance.
Europeans drive that fast all the time even faster in Germany. The
US, particularly the eastern states, has always been more sedate. I
see signs of change however. At one time anything over 70 would get
you a guaranteed ticket on the New York State Thruway. Nowadays a lot
of people are running 75+.
I trained my petal foot to think about safety and fuel economy. That
usually means at or under the speed limit.
Little old ladies in Kias are telling you that you are #1 if you drive
around here.
I do 70 when possible on the interstates, but no more. I-95, the last
time I drove to Florida, was crowded. I take a special delight after
some yahoo blasts past me at more than 80 and see the guy pulled over a
few miles down the road by the police. My wife's new car gets 30+ mpg at
70 mph. I like that.
My Ford F-250 gets better gas mileage at 75 mph than it does at 60-65
mph. Weird, but it has to do with the gearing and when the torque
converter locks and unlocks. If I keep the RPM's up high enough
so it can climb steep hills without the TC unlocking (or downshifting
out of overdrive), my gas mileage goes up to a whopping 15 mpg from
about 13. :-) Fortunately, I don't drive much or very far in it.
Last long distance trip was to SC, last December.
The adult day care center that I drive for has a fleet of high top,
handicapped equipped (power lift and strap-downs for wheelchairs) vans.
They are all Ford F-350 SuperDuties. Mileage is horrible ... I have
to fill mine 3 times a week sometimes ... but they are rugged. He used
to have GM and Chevy vans but gave up on them. They just didn't last,
usually having transmission failures and engine problems.
I do like my Chevy diesel. Got 20 mpg going to Williams, Az for
thanksgiving. Normal around town is 14.5
On pure interstate to and from NC, without the trailer, mine gets a tad over 22.
Around town about 15-17. With the trailer, about 12-13. Can't complain. Most of the
around town stuff is done with the motorcycle, which gets about 40, around town.
--
Ban idiots, not guns!
You guys with the GM diesels have the Allison transmission which is
probably about the best one made. The gas powered GM and Chevy vans
have a regular GM transmission. Those are the ones that the
transportation company had a lot of problems with.
They still have one GM van that I've used a couple of times. Definitely
has a nicer, softer ride compared to the Fords which ride like ... well
.. trucks. They live a hard life though.
My Silverado rides like a big Cadillac. The Allison transmission does a great job,
especially with the tow/haul mode enabled.
The Allison transmission is great. It was the only thing I liked about
the POS Pace Arrow motorhome I had. Ford came out with a transmission
called a "TorqueShift" that is used in the F-250, F-350 (and up)
SuperDuty series of pickups and trucks. It behaves in a very similar
fashion to the Allison in tow/haul mode. Jury is still out on
reliability although you don't hear about many problems.
Is your Silverado a 2500HD or a 3500HD model? The Ford diesel I had
(that had all kinds of engine problems) was a F-350 which is comparable
to the 3500 series produced by GM. The one I have now is a F-250 which
is comparable to the 2500 GM series. In both cases, the Fords ride a
lot "stiffer" than the GM's. I almost bought a Silverado 2500 but,
because I was so used to Fords, it felt *too* soft to my liking. But,
that was a few years ago when I was doing a lot more with trucks
(hauling and towing) than I do now.
Mine's a 2500HD. If you think that Ford's bad, you should try a Dodge Ram 1500. All
it took was a ride around a couple blocks. My wife said there's no way she'd ever
ride in the damn thing. Unsprung farm wagons gave a smoother ride.
I had a Ram 2500 when we first bought the place in Florida. You're
right, it was like riding with no springs at all. I ended up giving it
to my nephew who was doing construction in Florida for three or four
years. It was perfect for him. I also had a Ram 1500 for a while ...
bought it new in 1997. Dodge almost had to buy it back from me. It
had a "pulsing" at a certain speed that felt like you were pulling a
trailer that was alternately pushing and then pulling at the truck.
Dealership torn the engine down, thinking that was the problem. It
wasn't. They finally had the regional manager for Dodge visit and he
and I went for a ride. I demonstrated the "pulsing" and he didn't argue
at all. He could feel it. On the way back to the dealership
he suggested that I walk around the lot and pick out a replacement truck
while he filed the report and paperwork.
Then, they asked if they could try one more thing. I liked the truck,
so I said, "Sure". They replaced the whole rear end, axle and all.
No more pulsations. Bad differential from the factory.