Pocono 400 Trip Report

[Jim Stoltz]

Today's Pocono 400 race was the first trip out this season with the old Allegro. I am the world's worst procrastinator. I didn't get to half of the work that I wanted to do on the rig before I left. And I had to leave the race early because I have school work due at midnight (that I am not doing right now - I'm typing up this post instead :) )

I mentioned in another post that I discovered a broken shock mount last week that had definitely been broken the entire time I owned the thing. I simply can't believe the difference in the way the thing handles now that the shock is repaired. It is so much nicer to drive. It was pretty windy coming and going, which is no fun, but overall it rides so much better.

I also previously mentioned that early into last year's Pocono trip, I broke the pilot tube on the fridge and had to resort to running the generator to keep the fridge on. Well the generator quit working on that trip too. This was my first trip out with everything fixed. The fridge gets so much colder on propane. The fridge hung out at around 35 degrees and the freezer was about 10-15 below zero.

It was 3 days, 2 nights of dry camping. Despite my lack of preparation, everything went really well and the 33-year-old rig performed flawlessly. I had the tanks pumped out before I left, which I had never done before. I don't know why I've been torturing myself by finding places to dump at home all these years. The $25 we paid was well worth not having the hassle of dumping when we get home.

Saturday night we saw some 20-somethings circling the area and finally settle down near us. We noticed that they were looking over and waving so we went over to introduce ourselves. Let me say at this point that I have a terrible memory with names and faces. It turns out that they look for our Allegro and set up near us every year because we're "fun." I honestly don't remember them, but was kind of flattered anyway. As per usual, it was the oldest rig there and lots of people asked about it.

I've often complained about my steep driveway here. Today I was able to climb up it without scraping for the first time. Curiously, it really did not want to climb the first 100 feet or so, which is the steepest part. I had the pedal to the metal and it was barely moving. Thankfully when we got to a less steep part it perked up. Slight moment of panic there though.

The $800 radiator I put in it last year continued to perform well. It was in the low-90s today and it barely got to 200 degrees climbing the hills and got below 180 degrees while coasting down.

We brought home a few billion ants that I will have to address. Before our next trip out, I really want to get to the front air bags (yeah, yeah - 4 years now and I still haven't replaced them).

All in all a great time with the old Allegro. There is some serious hardware out there, which does look appealing, but the old girl has a certain charm that people really seem to like.

[Dawn Michelle]

Thumbs up on your rig - glad to hear you had a great outing (after all usually we here about all the ooops episodes!) - and it does look sweet!

[Jim Stoltz]

Here's a vid I grabbed off of one of my surveillance cameras. I stopped at a local school to let the air bags pump up to 110 PSI. It's close, but no scraping! You can't tell how steep it really is until I start up the driveway with it.

https://video.nest.com/clip/e61ee876224947dabc336519e2c2952e.mp4

[Jim Stoltz]

Thanks! The ants do appear to be disembarking on their own. There's nothing really for them to do in the RV anymore. People are blown away by the Pulp Fiction-era décor. I'm often tempted to modernize it a bit, but it's in such great shape I'm keeping it retro. The previous owner did install some really hideous handles on the cabinets. I may swap those out.

On the pulling....once I get the front end fixed up (springs and/or air bags, bell crank) I'm going to have a friend of mine align it. He works at a big truck repair place and has the room and equipment to do it. My steering wheel is cranked to the left all the time to counteract the pull, but like Russ said, and like I said before, no unusual wear on the tires. I've got a bit over 2,000 miles on them so I'd think they'd be showing wear by now if it was going to happen.

[Lakota Wolf]

Now Now,, Ants DO have a reason to invade,,, Think about it for a moment,, Your an ant,, the only transportation you have is your tiny legs,, or the occasional grasshopper or beetle,, but thats really slow going.. Now think about traveling,,, as an ant, it would take you a really long time to see the country side. Now here comes along a big nice RV from someplace else and its the perfect opportunity to really get out there and see the country,, no grasshoppers or beetles,, but all the comforts of home right there under your tiny little legs. Now being an ant,, you have lots of brothers and sisters and cousins and second cousins and so on and well, you do know they will want to tag along. Its not an ant invasion,, its just a big ole family wanting to relocate.

Just give them a couple days to acclimate to the difference in temps and scenery and they will move on and build a condo somewhere on your property...

Ok, now being serious,,, Your rig looks really sweet and having the yungunz check it out, sure boosts the pride factor.. Great update on your travels,, thanks for sharing.

[Russell E Johnson]

Pulling to the right... I think that is the nature of the P30 chassis. I had mine aligned when I got it and had new tires installed. But dang, it pulls to the right constantly. And, as you said, there is no abnormal tire wear.

[Jim Stoltz]

I have the kit - I've had it for almost 3 years :). I just need to install it. I think it's the Air-Lift brand. I've been putting it off thinking I may go with the correct springs instead but that means having it weighed and I haven't had time to get to a truck scale. It's riding really close to the bump stops and the left front tire will rub on tight turns. I'm really encouraged by how much better it handles with the fixed shock. I think it could really use at least one bell crank, too, but they're expen$ive. I need to spend some quality time under it to tighten up the steering. It needs aligned, too, as it pulls pretty hard to the right. It's not tearing up the front tires though.

[Jim Stoltz]

Yes they work well. If they don't move out soon I'll have to put some out. I have some spray that works well. But it smells bad and leaves a residue (even though the bottle says it's odorless and doesn't stain).

[M K Wilkie]

I've always had success with those little ant feeders that they crawl into and take the poison back to their buddies.

[Jim Stoltz]

Thanks both! Someone had tied a garbage bag to the awning support, but it was touching the ground. That's all it took for them to invade. They went from the bag to the awning support and then inside. Hopefully now that I have all of the food out of it they'll move on. They're going to be pretty confused when they exit and find that they're now in NJ.

And yes paid for is nice. It might not be the most extravagant, but it get the job done.

[M K Wilkie]

Great report on your trip. I'm thinking we'll be the oldest in some places as well, but paid for!! Lol!