trip

T

thomas g. warner

New member
Mar 24, 1998
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Just got back from Orlando,Florida where it is WARM and had a wonderful
trip. On the way down my gas mileage was less than i expected at exactly 10
MPG but at speeds of 70-75 it is in the ball park I guess. The tailpipe
showed just the slightest coating of black with no pinging and always ran
cool even in heavy stop and go traffic in ORlando. The engine ran very
strong and never had a situation where i really needed more power except
possibly in the mountains of pennsylvannia where it slowed some. Was
continually passing everything on the road at 70 or so and thought it
strange that in previous years at that speed I was always behind.

Came through a terrible ice and snow storm going down, and many large trucks
were off the road, wreckers everywhere with lots of business. The GMC
performed beautifully, and i can truly say that it handled on the ice very
well, never giving us a scary situation.

On the way back in northern Florida came thru some construction and the
speed was reduced to 50 MPH. They had one of those radar screens beside the
road recording speeds and when i went thru it registered 62 MPH....woops!
Looked at the speedo again to make sure and it was still reading 50. After
exiting the construction i hit the 4 lane and immediately started timing a
constant 60MPH between the mileage markers with my stop watch. It showed
72MPH consistently. Now i understand why at an indicated 70-75MPH all the
way down i was passing everything. I was actually going 82-87MPH. WOOPSSS!
Boy these things will really move, and effortlessly. It handled like a
dream except in the very heavy winds with lots of big trucks passing. Think
the new polyurethane sway bar bushings and end links had a lot to do with it.

I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see if they are as
far off as mine is. With the correction my gas mileage would be around 12
MPG which is excellent for a vehicle of this weight.

>just testing to see if the net is working as i am not getting any downloads
>
>
>
 
Tom,

Great trip report! You might want to check your odometer against the mile
markers as well. Apparently the magnets in the speedometer lose strength
over time, but the odometer is not affected as it is simply a rev counter.

Patrick

> Just got back from Orlando,Florida where it is WARM and had a
> wonderful trip.



> I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see
> if they are as far off as mine is. With the correction my gas
> mileage would be around 12 MPG which is excellent for a
> vehicle of this weight.
 
> > I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see if they are as
> > far off as mine is. With the correction my gas mileage would be around 12
> > MPG which is excellent for a vehicle of this weight.
>
> Wow! Are you fuel injected?
>
> jorge

I must be doing something very wrong. I don't drive my coach much over 65
and in mostly flat terrain. I don't accelerate very rapidly and use minimal
brakes when stopping. However, I don't get anywhere near 12 MPG. I averaged
only
about 8 for close to 10,000 miles last season. I did have the carburetor
recalibrated
by Cinnabar last Spring and that I know hurts fuel economy.

I want some of that stuff that Tom is smoking ;-)

Actually, I would like Tom to share with us what he's done to get such good
fuel economy. With the price of regular approaching $1.70 around here we
need all the help we can get.

Richard Waters
1976 Palm Beach
 
checked the odometer also patrick and it was very close to 20% slow as well,
showed .8 mile at each mile maker

>Tom,
>
>Great trip report! You might want to check your odometer against the mile
>markers as well. Apparently the magnets in the speedometer lose strength
>over time, but the odometer is not affected as it is simply a rev counter.
>
>Patrick
>

>
>> Just got back from Orlando,Florida where it is WARM and had a
>> wonderful trip.
>
>
>
>> I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see
>> if they are as far off as mine is. With the correction my gas
>> mileage would be around 12 MPG which is excellent for a
>> vehicle of this weight.
>
>
 
Nope but have new rockers pushrods and ignition and carb. Cylinders showed
a consistent 155# of compression.

>> I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see if they are as
>> far off as mine is. With the correction my gas mileage would be around 12
>> MPG which is excellent for a vehicle of this weight.
>
>Wow! Are you fuel injected?
>
>jorge
>
>
>
 
Problem has got me baffled also. I kept accurate records of mileage as
indicated and gallons of gas etc on the trip like I always do. The engine
ran better as i drove it more, very strong and effortlessly kept a 70-75MPH
speed as indicated on the speedo.I could not ask for a better running
engine. Now am afraid to take the exhaust manifolds off and put the
Thorleys on, new cam and timing chain.

>
>> > I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see if they are as
>> > far off as mine is. With the correction my gas mileage would be around 12
>> > MPG which is excellent for a vehicle of this weight.
>>
>> Wow! Are you fuel injected?
>>
>> jorge
>
>I must be doing something very wrong. I don't drive my coach much over 65
>and in mostly flat terrain. I don't accelerate very rapidly and use minimal
>brakes when stopping. However, I don't get anywhere near 12 MPG. I averaged
>only
>about 8 for close to 10,000 miles last season. I did have the carburetor
>recalibrated
>by Cinnabar last Spring and that I know hurts fuel economy.
>
>I want some of that stuff that Tom is smoking ;-)
>
>Actually, I would like Tom to share with us what he's done to get such good
>fuel economy. With the price of regular approaching $1.70 around here we
>need all the help we can get.
>
>Richard Waters
>1976 Palm Beach
>
>
>
 
Does this mean your mileage report is also 20% off or did you correct for
the odometer error? Your mileage report sounds great. Gives us all something
to shoot for. No matter what I do, I've always been in the 8 to 9mpg range,
and we drive a lot slower than you report!

