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Fosscore
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1993 Silverado, 19000 miles
Rest area in Van Horn, Texas
Fosscore's 2013 Suburban LTZ Build Thread
- Thread starter Fosscore
- Start date
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1993 Silverado, 19000 miles
Rest area in Van Horn, Texas
OP
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Fosscore
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Just a bed in my brother's house.
Just a bit under 1/2 way leaving San Antonio at 0005 in the morning.
USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Really pretty drive across the Bay. No time to stop and take a look, but those guns....
Pulled from the webz.
A large, heavily armored and gunned ship. The USS ALABAMA was armed with:
9 × 16 in (406 mm) guns
20 × 5 in (127 mm)DP guns
6 × quadruple 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns
35 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns
I woke up too early again in San Antonio, but had gotten some sleep. I was out the door and on the road at 0000. I wanted to get home in the 3 days, but I was still 24 hrs out and nobody to trade off with. My wife wanted to fly in and drive back with me, but that wasn't really an option with the kids in school and spending money on a flight ahead of my travels, so we talked on the phone a lot as she was tracking my progress. lol
I sailed through San Antonio and miles and miles of construction, battling the 18 wheelers in the narrow sections with concrete barriers on either side, mere inches from the door, on uneven and bumpy roads while there were trying to not hit the other side. Felt like I was racing NASCAR with way more at stake. Scary as hell!
I still hadn't really left total civilization like in New Mexico and needed a stop at 0330 and Buc-ees was on my list to stop at. We don't have these in S. Florida and I missed my chance to stop at one during a lacrosse tournament last season up north. It was everything that everyone had said. If you know what I'm talking about then you know. If not, go look it up. The size of the fuel stops in Texas have so many pumps, it is crazy. Fuel prices were in the low to mid $3/gallon 87/89 and diesel was under $4/gallon the entire state and into Louisiana. The Florida panhandle would start ticking up and S. Florida was higher, but not as bad as the $7/gallon in California I saw comparatively.
I was pretty tired, so I put my sunshade up and next thing I know, I had slept/rustled for about an hour and decided to get back on the road at 0445. Ready to do battle with Houston, at least I had avoided the dreaded rush hour standstill and got through to the other side in good time, but battled the concrete barriers forever. Even had to get off on the frontage road due to construction and the police waving us through. Finally I spit out onto the open road and gotta love the 80mph speed limit in Texas. I could feel the effects of not enough sleep on top of the exhaustion setting in. I crossed into Louisiana a little after sunrise, hit up a fuel stop and got another 30 minutes of rest, but couldn't seem to get any more.
My wife was calling often to see how I was doing, plus my brother and I had many calls talking about administrative stuff and I always had tunes going. I cruised through Mississippi and Alabama with Tallahassee being my plan before sunset. The rest area stops were more often and the fatigue was real. I saw a Suburban facing the wrong way across the interstate and their caravan had broken free and was upside down and flat as a pancake. You could see the bedding and bikes like a nice piece of cake sitting there. The traffic was backed up as EMS was on the scene, but didn't look like anybody had been hurt due to the Chevy still being on 4 wheels.
Traffic was never a problem as there were no holidays to contend with. This was just a long day and pushing too hard. No issues, the car ran well. The fuel tank when full showed in the upper 400 miles to empty. The DIC fuel calculations showed 30mpg and average speed of 70mph as I just set the cruise control and kicked back watching the landscape go by.
Getting to Tallahassee was rough. I finally got into town. Thankfully FSU was playing at Clemson so the town was not full of fans. I fueled up, cleaned the bugs off the windshield and noticed a nail in the passenger rear tire. Very close to the sidewall. MFkr!! I had noticed the TPMS was low even when I was with my dad the first time. When I first arrived one side was at 41psi and the low tire was showing 26psi. The tires were all over the place. When I took it in for the service before I left AZ, I had mentioned it to them, asked again on payment and they said they couldn't see anything. Maybe I picked it up later or they missed it? Don't know, but there was one there and I still had 450 miles to Ft. Lauderdale to go.
I grabbed some food, saw a tire shop and stopped in at 1745, just before they closed and he said nope. Too close to the sidewall. I asked them to air me up so all 4 corners were the same and found a motel that had a good review online and that was an outright lie!
It was a POS, well used and abused typical big college town, brand name, next to many others near I-10. It was rough, but I got a hot shower, ate my food, watched some college football, made some calls and sacked out. The Day 4 final push was in the morning.
There were some very noisy guests outside my door and up and down the stairs that would wake me up in a few hours, but I managed to fall back asleep, then again at 0230. Half asleep, I called the front desk and nicely told them about the noise and said I had just driven in from San Antonio for 18 hours the day before (yep left at 12midnight and arrived at 1800 the same day) and I was up in a few hours and to please get them to STFU!!!
