I'm finally back online in Oregon. The Trooper performed rather well, except when the wind got out of hand.

I hauled a Carry-On 5x8 enclosed trailer (3140 pounds, 150 over the 2990 rating!) from central PA to coastal Oregon, by way of Moab and a day at Arches Nat'l Park. Never unhitched the trailer the whole trip.

When it wasn't too windy or uphill, the Trooper would cruise at 80MPH without any trouble. Indeed, the power curve encourages 80MPH cruising over 70MPH. At 70, you've got almost no power for acceleration. At 80, you step on the gas and go faster.

Trip stats:
3132 miles
313.990 gallons of gas
$755.84 fuel expense
10.13MPG
Average $/gallon = $2.407
20 fill-ups + 3 10-gallon purchases
Most expensive gas: Vail, CO ($2.759 for premium)

I spent long stretches in 4th gear when the wind was in my face. First in western Nebraska, then again between Moab and Park City and even more in Idaho and eastern Oregon. In Idaho I drove an entire tank of gas in 4th gear at nearly 4K RPM (just under 70MPH). That tank I got barely 8MPG.

Much to my surprise, I used NO OIL the entire trip. I was running Mobil1 0W40 (couldn't find 0W30 before the trip).

The temperature gauge never budged, even climbing the Rockies west of Denver or fighting the wind in Idaho.

No flat tires, no speeding tickets, nothing.

Now that I'm here, the Trooper is getting better fuel economy than ever before. Go figure. 3000 miles of truly severe duty and it's running better than ever. Man, I love this truck.

Moab was awesome. The whole family is stoked to get back to that place for a longer stay. Two nights/one day was definitely not enough. I can see why you guys chose that place for an off-road jamboree. I've never seen a more off-road friendly place in my life--even in Alaska.

I've got a few pics I'll eventually post, but not today.

I think I've started the undoubtedly long search for a diesel Trooper.

Glad to hear the trip was amazingly easy and merciful! Ah Oregon, I dont think Im going to move out of this place for awhile.

Where exactly? Anywhere close to Tillamook? If so I will have to keep you in the loop for the TIllamook OHV Park runs.

Nice trip. I have been to Moab 4 times, including two trips towing my pop-up camper twice with my 99 Trooper, and no doubt the wind direction made a huge difference in fuel economy. IIRC I got about 12 mpg generally, but my camper is about half the weight of your trailer. I know that trip across Nebraska well...

I also filled up in Vail...once. Never again.

Now you just need to turn around and head back to Moab next week for ZuZoo! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Or maybe Crawloween in the fall.

I am exactly in Tillamook and would love to do some off-roading sometime.

I've got quite a bit of experience off-road--mostly in Alaska where I built a cabin 3 miles past the end of the gravel road. I had an FJ40 Landcruiser for a while and two pickups--a Dodge W250 Crew Cab Short Bed (super heavy duty, originally a Coast Guard truck) and a Chevy 250 that was as heavily built as they come--rear axle was HUGE. Most of my off-road driving was practical rather than for entertainment and my current Trooper is my wife's daily driver--it's bone stock and doesn't have LSD. So nothing too serious, yet...

I am patiently searching for a diesel trooper as a project vehicle. I'll need a hunting rig before too long and the wife's DD probably isn't the best thing.