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That’s a shame about the end links. I’ve had my NM 22mm bar w/ end links for a year and a half now without a problem. I did install their billet sway bar mounts with grease fittings. I don’t have any draw bridges to stress things, but I have a lot of RR crossings and less than smooth country roads around home. For the first time I’m leaving my Goodyear Eagle F1 summer tires on all winter. I’m just going to use the Suburban for bad weather. Not sure of your location Charlie, but I’m sure it’s colder than southern Virginia.
I had the LM-60s on my S and liked them for the first 2 or 3 seasons I had them, but they wore out quickly (like due to me, my driving and the alignment I have) and with the wear, they lost their good traction in snow and hardpack. So, I bought a Wrangler with BFG KOs to replace them; the MINI has become a garage queen.
Hey, do you know why the calipers needed to be replaced at 27k miles? That seems to be an early need for replacement of those, even under warranty.
Lateral runout in one disk was the deciding factor. I too was surprised.
The calipers were not replaced of course -- just pads and rotors. I misspoke on my earlier post!
Cheers,
Charlie
Hi, I understand the need to replace the the brake pads at 27K, especially with all the spirited driving you have done. I'm disheartened that the rotors also needed replacing. If you don't mind sharing, what would have been the out of pocket cost if you had not purchased the service package.
Hi, I understand the need to replace the the brake pads at 27K, especially with all the spirited driving you have done. I'm disheartened that the rotors also needed replacing. If you don't mind sharing, what would have been the out of pocket cost if you had not purchased the service package.
Gollum and I leave next Sunday for Santa Fe New Mexico. I intend to be back by Thanksgiving.
We'll do the familiar treck down the east slope of the Appalachians to reach Knoxville, not turning left as usual to the Tale of the Dragon, but continuing on Route 40.
A good friend who drives cross country in a lovely Peterbilt is helping me with the route, and stops. For once I do not intend to push, but instead to take five days in each direction.
Returning home I shall cut south once I've cleared northern Texas, and traverse Route 20, staying clear of as much winter weather as possible.
This will allow me to share an early Thanksgiving with my sister and brother in law, which I feel strongly about this year.
You see Kevin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February, and after months of battle was essentially sent home to die in June.
Instead, his health improved to a point where he and Rachel were able to take a wonderful trip to Istanbul and Crete, from which they just returned.
The god damned cancer will get him eventually, we all know this. But in the meantime I give thanks.
And incidentally I intend to have one hell of a good road trip.
PS: It wasn't the end links. It wasn't the NM bar. When all the dust settled it was the striker on the boot latch, and a poor rubber gasket around the hatch. New parts and re-adjustment tomorrow, and then finally Gollum's bum will be quiet! My apologies to NM for a false diagnosis. The final clue was that the rattle got worse as the temperature dropped...
Getting out of New England offers three options: west, across 90 to Lake Erie, southwest to the Connecticut crown jewels (Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury), or south to Rhode Island.
In this case, southwest leads in the right general direction, and so leaving on the Sunday avoids the ample traffic that would otherwise impede progress.
Thus Gollum and I lifted anchor on Sunday the 4th of November, and proceeded toward I-81, to traverse the eastern slopes of the Appalachians on a day that welcomed travel - offering neither rain nor snow in protest.
And after the usual apparently endless stretch of Connecticut, and the top of New York, and Scranton PA, we found 81 and darted southwards all the way to Christianburg Virginia.
As reward, we dined in style and had a good rest and sleep. This part of our journey is familiar from many trips to the Tail of the Dragon.
My favorite watering hole:
The Backseat is a welcome respite from the road...
From Christianburg, the way forward is simply southwest to join I-40 and turn right - heading west past Knoxville, to Nashville, and finally to Memphis and the mighty Mississippi!
Where a wise traveler may dally on Beale Street...
Now Gollum and I are liking I-40, and headed west Tuesday morning with visions of attractions dancing in our heads.
You see I've this friend who is a long distance trucker, and gave me several pointers on my route before departure. She also happens to be the Mama for my all time favorite dog - Atlas, but that is another story.
So she says "git to Amarillo and git yerself a steak at the Big Texan..".
Yes Ma'am!
But first I had to get out of the parking lot in Memphis, and cross the Mississippi into West Memphis Arkansas... looking West...
Once west of the mighty river, Gollum is patience tested most thoroughly by the transcontinental freight...
