1800 Miles in the Bronco

As some of you read a week or two ago, I just finished putting my Bronco back on the road. Well last saturday, my wife found out her grandma in CO had passed away. I knew we had to be there for the funeral, and at the same time, my mother-in-law was wanting my old 85 Honda to give to her youngest son. I decided that since my Durango with its itty bitty 318 didnt like pulling all those hills with just us in the truck, it would probably blow itself up out of spite if I tried pulling a car behind me to. Decided what the hell, we’ll take the Bronco.

This plan had 2 solid points. IF the truck broke down, I’d have the honda to run to get parts with, AND if the truck made it all the way to Longmont, CO from Vegas without any issues, the return trip without 3k lbs of dead weight attached should be just fine.

We pulled out of Vegas on Monday about noon. Truck was doing great untill we reached the I-70 junction, when the truck started bucking and coughing like it was starving for fuel. I pulled over, cleaned out the fuel filter thinking it was maybe plugged with crap from sitting. No dice. Out of frustration, I nailed the gas, and wouldnt ya know it, the truck took off like a bat out of hell. It wasnt starving for fuel, it was getting WAY too much! From that point on, it was balls out and the truck ran great

Well Im not the greatest carb guy, so with a little help from a My427Stang on the phone, we arrived at the conclusion that the likely culprit was a blown power valve. We ended up getting to Green River, UT in decent fashion, but the NAPA was closed, and since I wasnt getting the greatest mileage I decided to spend the night in a motel 6 and fix it in the morning. The local NAPA had one in stock, and we were fixed and back on the road in less than an hour after breakfast.

From that point on, it was easy driving all the way over Vail and donw into Longmont. Even with the carb issues, I managed to average 9mpg on the drive up.

Learned an important lesson the morning after we arrived. See, as a desert rat, I’ve never dealt with snow. I’ve never had to learn that the lil piles of plowed snow in my mother-in-law’s neighborhood werent all soft and fluffy like you see in truck commercials. In fact, I learned that at a measely 25 mph, if you hit one thats about 2 ft high, you ARE going to go air borne. The neighbors got a nice clear shot of the underside of my truck. Luckily the truck came out unscathed. The wife managed to learn that even in a residential neighborhood, you wear your seatbelt when I drive

Spent a week in CO, drove the truck all over the local area, and even took a trip up to Estes without any problems, and overall had a good time.

The trip home was likewise un eventful, short of a vibration coming from the rear end about halfway home, but Im pretty sure the pinion nut is just a bit loose, and I’ll be taking care of that in the morning.

All in all it was a great trip, and the Bronco performed better than I could have wanted.

Oh, and the mileage on the return trip was somewhere between 12-13mpg, and thats with a 460 cruising at 75-80. Not to shabby if ya ask me.