I was on the road by 0500 wanting to wake those noisy guests up, but was grateful the tire still had the same air as the night before and never wavered during the travels down south. I ran into the first rain I had seen in 2.5 weeks and it hammered down. I arrived home a little before 12noon shattered and glad to be there. Not much time to waste, we had a BBQ with some long term friends that I thought was just a small thing, but it was loud and 20 people or more. I tapped out quickly as I was too tired to socialize. It would be the first night in a loooong time that I actually slept 8 hours without staring at the ceiling or getting up. I felt very groggy, but grateful the next morning.
Just a bit under 1/2 way leaving San Antonio at 0005 in the morning.
USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Really pretty drive across the Bay. No time to stop and take a look, but those guns....
Pulled from the webz.
A large, heavily armored and gunned ship. The USS ALABAMA was armed with:
9 × 16 in (406 mm) guns
20 × 5 in (127 mm)DP guns
6 × quadruple 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns
35 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns
I woke up too early again in San Antonio, but had gotten some sleep. I was out the door and on the road at 0000. I wanted to get home in the 3 days, but I was still 24 hrs out and nobody to trade off with. My wife wanted to fly in and drive back with me, but that wasn't really an option with the kids in school and spending money on a flight ahead of my travels, so we talked on the phone a lot as she was tracking my progress. lol
I sailed through San Antonio and miles and miles of construction, battling the 18 wheelers in the narrow sections with concrete barriers on either side, mere inches from the door, on uneven and bumpy roads while there were trying to not hit the other side. Felt like I was racing NASCAR with way more at stake. Scary as hell!
I still hadn't really left total civilization like in New Mexico and needed a stop at 0330 and Buc-ees was on my list to stop at. We don't have these in S. Florida and I missed my chance to stop at one during a lacrosse tournament last season up north. It was everything that everyone had said. If you know what I'm talking about then you know. If not, go look it up. The size of the fuel stops in Texas have so many pumps, it is crazy. Fuel prices were in the low to mid $3/gallon 87/89 and diesel was under $4/gallon the entire state and into Louisiana. The Florida panhandle would start ticking up and S. Florida was higher, but not as bad as the $7/gallon in California I saw comparatively.
I was pretty tired, so I put my sunshade up and next thing I know, I had slept/rustled for about an hour and decided to get back on the road at 0445. Ready to do battle with Houston, at least I had avoided the dreaded rush hour standstill and got through to the other side in good time, but battled the concrete barriers forever. Even had to get off on the frontage road due to construction and the police waving us through. Finally I spit out onto the open road and gotta love the 80mph speed limit in Texas. I could feel the effects of not enough sleep on top of the exhaustion setting in. I crossed into Louisiana a little after sunrise, hit up a fuel stop and got another 30 minutes of rest, but couldn't seem to get any more.
My wife was calling often to see how I was doing, plus my brother and I had many calls talking about administrative stuff and I always had tunes going. I cruised through Mississippi and Alabama with Tallahassee being my plan before sunset. The rest area stops were more often and the fatigue was real. I saw a Suburban facing the wrong way across the interstate and their caravan had broken free and was upside down and flat as a pancake. You could see the bedding and bikes like a nice piece of cake sitting there. The traffic was backed up as EMS was on the scene, but didn't look like anybody had been hurt due to the Chevy still being on 4 wheels.
Traffic was never a problem as there were no holidays to contend with. This was just a long day and pushing too hard. No issues, the car ran well. The fuel tank when full showed in the upper 400 miles to empty. The DIC fuel calculations showed 30mpg and average speed of 70mph as I just set the cruise control and kicked back watching the landscape go by.
Getting to Tallahassee was rough. I finally got into town. Thankfully FSU was playing at Clemson so the town was not full of fans. I fueled up, cleaned the bugs off the windshield and noticed a nail in the passenger rear tire. Very close to the sidewall. MFkr!! I had noticed the TPMS was low even when I was with my dad the first time. When I first arrived one side was at 41psi and the low tire was showing 26psi. The tires were all over the place. When I took it in for the service before I left AZ, I had mentioned it to them, asked again on payment and they said they couldn't see anything. Maybe I picked it up later or they missed it? Don't know, but there was one there and I still had 450 miles to Ft. Lauderdale to go.
I grabbed some food, saw a tire shop and stopped in at 1745, just before they closed and he said nope. Too close to the sidewall. I asked them to air me up so all 4 corners were the same and found a motel that had a good review online and that was an outright lie!