Tony B.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Warner
To:
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 11:29 AM
Subject: RE: GMC: trip

> checked the odometer also patrick and it was very close to 20% slow as
well,
> showed .8 mile at each mile maker
>

> >Tom,
> >
> >Great trip report! You might want to check your odometer against the
mile
> >markers as well. Apparently the magnets in the speedometer lose strength
> >over time, but the odometer is not affected as it is simply a rev
counter.
> >
> >Patrick
> >

> >
> >> Just got back from Orlando,Florida where it is WARM and had a
> >> wonderful trip.
> >
> >
> >
> >> I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see
> >> if they are as far off as mine is. With the correction my gas
> >> mileage would be around 12 MPG which is excellent for a
> >> vehicle of this weight.
> >
> >
>
>
 
Had to respond to gas price we just fueled up at Costco in Idaho and paid
$137.9 Gal. for Reg. 87 octane
Marlene Meineken

> fuel economy. With the price of regular approaching $1.70 around here we
> need all the help we can get.
>
> Richard Waters
> 1976 Palm Beach
>
>
 
> Richard, I know I'm driving a 23' but add some horses. I put in over 100 and
> my gas mileage is consistantly above 12, especially when I drive it sanely.I
> did the heads, intake, cam, electronic ignition, carb, and curved dist. I had
> Mondello supply the parts and I did the mechanics. If I added up the
> advertised increases, they come to 175 plus hp increase. I sure like the
> ponys to be available, but don't call on them that much except for top end.I
> can put it on cruise and pull most hills without loosing speed. HP unused
> will equal better gas mileage in our GMC's is my experience. Keeps your
> tootsies out of the 4 barrels. Hanson's hot rod '73-23'-GMC

You've obviously have done a number of things to be very proud of.
When the time comes in the future to get my engine overhauled I'm
going to have to do some of the things that you high mileage types
have incorporated into their coaches.

Keep up the good work,
Richard Waters '76 PB, Troy, MI
 
Welcome back, Tom. We miss your contributions to the Net. Hopefully, Arch
will roll out from under his coach and get back on the Net, then I will
know all is right with the World!

David Lee Greenberg
The GMC Motorhome Registry
Dedicated To The Classic GMC Motorhome
www.gmcss.com/registry.htm
 
dont kmow em i will have to check it out in the next few days

>In a message dated 2/29/00 9:30:04 AM Mountain Standard Time, warner
>writes:
>
>well,
> showed .8 mile at each mile maker >>
>Tom - could someone changed the final drive to a 2.73? Or, perhaps the nylon
>gear in the side of the governor housing has the wrong amount of teeth. I
>believe the gear should have 31 teeth.
>
>Emery Stora
>77 Kingsley
>Santa Fe, NM
>
>
 
Tom,

Great trip report.

"Came through a terrible ice and snow storm going down, and many large
trucks
were off the road, wreckers everywhere with lots of business. The GMC
performed beautifully, and i can truly say that it handled on the ice very
well, never giving us a scary situation"

What kind of tires do you have on your coach?

Thanks,

Peter
77 Eleganza II
Colorado
 
Rick as i noted both the mileage and speed were off approx the same amount.
At the mileage marker the odometer read approz .8 and mileage 62 MPH at an
indicated 50

>
>> Now i understand why at an indicated 70-75MPH all the
>> way down i was passing everything. I was actually going 82-87MPH. WOOPSSS!
>(snip)
>>
>> I would suggest that everyone check your speedometers to see if they are as
>> far off as mine is. With the correction my gas mileage would be around 12
>> MPG which is excellent .........
>
>Tom,
> As I understand it, the magnet in our speedometer weakens with age,
>causing a low speed reading. However, this has no effect on the odometer
>(distance) reading. So although you WERE doing 82 mph +, there is no
>correction factor to be applied to your gas mileage. Don't feel bad, 10 mpg
>is pretty good for something that big and that fast! ;-)
> This combination makes it impossible to correct BOTH the speed and
>distance reading by changing speedo. drive gears. One or the other will
>always be off unless you have the speedometer recalibrated by a speedometer
>shop.
>
>HTH.
>
>Rick Staples
>'75 Eleganza
>Louisville, CO
>
>
 
are arch and i the ying and yang of the net?

>Welcome back, Tom. We miss your contributions to the Net. Hopefully, Arch
>will roll out from under his coach and get back on the Net, then I will
>know all is right with the World!
>
>David Lee Greenberg
>The GMC Motorhome Registry
>Dedicated To The Classic GMC Motorhome
>www.gmcss.com/registry.htm
>
>
 
I think Arch is travelling right now - probably doing the Cardboard Boat
Regattas. I'm sure he'll resurface in a week or two.

Patrick

> -----Original Message-----
> From: davegreenberg1 [mailto:davegreenberg1]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 5:29 PM
> To: gmcmotorhome
> Subject: GMC: trip
>
>
> Welcome back, Tom. We miss your contributions to the Net.
> Hopefully, Arch
> will roll out from under his coach and get back on the Net,
> then I will
> know all is right with the World!
>
> David Lee Greenberg
> The GMC Motorhome Registry
> Dedicated To The Classic GMC Motorhome
> www.gmcss.com/registry.htm
>
 
On Wed, 1 Mar 2000 03:51:10 -0500 (EST) Tom Warner
writes:
> are arch and i the ying and yang of the net?
>
Only when your opinions are polarized!!!

David Lee Greenberg
The GMC Motorhome Registry
Dedicated To The Classic GMC Motorhome
www.gmcss.com/registry.htm
 
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