Posted 2011-10-03 2:05 PM (#138019 - in reply to #137887) Subject: RE: Lessons I have learned
Expert
Posts: 2953 Location: North Carolina
Originally written by traveller on 2011-09-27 6:00 PM
I carry an empty gas can in the bed of my truck just in case I need gas and I can't navigate the LQ trailer in the gas station. I have a V-10 and I trailer a lot of back country roads. I haven't had to use it yet, but I have it just in case I can't maneuver in a small gas station and it gives me piece of mind. I have the option of parking the rig on the street and getting gas from the pump, may take a few trips from the pump to the truck depending upon how much gas I need to get to the next bigger gas station, but it's better than hoping there's a bigger station further down the road.
I carry the extra gas if I've not traveled the route before. Those new EPA gas cans are a pain to dump 5 gallons into the truck. They are so slow flowing.
Big PLUS on Not relying on GPS when driving a rig. People have died in the desert or wilderness stranded in their car from following GPS directions.
Some of those roads the machine says to use are barely passable for a goat. Forget getting a trailer through.
Posted 2011-10-03 5:21 PM (#138023 - in reply to #137678) Subject: RE: Lessons I have learned
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
There is simply no way to prevent all problems on the road. No matter how prepared you are there will still be something,someday and somehow that throws a curve ball at you. I don't travel anywhere I can't get fuel so I am not going to carry extra. I don't camp without power and its always at a showgrounds, I don't rough it. I have made several long distance out of state trips and usually the problems are similar...stupid drivers,crummy bathrooms at truck stops and boredom. However with age comes a certain degree of wisdom and electronic devices that make life easier. I do like my GPS and of course cell phone. Check the oil,tire pressure and make sure the spare is good ( a second spare is a very good idea) I have been lucky as the worse thing that has happened has been a flat tire..well ok..my Ford broke down once but I was close enough to home is wasn't too bad. I admire those who haul on that road less traveled but it ain't for me.
Posted 2011-10-03 6:35 PM (#138024 - in reply to #137678) Subject: RE: Lessons I have learned
Member
Posts: 45
Whoops, I meant peace of mind, not piece of mind. I compete in AERC rides and I do travel to places I haven't been before, often by myself. I have US Rider also, haven't had to use it yet, knock on wood.
All the advise about not depending upon GPS is really warranted, especially on the back country roads. My sister and brother-in-law live in northern Missouri. If you follow GPS directions to get to their home it will take you down a gravel road and tell you to turn left into a grassy field upon what might have been a trail back in the horse and buggy days, but it certainly hasn't been a road for at least the last sixty plus years according to my brother-in-law who is a native of that area. We all had a good laugh about that one, especially when another relative tried to find their home with his GPS and had to call to get directions. The guys in the city that came up to replace my sister's windows didn't find it so humorous, especially since they had a big truck that they had to figure out how to turn around. I have several examples where GPS has failed various people I know, including myself. Fortunately I learned early to back up GPS with maps. Which reminds me, I have one of those very comprehensive atlases for Missouri, a state I travel in quite a bit. It is as thick as a regular road atlas for the U.S., but it breaks down various sections of Missouri, showing all the county roads, etc., some GPS units that work off of satellites will give you similar detail. I bought it at Cabellas. It has been helpful when I am going into back country. Old county roads don't change that much unlike city highways so it has been pretty helpful for several years.
Also, if I am going to a campground I make sure I have their phone number programmed in my cell phone in case I need help or directions, hopefully my phone will work and they will answer. But as we all know you can't always depend upon having cell phone coverage or someone asnwering the phone when you need them.
Posted 2011-10-04 5:25 PM (#138052 - in reply to #137678) Subject: RE: Lessons I have learned
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 373 Location: Texas
While I do not always have a can of fuel with me, I want to add, just because you think you are not going anywhere you can not get fuel, does not mean you might not need to use a can of fuel.... I had my fuel like get a hole in it and drain almost a whole tank of fuel. Thankfully I was close to businesses etc., but had I been between gas stations, that can of fuel may have been what got me to the next exit as it was also running out the hole in the line.
I think I will go back to at least having the empty fuel can along, so I can get fuel in it if needed
Posted 2011-10-04 7:02 PM (#138054 - in reply to #138053) Subject: RE: Lessons I have learned
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 373 Location: Texas
Originally written by Gone on 2011-10-04 5:32 PM
Does not having updates current on your GPS have anything to do with "driving you into a one track cornfield?"
I wondered that too, and also what GPS units people had issues with. I used a Garmin NUVI (forgot the modle, but one of the mid to upper level ones) since about 2008, with over 25,000 miles of towing,and 11 different states and it only send me off track once, but they were good dirt roads. I also spend time to mark my destination not just with an address, but will pre-look it up on line with Google maps, satellite view then make sure where I mark it on the NUVI is the correct spot.
MY GPS saved my rear a few times. Mind you, this was before the Iphone. I had truck issues once, typed in the brand f truck, and it directed me to the nearest dealer. Flat tires a few times, and typed in TIRE and it directed me to nearest tire repair/sales location. Helped me find food and fuel. Have not traveled much this year to use the Iphone, but hubby finds his helpful in the same way I did my NUVI
Posted 2011-10-06 5:12 PM (#138109 - in reply to #137678) Subject: RE: Lessons I have learned
Member
Posts: 45
I don't know about the window replacement workmen's GPS, but our relative had current updates on his GPS which was is the Nuvi, I think. He travels all over the country and in Canada, too, has the Canada version, and he uses it going to many out of way places as he does lots of hunting and fishing. He also has some hand held version, I think it is a Magellan, but he wasn't using that. This was not a road and has not in recent memory been a road. It should not have shown as a road on GPS. Even if you went down that area you couldn't get through, there are couple creek crossings that aren't passable with even a 4 wheel drive vehicle. I have a Nuvi which isn't updated, but I was using it to find a farm about 20 mies from Columbia, Missouri. It took me a very awkward way and said I was at my destination when I actually was about a mile away. These were all old rural roads, no new updates, shouldn't be any changes. The guy at the farm told me that other people using GPS units had had the same problem finding him. He told me a different way to go home which was much better and far more direct. Had a similar problem in North Carolina using my niece's GPS. Said we were at our destination which was a small town full of potters, we were out in the middle of nowhere on a country road about five miles from our true destination. I don't think her GPS was updated either, but the roads were old country roads that vastly predated her unit.
Lessons I have learned