It was a POS, well used and abused typical big college town, brand name, next to many others near I-10. It was rough, but I got a hot shower, ate my food, watched some college football, made some calls and sacked out. The Day 4 final push was in the morning.
There were some very noisy guests outside my door and up and down the stairs that would wake me up in a few hours, but I managed to fall back asleep, then again at 0230. Half asleep, I called the front desk and nicely told them about the noise and said I had just driven in from San Antonio for 18 hours the day before (yep left at 12midnight and arrived at 1800 the same day) and I was up in a few hours and to please get them to STFU!!!
I was on the road by 0500 wanting to wake those noisy guests up, but was grateful the tire still had the same air as the night before and never wavered during the travels down south. I ran into the first rain I had seen in 2.5 weeks and it hammered down. I arrived home a little before 12noon shattered and glad to be there. Not much time to waste, we had a BBQ with some long term friends that I thought was just a small thing, but it was loud and 20 people or more. I tapped out quickly as I was too tired to socialize. It would be the first night in a loooong time that I actually slept 8 hours without staring at the ceiling or getting up. I felt very groggy, but grateful the next morning.
Last edited:
OP
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Fosscore
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Back in Florida. The wife is super happy with the new ride. Daughter already drove it around the neighborhood as she is ready to get her drivers permit on 1 November. She asked me to pick her up from school one day this week in the Suburban because she missed it. The nostalgia. Ummm ok, no worries. I proceeded to listen to her and her friend, whom we carpool with, talk for 20 minutes about all kinds of stuff. You sure can learn a lot by not saying anything. lol ammaright?
That was a loooong trip. Some calculations based on a full tank at the start in AZ.
Distance 2480.8 miles.
Fuel Economy 29.9mpg.
Average Speed 68.7 MPH
34 hours from AZ to FLL
$65.86 / 14.016 gallons in Deming, NM
$47.14 / 12.089 gallons in Fort Stockton, TX
$45.41 / 12.080 gallons in San Antonio, TX
$30.43 / 8.117 gallons in Baytown/Houston, TX (Buc-ees)
$38.10 / 10.081 gallons in Mandeville, LA
$50.57 / 12.458 gallons in North Tallahassee, FL
$50.52 / 12.059 gallons in Okeechobee, FL
TOTALS $328.03 / 80.9 gallons
AVERAGES $46.86 / 11.557 gallons per fuel stop / $4.04 per gallon
I sent my mechanic buddy the tire pic. A new one is on order. $300 ouch!! Continental ProContact 245/45/20. Will get mounted before the weekend. Tire pressure still holding strong.
I gave the Buick and Suburban a solid wash to get the bugs, bee poop and rain dirt off. Then it hammered down even harder in successive storms.
I ordered new Husky X-ACT Contour mats for the Buick (I have the Weather Beaters in the Suburban, but wanted to see how much nicer the step up was.)
I am still battling the Suburban rear sway bar bushing issue. I pulled the current one out as the new ones from Cognito in California had arrive while I was in Arizona. NOPE!! Too big. They are 1.5" and it appears that the bar and current used bushings are more 1.25-1.3". Grrr....old ones back on.
Wrote to Cognito. Traded messages and they had 1 pair that they are sending me at no charge, no shipping and to keep the other set. They are no longer selling that Cognito bar. I asked her to send me 2 sets. She said we don't have any, nor any of the brackets (see previous posts about the larger bushings and brackets) but to contact Hellwig as it is their sway bar.
Well at least good info, customer service and new bushings should be here in a week from California.
The Buick has one very small ding in the leading edge of the hood which I may get taken out at some point. They actually put a clear bra on the front of the hood, so not sure how it got thru that.
I also noticed that my dad ran it throught the car wash and the fine line scratches on the wheels are pretty bad. I pulled out the DA the other day on one of the wheels with a coarse pad and polish and it brought it back to life with lots of shine. I might just pull the wheels one at a time and give them a solid detail to knock down those scratches and make them shine really well. Hard to show in pictures and nobody else would notice or even care, but it stood right out to me. Since the wife like's the dark wheels (very dark grey, almost black with a bit of small flake in there, they might as well be in better shape...so that will happen.)
Other than that, the vehicle is in really good shape. A few small paint chips, a missing floor mat (solved with the Husky's), some marks on the visors and A pillars from dirty hands and the fine line scratches, the vehicle (can't call it a truck, not really a car, but listed as a compact SUV, so there we go) is in great shape. All the tech and plenty of room in all 4 seats. The front seats are raised from where they bolt into the floor, so the kids in the back have plenty of leg room, which I noticed in the front too. Impressive for such a small ride.
It is possible I ran 2400 miles with that nail in the tire. Didn't cause me any problems once I had the same PSI in the tire.
Near Gainesville at 0730 on my final push home.
