My attitude towards driving these cars on long trips is that the car doesn't
know if it's on a long trip, or many short trips around town. Actually,
cruising down the highway uses fewer systems than driving around town (less
clutching/shifting/braking/hard steering, etc.). I stay in touch with what
my car tells me over time so I know if something might be on the verge.
Plus, these cars are pretty simple compared to new cars. If my Grand Caravan
doesn't start, it's almost a waste of time for me to even look under the
hood. About all I can do is make sure I have a battery and the cable is
attached. With the Triumph, I can dig in and find (and fix) the problem,
with minimal tools. The only real breakdown I ever had was in a GT6 in a
Chicago traffic jam. One of the rubber fitting in the accelerator linkage
craked and lost it's grip on a threaded rod. All I had with me was an exacto
knife from wiring in a speaker the night before. Among the debris on the
side of the highway I found a heavy gauge length of wire and madse it into a
twist tie to force the rubber link to hold onto the threads. It was meant as
a temporary, but after I sold the car two years later I remembered the wire
was still in there!
Now picking up a "new" car and taking it 900 miles is a risk as you have no
real idea what the mechanical shape is, but a car you've had for a few
months should deliver few surprises.
Drive 'em if you got 'em!
Blue Skies....
Kerry
Riveting Images Aviation Art
http://www.riveting-images.com
Secure Order Form https://secure.ordering.net/riveting-images/ordering.html
Phone 920 410-7988
Evening and Weekend calls welcome
----- Original Message -----
From: <apackard68@comcast.net>
To: "Riveting Images" <kerry@riveting-images.com>
Cc: <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: Thanks for the help!
> You have a very brave and understanding wife to venture on a 900 mile
Triumph ride. I drove mine home 850 miles on the day I bought it, but that
came with a non-charging electrical system in Indiana, a loose and rattling
exhaust in KY, a 75 mph rear tube blowout near Lexington, and a grinding
rear end the entire trip. 36 hours total time to get home. Now that I've
fixed all of those problems, I'd probably have a nice list of others if I
did it again. Good luck to you and don't forget a flashlight and extra
batteries!
> Andy
> CD6521L
> Driving very well now, thank you.
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