So at this point I've an issue with my plan - having predicted to my dear sister that I'd arrive on Sunday. Leaving Amarillo on Wednesday morning I had to admit I was within a long day's drive to Santa Fe, and adjust accordingly.
So I dallied, and diverted.
Dallied with the Cadillac Ranch (thanks Norma)...
a somewhat participatory piece of art -- having morphed somewhat since its inception...
So dallying helps but diversion helps more, so Gollum and I bang a right on I-64 before approaching Albequerque, and scoot northwest to Taos, skirting the Pecos River and threading westward and northward on I-518 past Las Vegas and Pot Creek to reach it. Above 7,000 feet, traversing the foothills...
And having dallied and diverted, Gollum and I end our Wednesday sniffing around Taos Folks were skiing last week, but it is still early in the season...
On my dear sister's recommendation we finally wound up at the El Pueblo, which is an absolute bloody jewel!
Thus ended Wednesday, with Thursday promising an exploration of northeastern New Mexico and southern Colorado...
Fresh as a daisy on Thursday morning, thanks to a good night's sleep at El Pueblo, Gollum and I headed towards the northern mountains on Route 64, bending west to loop around the Carson National Forest, and traverse Las Piedras.
And not long out of Taos we get quite a surprise while buzzing across the high plains with one set of mountains in the rear view mirror, and another dead ahead.
In the midst of this flatness and vast landscape the road crosses an unimpressive bridge - no change to pitch, no obvious reason, until we were halfway across the eighth mile span. At this point it was suddenly clear that some mighty force had hewn open the floor of the plain and driven a gorge down below the level surface for a distance approaching five hundred feet! This scaled down and completely unexpected imitation of the Grand Canyon left me slack jawed and looking for a pull-out.
There was one. This video should have been shot from the bridge, as it does not entirely reveal the vast depth of the Rio Grande del Norte, but it is at least a hint.
After reaching the western edge of the basin, leaving that astonishing natural trench behind, we passed through one of the stops of a narrow gauge railway which still operates on a 64 mile track in the summer. In November the locomotive is cold, but still fascinating to a boy that will never grow up...
Of course, at such high altitudes snow can be a bit of a bother - here's a narrow gauge solution... serious snow blower...
Continuing north towards the Colorado border, I started to appreciate the LM-32 Blizzaks, although despite squalls and other nastiness later in the journey we never faced a seriously snowy road
Crossing the Colorado border on US 17
Gollum and I eventually picked up 285 and dropped back down into New Mexico, and skirting the east side of Carson we returned to Taos for another night in that fair town.
Now all the aforementioned drama only occupied six or seven hours, so Thursday afternoon greeted me - challenging my stamina and appetite for more fun.
But I am old, so that meant I lit a fire in the Kiva and recharged until the available fuel was done - and then repaired to Doc Martin's.
recharging on a long Thursday...
Did I say Doc Martin's? Y'see Wednesday I passed through the bar at the Taos Inn, and after snacking as required I discovered as I left that I had missed a great meal. Not that the Inn's bar isn't good...
So when I had recharged and run out of more wood for the fire, I went again to the Inn, and this time straight to Doc's.
Hard to say which was better, the music or the food. Who knew that Cape Breton tunes are played in the hallowed walls of this elder dwelling?
Rejuvenated, and sustained by the El Pueblo breakfast, I dedicated Friday to one more circuitous high altitude route - a two part sojourn interluding the "High Road", and then sweeping across the floor of the ancient valley north of Santa Fe to scuttle through Los Alamos and through the Valles Caldera.
Here's the High Road: Irresistible!
Particularly if one takes note of the topography and geology hereabouts...
The High Road, and the Caldera
The route twisted, rose and fell - the temperature at Taos when I left was about 14 degrees, the altitudes left me slightly breathless, and the scenery rendered me agog.
in the mountains, look east towards Taos....
many peaks over 10,000 feet in this region... looking west, between Trujas and Chimayo
I did take a detour from my detours, and on the side of a side road I was a bit surprised...
...when I stumbled on to Santa Cruz Lake, way the heck up in them hills... Either edge up?
Eventually, and after a lovely chat with the Los Alamos Security staff, I ascended the flanks of a once mighty beast.