Before even washing it, I removed the 4 badges from the rear end PRONTO!! Looks way better. Much cleaner. AZ plates coming off soon with new FL registration.
Just different enough that the bushing was too big and never touched the bar.
That was a loooong trip. Some calculations based on a full tank at the start in AZ.
Distance 2480.8 miles.
Fuel Economy 29.9mpg.
Average Speed 68.7 MPH
34 hours from AZ to FLL
$65.86 / 14.016 gallons in Deming, NM
$47.14 / 12.089 gallons in Fort Stockton, TX
$45.41 / 12.080 gallons in San Antonio, TX
$30.43 / 8.117 gallons in Baytown/Houston, TX (Buc-ees)
$38.10 / 10.081 gallons in Mandeville, LA
$50.57 / 12.458 gallons in North Tallahassee, FL
$50.52 / 12.059 gallons in Okeechobee, FL
TOTALS $328.03 / 80.9 gallons
AVERAGES $46.86 / 11.557 gallons per fuel stop / $4.04 per gallon
I sent my mechanic buddy the tire pic. A new one is on order. $300 ouch!! Continental ProContact 245/45/20. Will get mounted before the weekend. Tire pressure still holding strong.
I gave the Buick and Suburban a solid wash to get the bugs, bee poop and rain dirt off. Then it hammered down even harder in successive storms.
I ordered new Husky X-ACT Contour mats for the Buick (I have the Weather Beaters in the Suburban, but wanted to see how much nicer the step up was.)
I am still battling the Suburban rear sway bar bushing issue. I pulled the current one out as the new ones from Cognito in California had arrive while I was in Arizona. NOPE!! Too big. They are 1.5" and it appears that the bar and current used bushings are more 1.25-1.3". Grrr....old ones back on.
Wrote to Cognito. Traded messages and they had 1 pair that they are sending me at no charge, no shipping and to keep the other set. They are no longer selling that Cognito bar. I asked her to send me 2 sets. She said we don't have any, nor any of the brackets (see previous posts about the larger bushings and brackets) but to contact Hellwig as it is their sway bar.
Well at least good info, customer service and new bushings should be here in a week from California.
The Buick has one very small ding in the leading edge of the hood which I may get taken out at some point. They actually put a clear bra on the front of the hood, so not sure how it got thru that.
I also noticed that my dad ran it throught the car wash and the fine line scratches on the wheels are pretty bad. I pulled out the DA the other day on one of the wheels with a coarse pad and polish and it brought it back to life with lots of shine. I might just pull the wheels one at a time and give them a solid detail to knock down those scratches and make them shine really well. Hard to show in pictures and nobody else would notice or even care, but it stood right out to me. Since the wife like's the dark wheels (very dark grey, almost black with a bit of small flake in there, they might as well be in better shape...so that will happen.)
Other than that, the vehicle is in really good shape. A few small paint chips, a missing floor mat (solved with the Husky's), some marks on the visors and A pillars from dirty hands and the fine line scratches, the vehicle (can't call it a truck, not really a car, but listed as a compact SUV, so there we go) is in great shape. All the tech and plenty of room in all 4 seats. The front seats are raised from where they bolt into the floor, so the kids in the back have plenty of leg room, which I noticed in the front too. Impressive for such a small ride.
It is possible I ran 2400 miles with that nail in the tire. Didn't cause me any problems once I had the same PSI in the tire.
Near Gainesville at 0730 on my final push home.
Before even washing it, I removed the 4 badges from the rear end PRONTO!! Looks way better. Much cleaner. AZ plates coming off soon with new FL registration.
Just different enough that the bushing was too big and never touched the bar.
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I had no idea Buicks were even still made.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
I love your road trip stories. You're like a great novelist. When I read your stories, I'm right there with you. I can picture everything you've experienced on the road. That's some awesome story telling. Glad you had a safe and mostly uneventful trip back home. I hope the Buick will be as good as a vehicle as the 'Burb is.
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Fosscore
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Blackstone oil sample analysis for the Suburban came in.
Thanks guys. Appreciated.
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Fosscore
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Yes it is. Nice house and property they were able to get from the sale of our other house we had since 1985. Super nice area under development and the houses all have 3 cars garages. The odd part is that the 3rd single door is manual at their house? Stupid for the oldies. So I moved a storage rack in front of that door since there is only 1 vehicle now. Now the garage is open to walk across and be able to see what else is on the racks.
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Fosscore
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Thx Tony. Glad you enjoy the storytelling. I am also hoping it will be a good vehicle. We have some warranty time left, so I told my wife if you don't like it or it gives us trouble other than normal maintenance, we can trade it in on something else, but enjoy if for now while the warranty is good.
