Epic road trip - through Mexico

[Schtauffer]

I have not been very involved in the preparations for the trip. The people at the mission have been packing the trailers and buses. Last Saturday my brother and I went over to the mission to work on some trucks with electrical issues, which was mostly a bust because it was zero degrees and all the diesel was gelled up tuff. So, we didn't get much done but at least I got a little acquainted with one or two of the trucks we'll be taking on this trip. The vehicle list is two big trucks, two step vans, and a bus. We're going this Saturday again to work on the trucks some more.

I found out that a friend of my dad is going along, and the director is pairing us up in one of the big trucks. He's 82 and has gone on more than a half dozen of these trips. From what I have heard, he is the guy everyone wants to be like.

Changed my mind about putting it on Facebook. We leave a little over a week from now.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

[DanStokes]

Best of luck on this, Gene. Sounds like an adventure!

I've never had fuel gelling on the Dodge but of course we don't get as cold as you guys do. MANY years ago when I worked in off-road equipment we sometimes had to light a campfire under the big equipment ('dozers, motor scrapers, etc.) to get them to fire up in the Michigan winter. Hey, it worked! Also, once everything is running you might want to throw in a can of the anti-gelling additive. I don't have a favorite brand but there are a few to choose from (Berryman, others).

Dan

[silver_bullet]

Our thoughts and prayers are with you nd your entire team! Do take care and let us know how you fared upon your return... This will be an adventure to remember!

[JRoberts]

My hat goes off to you and the group you are going with. You are to be commended for what you are doing. Keep us up on your adventure.

[Schtauffer]

