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Mojave road 2015 report
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sam_w
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PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2015 4:06 pm    Post subject: Mojave road 2015 report Reply with quote

Well my Mojave Road weekend was great fun, if not an unmitigated disaster.
I drove the Thingster from Cupertino CA to Kingman AZ, on Wednesday. I did the 590 miles in short time and had a moving average of 69.2 MPH! I was also getting 19 MPG with my 2054 motor that has dual 40 mm webers, so I am very happy with the motor. I collected all my camping gear from my singlecab that is having some minor body work done by Fresno James, stayed the night with them and then went to the AVI casino in Laughlin NV where the run started at 8:30 on Friday morning.

The group was a mixture of VW variants, even a Thing powered by a V6 honda motor! I am intrigued with power assisted rack and pinion steering, but don't think it will fit in a Thing.

The amazing thing was that we had a real rain storm in the desert, even lot od snow/sleet.
Then dummy me went into a hole with the wheels not straight ahead and put on the brakes. This bent the tie rods, and deflated one tire, but pushing it off the rim.

Anyhow desert mechanics to the rescue, the tie rod end was gotten out by using the weight of the Thing on a bottle jack, and helping with a 3 lb hammer. After unscrewing the pretzeled tie rod, it was hammered sort of straight and everything was put back together.
After the next stop it still had really bad tow out, and on inspection the steering box had twisted on the beam shortening the effective length of the tie rods.

I unwillingly called it quits, but managed the 500 miles home with no problems.

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I went to Fry's the day before I left and bought a tine dash cam, it is really neat and it activated by starting the engine. Here are three little clips. It is also interesting that the sun is covered by a black dot, so the video is not ruined.



Link

Link

Link

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Solomon Grundy
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Joined: December 26, 2004
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Location: Silicon Valley
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PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2015 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Someday I will join you for this... Cool
Looks like fun.
I was sick so did not make BugOrama this weekend.
See you soon my friend.
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cecil
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Joined: February 23, 2005
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PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2015 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sam,
You never fail to amaze. I'm glad your'e one of my 129 closest friends. A note to the peanut gallery....on a trail I do 15 mph on, Sam does 60!
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I may not be that funny or athletic or good looking or smart or talented....I forgot where I was going with this
I have this wierd desease called "must tear everything up and put it back together when there's nothing wrong with it...Itus."
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sam_w
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PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2015 1:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The bucket seats with a harness were/was great, everyone admired the Cecil visors and door pocket covers.
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oasis
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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 7:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great stuff. The "Cecil visors" are cool, too.

Quick question: Is your Bikini top from the TTS? If so, how does it fit?

I really want one but the thread on its non-fit/way-too-tight-fit has me spooked.
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Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI
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Jzsquared
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Joined: August 16, 2014
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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This kinda driving is so damn cool, this is why it sucks living in a flat boring state like Illinois. Looks like a ton of fun even breaking stuff can be fun
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sam_w
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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i guess we start near sea level, or about 500 feet and end up over 5000 feet. pretty hilly/mountainous. when it poured there were snowflakes in the downpour!
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sam_w
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2015 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is someone else's pic of me smiling with my bent tie rod!
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mondshine
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2015 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The smile tells the whole story.
Good luck Sam!
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