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My first trip report

dubob
Explorer
Explorer
Okay โ€“ the first real camping trip is now history. A friend and I drove 688 miles round trip to Bullfrog, UT to partake in some fishing in Lake Powell which is part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. We hauled his 4,300 lb Ranger boat package behind my rig. I did visit a CAT scale in Salt Lake City with the camper full of water (45 gals) and food for 2 guys for 4 days and right after filling up the fuel tank (34 gals). As expected, the front axle weight decreased and the rear axle weight increased. The GVW increased as well.

We had a minor hiccup with the truck on the trip down that was unexpected. With less than 500 miles logged since my last oil change 2 weeks ago, the oil life monitor went to zero and put the truck in limp mode on I-70. We stopped, turned the engine off, reset the oil life indicator back to 100%, and continued on our way. By the time I got back home with another 350 miles logged on the truck, the oil life monitor was back down to about 50%. I was expecting a slight decreased in oil life, but certainly NOT a 90% plus reduction. Iโ€™ll be discussing this with my local Chevy Service Department and posting about it on silveradosierra.com as well.

I took the TC off the truck to make launching the boat each day much easier. Coming off the truck was very easy; putting it back on the truck โ€“ not so easy. Iโ€™m sure most of you already know this.

Maybe after Iโ€™ve done this a hundred times it will be almost as easy as taking it off; at least I hope it becomes so. Here we are set up at the GCNRA Campground at Bullfrog.





I had an issue with the water pump not wanting to shut off all the time after turning a faucet on and off our using the toilet. It seems the cause was I had some air pockets still in the lines. The water stream would sputter a lot when the faucet was on. Running the water longer (wasting precious fluids) would fix the problem most of the time but it would be right back the next time a faucet was turned on and off. When I got back home, I drained everything and started all over and let everything run until ALL the sputtering stopped for at least a minute. Iโ€™ll test the system later today by turning on all the faucets (one at a time) to see if the problem is fixed.

I have 2 Group 24 batteries installed and the monitor panel showed the charge at โ€˜Goodโ€™ from Sunday evening until Wednesday morning when it dropped down to โ€˜Fairโ€™. We only used some lights for a couple of hours in the morning and evening combined each day with no TV or radio use. Some folks around us were using generators every afternoon but I didnโ€™t have to run mine even once. Iโ€™m thinking thatโ€™s a good thing.

The mileage for the trip was 8.7 mpg with a low of 8.1 mpg and a high of 10.5 mpg. Most of the decrease came from the 30 mph headwinds on the trip down. Itโ€™s too early to tell what my long tern average is going to be, but Iโ€™m hoping it will be much closer to the 10 mark than it was on this trip.

Well thatโ€™s my maiden voyage in my brand new Lance 992. All in all a good adventure with some bass and walleye put in the freezer as a bonus. Iโ€™m hoping to get out next week pulling my own boat and staying in a State Park with hook-ups for some walleye and trout fishing. Stay tuned.
Bob Hicks, from Utah :C
Iโ€™m 71 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
โ€œFree men don't ask permission to bear arms.โ€
โ€œBe who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter donโ€™t mind.โ€
7 REPLIES 7

SpknTC
Explorer
Explorer
Great pics! You have a nice set-up. Iron out the kinks and you're good to go.
Send some walleye luck my way. My weekend was a bust!
Ford F450 6.7L PSD DRW 4X4
Arctic Fox 865

CAJW
Explorer
Explorer
Good write up, sounds like you guys had a great time and Bullfrog lived up to it's reputation as being a nice place to camp and fish. The Mrs. and I are picking up our new AF996 this coming week and will hopefully have similar successes to report on the shake down tour headed home with it. Will be interesting to learn what gives with your oil life indication issue, but like so many computer based issues, rebooting seems to do the trick.
2013 AF 996, 2013 Chevy 3500 CC,LWB,4X4, Duramax, DRW, 3.73 rear, Torklift Stableloads & Tie-downs,Fast Guns, Ride Rite Air Bags, Superhitch w/ 32" extension.Big Wigs, Front Timbrens, TST TPMS-507,CubbyCam, Trimetric. TM & SC 2030 150W + 100W suitcase

kerry4951
Explorer
Explorer
My first Duramax was also a 2008. I had the "check engine" light come on and she went into limp mode on the George Washington bridge in NYC. I was delayed a day while hanging out at a NJ Chevy dealership waiting for a part to come in. Three months later the same thing happened. I know whats it like when that limp mode kicks in. After the second time I knew I would never trust that truck.
2009 Silverado 3500 dually D/A, Supersprings, Stable Loads, Bilsteins, Hellwig Sway Bar.
2010 Arctic Fox 1140 DB, 220 watts solar, custom 4 in 1 "U" shaped dinette/couch, baseboard and Cat 3 heat, 2nd dinette TV, cabover headboard storage, 67 TC mods

sleepy
Explorer
Explorer
I agree... your mpg is very bad...

My 2003 Duramax/allison, crewcab with one of the biggest, and heaviest TC's made... it gets 15.1 mpg and that's my average for over 65000 miles.... the TC on all the time.

Thanks for sharing your trip report.

sleepy
2003 Lance 1161,/slideout/AGM batteries/255W Solar/propane generator/Sat dish/2 Fantastic Fans/AC/winter pkg
AirFoil, Trimetric, LED lights, Platcat vent heat

2003GMC K3500 LT/Crewcab/duramax diesel/allison/dually/4x4/OnStar/front reciever mounted spare

Catsmobob
Explorer
Explorer
Pullled my boat for the first time from home to Saranac Lake NY and averaged a little over 12 mpg.Kinda weird not being able to see the boat behind you.
Catsmobob. Saugerties NY 2011 Chevy 3500 SRW CC Duramax/Allison LTZ. 1999 Lund Pro Sport with 2004 Merc 115 4Stroke; 2012 Chalet S95R, Torklift stableloads and tie downs with fastguns

raytronx
Explorer
Explorer
Nice lookin camper! Looks like a sweet spot to camp
Love Your RV Blog

Keystone Cougar 276RLSWE - 1994 Ford F350 7.3l IDI DRW

ejfranz
Explorer
Explorer
Sounds like a great trip. I would get your Dmax checked out as your fuel mileage is terrible! I get 11.5 mpg pulling a horse trailer with my camper through the mountain passes here in BC. Most other trips with the camper on it varies between 12.5 to 13.5 mpg.
06 Chevy Silverado 3500 Crewcab SRW 4WD - Allison 6 speed & Duramax LBZ.
Upgrades: BD diesel exhaust manifold, Edge Evolution, Timbrens & KYB Monomax.
Camper: 2005 Adventurer 90FWS - Electric jacks, LEDs, 6V batteries, roof rack, ladder & awning.