Smergen's LTZ Colorado - The Rock Truck

[davemc]

Looks good mate the show was not bad a bit wet today though.

 

[Smergen]

Looks good mate the show was not bad a bit wet today though.

Yeah, I enjoyed it, but probably more as I was there solo and could take my time without being hassled about lunches, snacks, boredom, cold, hot, and whatever other things annoy kids.

Good to catch @cruza driver as well for a bit of chin wag.

 

[dagree]

Looks great @Smergen :encouragement:

 

[dagree]

but probably more as I was there solo and could take my time without being hassled about lunches, snacks,

And that would have saved more dollars also

 

[davemc]

I went solo as well rain in the morning no kids came almost spent to much $ resisted buying a few things

 

[dagree]

Went to a 4X4 show solo once..... Mrs Dagree has tagged along ever since

 

[17triton]

So that saved me money and allowed me to go shopping at the 4x4 show to get goodies for the back! Managed to get a pretty good deal/pack and very excited to have more toys to play with. Ironically Mrs Smergs was happiest with the trolley that was included as she'll use it to cart her kids school work around!

That's the dearest trolley you've bought I bet. The ute is looking great! What's next on the agenda? Some new boots?

 

[Drover]

At least I'm not envious about the suspension but would like the exhaust............................when you look at the new height and CV angle thats why I opted to put on some FWH and it drives better now I reckon and allows me to use low range on hard stuff.......Have you looked at a bash plate for the fuel filters/pump ? That drain is very out in the open.

 

[Smergen]

That's the dearest trolley you've bought I bet. The ute is looking great! What's next on the agenda? Some new boots?

It was hilarious, when I was taking her through the shopping, seriously the biggest and most enthusiastic reaction was for the trolley. She was like "they just give it to you?" So every truck upgrade is coming with a trolley I've decided.

What's next? Well, now that I have the fridge, sorting out rear storage is probably the next job to do. Not sure of the solution I want at this point as I want to keep weigh down, so thinking a single draw with a fridge slide next to or on top. Some reasonable examples at the show yesterday, but damn... pricey. Might be a DIY'r as well.

New shoes are in the pipeline, but closer to the leaving date methinks. I'll get nothing for the tyres I've got on (after doing 50k) but they're nowhere near due at this point. Will keep an eye out for "crazy prices" and pull the trigger if required.

 

[Smergen]

OK finally got around to fitting the HPD catch can to the Rock Truck. After the trip up north last weekend decided it was time I knew a little more about how to maintain and understanding the basics of what goes on under the hood.

I had previously bought the catch can late last year, but hadn't got around to fitting it, mainly due to laziness. But had a few hours spare before the Hawks game yesterday so got out the tools, rolled up the sleeves and tried not to stuff everything up.

It's a quality bit of kit this catch can, and all parts, clips, bolts and nuts come packed as well. Designed to slot straight into an RG, I bought this based on good reviews and simplicity of install. I also liked how it had a dipstick to check the level without having to unscrew it all the time.

Hmm.... shiny....
View attachment 40710 View attachment 40711

Here's the "before" shot. Smart design utilises one of the small available nooks under the bonnet of the Colorado.
View attachment 40706

Bracket install, mounts perfectly on the fluids mount. Will need to make sure that factory screws still hold, but cant see why not.
View attachment 40707

Install was pretty straight forward with reasonable instructions from the supplier. Simple matter of redirecting some hose work. Might need to change over the original factory hose as it's a little long and I reckon I have bent it a bit more than I like to make it fit. Still, it's snug and no parts left over which is always a good sign.
View attachment 40708

By far the hardest part was getting the manifold cover back on. Stupidly awkward piece of plastic crap.
View attachment 40709

So there it is. Hopefully it'll work well, and prolong engine life. Will monitor the oil build up and report back for anyone interested.

So update on the catch can, decided to give it an empty after the Flinders trip and there was a heap of oil in there. It's now I realised just how much of this kind of stuff was being recirculated and burnt through the engine. And whilst the catch can wasn't cheap, the knowledge that I'm at least helping keep this kind of crap out of the engine is worth it.

 

[Tone]

Thinking about one myself. I've stopped the soot EGR valve. Is should all help. How many Km and how much oil?

 

[Smergen]

According to the almighty spreadsheet, I've done ~17,200km since putting it on in April. In regards to how much oil, I assume you are referring to how much is caught? If so, maybe 50mL or so. Doesn't seem like much but as you said, it all helps.

 

[Smergen]

Just on a fuel update for anyone passing through, regarding the pure towing legs of the trip to Flinders, and not including legs either side with commuting

• 2112km (1124 there, 988 back)
• 381L (214, 167)
• 18.1L/100km (19, 17)
• Average fuel cost $1.18/L

Given the wind and the uphill slog, I'm reasonably happy with that. A little higher than I hoped but we were pretty close to full touring weight. Maybe another 100kg spreadout. Peaked into the low 20s, but also dipped into the 15s on the way home. Swings and round abouts, and if you want to tow 2.5t around, it's going to cost you fuel.