... no elk today in the Caldera
Ultimately Gollum and I embraced our original purpose in coming to this part of the country, which was in my case at least to celebrate, wallow in, sample, sip, sup and otherwise meld with one of the best darned marriages I've ever seen. Talk about road tested! Crikey.
So Friday, after 3,400 miles of cheerful voyaging across the great spaces of the southern US, we arrived in Santa Fe and began several delightful days in the newly re-constructed house where my sis and brother in law reside.
And don'tcha know Winter was only a day or two behind!
Thought you would enjoy the High Road, our favorite route to Taos. If you saw a red/black MINI Coupe near the Plaza, it was the wife's.
As you may note, I confused myself with timing and despite being both mindful and grateful for your kind invitation I nonetheless failed to call you. Please excuse me, as that was not my intent and I regret missing the chance to introduce myself.
Charlie,
No problem-we sat in the Tampa Bay Airport for 10 hours anyway, grrrrrrrrr. Maybe next trip as you will still have visions of those roads with no guard rails....will suggest some better roads on the other side of the Jemez mountains.
Having luxuriated in Santa Fe hospitality, from my brother and sister, but also from my dear Uncle and Aunt and cousins and second cousins, I headed out Monday morning after a splendid breakfast.
We did get the garage cleaned a bit, and I did not succeed in seducing the resident cats, and despite the serenity that my visit granted me I nonetheless felt the stir of homesickness and raised anchor.
It was snowing off and on, but the weather appeared to grant me passage as I left, until I-40 east stopped before we had even hit our stride.
So the driver in that pretty Peterbilt had a nice cat riding shotgun, and in general all the adjacent victims of this predicament were good humored - as we needed to be given we were motionless for three quarters of an hour!
Eventually we were released, and made it back to Amarillo for another tasty bit of beef, and prepared for what would turn out to be a very long Tuesday indeed!
So Gollum and I rolled out of Amarillo Texas at 5:45 am, and had a drink at the Crow's Nest in Gloucester at 10:45 am Wednesday.
Salt of the earth...
We crossed Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York to return over the Massachusetts state line.
We survived 2,000 miles in 29 hours, 6 tanks of gas, many hours of lake effect squalls off of Lake Erie, and terminal fatigue to make it back to the barn and cheerful collapse. Total road trip distance was 5,400 miles in 10 days.
And Gollum earned the right to claim grand touring capabilities, with a 29 mph average, great patience where needed, and agility where required.
And just to put icing on the case, I got a chance to meet the most charming and professional young gentleman in Illinois and have a pleasant conversation with him..
Yep - State Highway Patrol. He was a peach, and I was doing 84 in a 70 zone. Bad Charlie...
But we made it, and after an oil change and some serious cleaning - all is well!
Happy Thanksgiving Rachel and Kevin and Nick and Penny and Caleb and Mina and Miles and Cora!
That’s a shame about the end links. I’ve had my NM 22mm bar w/ end links for a year and a half now without a problem. I did install their billet sway bar mounts with grease fittings. I don’t have any draw bridges to stress things, but I have a lot of RR crossings and less than smooth country roads around home. For the first time I’m leaving my Goodyear Eagle F1 summer tires on all winter. I’m just going to use the Suburban for bad weather. Not sure of your location Charlie, but I’m sure it’s colder than southern Virginia.
I am grievously remiss for not correcting the record sooner, as the rattle story was not fully told.
After removing all traces of the NM 25mm bar, the rattle persisted.
I declared fatwa on the damn noise, and put the car back in the capable hands of the Pit Crew.
It was an adjustment on the latch and striker on the rear hatch -- NOT NM parts.
So that pretty blue bar will go back on in the spring with the new wheels and tires.
Might as well enjoy this awesome car and stop conforming to SCCA Street rules - and with the Dinan Elite and 8" wide rims Gollum is pretty much going outlaw. I might see if the upper brackets on the front struts can be slotted for another .5 degree of negative camber...
We will not be competitive in STU, but will have fun.
After 15 years of SCCA autocrossing I've enough trophies and glassware to last a very long time, and I do not need any more!
I had the same problem with my boot latch a couple years ago. The dealer tech rode around with me for 30 minutes running over speed bumps at a couple shopping centers before he finally believed me. This was prior to me installing my NM suspension parts so he couldn't blame it on that. The test resulted in them replacing the bushings and a couple other parts on the front suspension too because the problems showed up during the test drive.
10-17-2018, 03:22 AM