I'm home again. It was a great trip. They were aiming to leave Friday (1/19, two weeks ago) around 8:00 PM. I worked a half day, went home to pack my bag and take a nap, and went over to the mission around 4:00. The staff at the mission had been working for a week or two to get the trucks loaded and repaired; we fixed some marker lights and some other minor issues, tried to get the heat working in the step van without success (bad heater core), and generally tried to get the vehicles road worthy or at least close to it. We pulled out around 10:30 and went to the truck stop to weigh, and we were in great shape - 67,000 lbs on the Volvo. We fueled up, checked a few things, and pulled out of the truck stop around midnight. We got about a half hour from home and one of the guys realized he forgot his passport, so we sat around waiting a while to get that straightened out. We stopped Saturday morning at a rest stop in VA and found that the tires were scrubbing off the enclosed trailer the bus was towing - the axles were bent. We decided the best we could do was to keep swapping tires around as we went and replace tires as needed. We went another hour down the road and found a truck shop to flip tires on rims. After that we went a few more hours and around 2:00 in Tennessee the bus shut off. It has a 24-valve Cummins, and we worked on it for about 7 hours along Rt 81, then decided to tow it with a chain to the next exit. Part way to the exit the Volvo overheated and shut off because the fan wasn't working. We ran a hot wire to the solenoid and the fan stayed on at all times - good to go. We pulled up to the top of the exit ramp and stopped to assess the landscape - the approach to the parking lot was downhill, then a left turn and uphill into the parking lot. We stopped traffic, and the Volvo pulled the bus down the hill, gradually increasing speed (did I mention the bus was out of air so we released the brakes?), then made the left turn and up the hill. The driver of the Volvo did not slow down enough, and the chain snapped when the bus lost momentum. The bus and trailer rolled backwards and wound up jack knifed in the ditch. We very quickly rehooked the Volvo to the bus with the (now shorter) chain, and very gently towed it up the hill to a flat spot in the parking lot. We worked on it another hour or two and called it quits. The two guys driving the bus stayed with it while the other four of us took the Volvo and step van on down the road. (Eventually they decided that the lift pump quit, which in turn broke the injector pump. Somebody ran parts down from Pennsylvania, and I think they got back on the road Tuesday. They never did catch up to us.) From that point things went relatively smoothly. We got into Mississippi Sunday morning, went through Houston around midnight in a downpour, had two flats overnight (one trailer tire from me hitting a freaking curb, one drive tire threw a cap), and pulled into the broker a few blocks from the bridge into Mexico around 10 AM Monday. While two of the guys worked on paperwork, the other two of us ran to another lot about 45 minutes away to pick up a cement mixer that was also supposed to go to Belize. The batteries were dead, so we swiped batteries from another truck (same owner); the only tool we could find laying around was a 9/16 wrench, and it was the only tool we needed. Sometime Monday evening the broker let us know the paperwork was good, so we could cross the border Tuesday. We grabbed a room, got a little sleep, and pulled into the staging lanes at US Customs around 6 AM. They started putting trucks through around 9:00, and we sailed right through (incredibly). It only took a few hours to get through Mexico customs - they wanted a $300 "tip" in order to avoid unloading the Volvo (that would have taken a week). We gladly paid the shisters and rolled onto Mexican soil around noon. The step van came across around 2:00 with a similar story. Mexico is astoundingly corrupt. The word is that the cartels operate largely in the north, and that it is best to get through the northern part of Mexico the first day. With that in mind, we got a room immediately inside Mexico, and left at dawn Wednesday morning with the throttle on the floor. We went about a half hour, and the step van shut off - incredibly, right in front of a Mexican Autozone. A rusty fuel line had cracked and was letting air into the system; we bought stuff at the Autozone to fix it. They had about 3' of high pressure 3/8 hose and 4' of low pressure - I told the guy to give me the longer piece. I decided to try drive it a little further so I knew what it was doing, and drove with one hand on the wheel and the other on the fuel filter bleeder, and we only went a short distance before I decided this is no way to travel. We pulled into a gas station, got the front tires up on a speed bump, and I replaced the line reaaally fast. We went on down the road, me doing the driving, and we made some time, generally running 65-75 mph. We had no more troubles the rest of the day, and got south of the cartels before dark. We stopped at a restaurant/hotel for the night, got a full night's sleep for the first time since Thursday night, and hit the road again at dawn. We were not able to make very good time the second day, mostly because of bad roads and traffic. There were places where we were in first or second gear because the road was so broken up, and it went on like that for a few miles. At one point we noticed we were leaving a trail of diesel fuel, and made the mistake of stopping in town to check it out. Something had hit the fuel tank on the reefer trailer, and it was leaving a small stream. The cops were there in an instant and wanted attention. Somebody else dealt with them while I tried to plug the hole. I was shoving splinters in the hole and had no luck, so I grabbed a sandwich bag and a ratchet strap which did the trick. We tipped the police, they took off and so did we. But, we had no real breakdowns and made headway so it was all good. The third day was very good roads most of the day - the Yucatan is largely empty, the roads generally flat and straight. We had a flat tire on the step van shortly after going through a city, and only went a mile or two until we found a tire shop. Those guys made quick work of the tire, and off we went. We arrived at the Mexico-Belize border around 10 PM Friday; they process trucks Monday-Friday, so the trucks would need to sit over the weekend. One of the guys volunteered to stay with the trucks until Monday morning, and the rest of us cleared customs in Belize around midnight. We found a street vendor for a much needed bite, and went on the the mission in Belize which is about a four hour ride from the border. We napped a few hours, then had a nice breakfast and toured the property. That evening the mission had a number of people over for dinner, and we got to talk with quite a few of them. Sunday morning we went to church, hit a Chinese restaurant for lunch, went swimming in a blue hole, and visited a community where a great uncle of mine lived and died. I grew up hearing stories of his life in Belize, and it was neat to see the places he wrote home about, and to visit his grave. Monday we did some work around the mission and went into town for parts to fix a backhoe, and Tuesday we painted all day. The trucks cleared customs around 5 PM Tuesday after some well placed tips, and arrived at the mission around midnight. Wednesday morning we started to unload, then myself and another guy split for the airport to catch a 1 PM flight home. Layed over in Houston, walked in my own front door around 1 AM Thursday.

As of this writing, the two guys in the bus are making slow progress through Mexico. They have had all sorts of problems with tires and the hitch and I'm not sure what all... communication is a little difficult but they are able and patient mechanics with no deadline (read: retired). I don't think they made it to the Belize border yet, but at 50 miles a day or whatever they're averaging I think they will make it eventually. For me the trip went very smoothly, for them not so much.

[DanStokes]

A great adventure. I wish you had called/Emailed me on the Cummins. The lift pump is the Achilles heal on that engine (been there, done that) and I would have directed you to a FASS lift pump. That would have saved you the problem in the first place and would have saved the VP44 (Bosch injection pump) in the bargain. The rest of the issues - I'm no help at all! Best of luck to the Bus Boys (I just named them!) and hope they eventually have a grand adventure, too.

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

awesome trip, and great report... funny how doing good for others always seems like it give you even more.

[Monster]

Nice !

[Dan Barlow]

Super trip and glad you had a fun adventure and safety .

[Schtauffer]

Word came that the bus arrived in Belize Friday evening, a week after we arrived.

Gene

[Monster]

Hey, it made it ... that's a huge plus !