When taking into account tanks either side and the 4WD driving done, the final numbers come out at 16.5L/100km so pretty good.

I'll budget for 20L/100km for the big trip so I can be conservative.

 

[Dobbie]

And I'd budget for fuel costs up to 20percent higher.....the further you go into the mulga the higher it goes.

And...on budgets...to be conservative I'd increase expected park overnight costs by at least another 20percent as well. ..... And obviously factor in a ratio of free camping to paid parks.

And then there's the gas!
And the heater fuel
And......

It's all fun in the planning. If your costs come in lower, you're laughing.

If it helps, touring we average around the $80 a day for two adults who seem to drive a hell of a long way (last trip was over 8,000 in six weeks, time before 16,000kms in 18 weeks) with a rough guide of 5 free camping to 2 or 3 in paid parks., tending to stay a bit longer in paid parks to wash, shop, be a tourist etc)

That includes park fees, all food, wine, entry fees, car services, washing costs, gas etc. with no skimping....and ice creams.

I don't know if this helps but it seems to be a good guide for us, based on how we travel. Closer to home we can do it for about $35 a day if free camping.

When do you plan to leave? It's exciting!

 

[Drover]

I just go for $1 per km, pretty near the mark.

Now the catch can, snazy kit, I just vent mine to chassis rail, since not able to shut down EGR flap on these, No oily air gets in tp my intake, just some sooty exhaust....The only EGR defeat I've found tricks the ECU to think its 0 deg which is no good for the battery.....can't afford a chip but thats the best way to turn off the EGR system....................I would re-route the plumbing but that requires the engine to be lifted out, not that keen.

At least stopping one means no gooey, tarry mess to clog up the intake ports, quite happy for the oil to lube up the air just don't like the sooty exhaust bit and while the valve only opens for a short time at certain revs/throttle.temp it's still enough to gum up the works in time.......I think my Jeep gave trouble free times because I stopped the EGR and other things early, none of the usual M Benz engine problems at all.

 

[Smergen]

Thanks @Dobbie for the tips. The current plan is to head off at the end of March but there are a few things currently going on that may change that.

 

[davemc]

depends where you buy fuel and how far away your going as well.. When they have a monopoly they charge your closer to $2.
We did 9722 and used 1575 litres.. so around $2k in fuel.
Freecamp will save you a bit we only did a couple of nights.
Sarah freeze packing 25 meals saved us heaps of cash.
I think they biggest cost for us was me buying stuff before the trip.
New Disco, Bullbar, second set of tyres, UHF, etc etc
At least we have them for our lap in a year or so.

 

[chartrock]

After our trip across to SA for three months and driving through the 3 peninsulas over there then up to Coober Pedy and around to the Flinders meet then back home with a stop at Taree and a few days at Red Rock, the Nomad Notes program I used gave the following results for the BT..

Currently this trip you have traveled a total of 11382 km. You have purchased a total of 1746 litres of fuel. Total Cost of fuel purchased this trip for BeasT is $2,099.10. This is an average cost per litre of $1.21. BeasT is getting an average mileage of 7 km per litre of fuel. Or 15.34 litres per 100 km. BeasT has an average cost per km of $0.18.

Most of this was with van in tow, probably around 1000 km without it, so I am fairly happy with the results.

 

[Smergen]

Fuel is what it is... a necessary "evil". I'm not overly fussed about it, as the cost is largely unavoidable. I track it because I love stats, and I'm looking for efficiency drop offs in the car which could tell me signs about mods or servicing requirements. I could perhaps try and chase a more economical vehicle, but the how long would it take for the fuel savings to outweigh the change over cost. I'll either get a long range tank installed in the truck or carry a few jerries, but that's not neccesarily to dodge expensive fuel, more to dodge dodgey fuel and as an insurance against unexpected occurences (stations closed, emergencies, etc.)

I look at it and go the Colorado seems comfortable and unstrained towing the Big Green Lizard, and over the life of the car, or trip, that costs me some more dollars, I'm cool with that.

 

[Drover]

Thats my way of thinking too @Smergen, but I reckon your figures are pretty good, no 2 vehicles are the same anyway, so many things change the figures mine can float from 13 to near 19 towing Big Mal so long as I have my 200kms of fuel in Jerry's when out west I'm good...

Major mod on mine is to redo the fuel fill so it will take High Flow pumps, out west that can give you a 20c/lt saving at places like Julia Crk, Hughendon etc by fuelling at the 24hr automatic fuel sites.