fueling up with diesel

[Gene]

'geezer, on our first long trip (we'd had the trailer a few weeks) I went to a truck stop in Arizona. The place was packed as it was Thanksgiving weekend. When I pulled into a space (the end ones were packed with giant MoHo's) I looked ahead and there seemed to be barely enough space to get out with the pickup alone. After I filled up, I decided to back out, something I had only done a very little bit before. Those people in their cars looked very nervous and I tried to look like I knew what I was doing. My wife was trying to help, but she knew nothing more than I did.

Somehow I managed not to crush any cars or kill anyone and got back on the road. So far as I know I was not reported for dumb fueling decisions to the Federal Dep't of Idiocy, so I got away with it.

I have found the truck/trailer combination has a pretty good turning radius. Maybe I would have been able to go forward that time in Arizona. One of the advantages for us geezers is that people have such low expectations of us, we can look like fools at the gas station and it's ok.

One main concern at gas stations is those big steel, concrete filled pipes that protect the gas pumps from people like us. I just go slow and try to watch every corner of everything. Because there are people walking around, some of them small and hyper, they are also a big concern. Pulling in and out seems less important compared to hitting kids.

Enjoy your new truck. Fuel it whenever you're unhitched—it's just easier. Hopefully it breaks-in in the next few years. Try small gas stations to challenge yourself. Make your wife drive and let her deal with fueling (tell her it's time for your nap; my wife always believes that!).

Gene

[Mikethefixit]

Brian I'm glad U got to meet Don on your tour.He worked there 50 yrs and still goes in everyday an gives that tour. I think he worked every job in that place. Don May I hear is a Good dealer. I have no idea about their service dept tho.
Pick there is no Water at your DuraMax Turbo only oil. I have been drivin Diesels since before you were born. I was an owner operator(big trucks) That means I did the repair work myself . BUT I GUESS I DONT KNOW NUFFIN

[Pick]

Pick there is no Water at your DuraMax Turbo only oil.

Yes, there is, in the LB7. They did go to a variable vane turbo on later models, not sure if they are water cooled, or not.

[henw]

We stay away from exits with lots of business activity. Too much traffic.
The book " Next Exit" is now organized by highway instead of State. It's the second best thing to have in the front seat, first is the GPS. Lets you know well in advance about bigger rig exit services.

Tom

[ScottMac]

Wingeezer,

We recently switched from a gasser to a diesel. Fueling up with the diesel is actually less stressful since, as many have stated, many stations have their diesel pumps on the outside or in a lot of cases set apart from the gas pumps - making it easier to get in and out.

In central Oklahoma, it is a mixed bag for handle colors - some of them are green and some are yellow. I've always thought they should be yellow. If you go to the store and buy a fuel container - gas containers are red, diesel cans are yellow, water generally blue or green. I think there should be some "standardization and coordination" in that regard. After all, green is go, yellow, yield and red, stop. Imagine the fun if not all signal lights were consistent!!

We tow with an '08 Ford F-250 Long bed SuperCab (extended cab, not crew). Our F150 did OK, but the diesel is like night and day. We now put our Goldwing in the back of the truck and I use the tow/haul mode - the additional braking the engine provides in this mode while towing is amazing. I have used a fuel additive from day one (many 6.4l owners are reporting less frequent regen cycles using an additive). Ford allows for this and it will not void the warranty as long as the additive meets Ford's specifications. This is printed in the owners manual.

Do you travel with your Wing? We love setting up and using the bike to get out and explore new territory.

[Pick]

Yeah, watch out for those handle colors. A neighbor of mine found out that BP uses black handles instead of the green that all the other stations in our area use. Of course he wanted to sue BP over this and they told him to go pound salt.

[Mikethefixit]

Pick I will research and get back to ya.

[Pick]

Mike, here is a picture showing the coolant feed line going to the turbo, off the brass fitting on the engine to radiator top hose.

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

'geezer, on our first long trip (we'd had the trailer a few weeks) I went to a truck stop in Arizona. The place was packed as it was Thanksgiving weekend. When I pulled into a space (the end ones were packed with giant MoHo's) I looked ahead and there seemed to be barely enough space to get out with the pickup alone. After I filled up, I decided to back out, something I had only done a very little bit before. Those people in their cars looked very nervous and I tried to look like I knew what I was doing. My wife was trying to help, but she knew nothing more than I did.

Somehow I managed not to crush any cars or kill anyone and got back on the road. So far as I know I was not reported for dumb fueling decisions to the Federal Dep't of Idiocy, so I got away with it.

I have found the truck/trailer combination has a pretty good turning radius. Maybe I would have been able to go forward that time in Arizona. One of the advantages for us geezers is that people have such low expectations of us, we can look like fools at the gas station and it's ok.

One main concern at gas stations is those big steel, concrete filled pipes that protect the gas pumps from people like us. I just go slow and try to watch every corner of everything. Because there are people walking around, some of them small and hyper, they are also a big concern. Pulling in and out seems less important compared to hitting kids.

Enjoy your new truck. Fuel it whenever you're unhitched—it's just easier. Hopefully it breaks-in in the next few years. Try small gas stations to challenge yourself. Make your wife drive and let her deal with fueling (tell her it's time for your nap; my wife always believes that!).

Gene

I guess you are right, I should not forget that backing up could always be an option, I'm getting not too bad at that!

I find the worst is those stations where you are lined up pointing right at the office/convenience store when you are fueling. Often there are no cars parked in front of the store when you arrive, so a fairly easy exit looks possible - I usually try to park way out from the pump so I can swing wide around those iron pipes when leaving.


Problem occurs when suddenly the parking spots in front of you - out front the store suddenly all fill up, then you have no room to swingwide to escape.

I usually just wait at that point and try to ask new people moving into vacated spots - I guess backing out would likely be a better way to go!

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by Mikethefixit

Brian I'm glad U got to meet Don on your tour.He worked there 50 yrs and still goes in everyday an gives that tour. I think he worked every job in that place. Don May I hear is a Good dealer. I have no idea about their service dept tho.
Pick there is no Water at your DuraMax Turbo only oil. I have been drivin Diesels since before you were born. I was an owner operator(big trucks) That means I did the repair work myself . BUT I GUESS I DONT KNOW NUFFIN

Yep, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure it was Don!

I was inclined to accept his advice to carry the mountain bikes on teh bike of the trailer as he seemed pretty knowledgeable and had no hesitation in telling me it would be fine.

I only changed my mind when so many folk on this forum - whose opinions I also respect very much recommended against it. I figured that since I don't "have" to carry the bikes that way, better safe than sorry.

The folks at Jim May RV in Findlay seemed ok to deal with and the price seemed fair - although no giveaway!

I was a bit surprised however that they gave absolutely zero warranty on a used airstream. Realistically however, I suppose it would not have been more than 30 days at most and unless there was a major issue, unlikely I would drag the trailer all the way back to Ohio.

Instead, we spent the first night in the trailer on their property to try to check everything out., Only problem I found was a tv antenna that wouldn't operate properly - just needed lube which they did for us in the am before we left.

A couple of things that I was not thrilled about though.

(1) They sold me a new hitch as they said the one I had brought would not suit. I never realized it when we pulled out in the morning (trailer was parked on quite a slope) but they had set the hitch up with teh trailer in a very nose up attitude - luckily I had wrenches and there were enough holes in the hitch to adjust it myself next night.

(2) I paid about $300 extra to have them check out the brakes and repack the bearings for me before we arrived to pick up the trailer.

When I picked up all the paperwork, I noticed the labour charge, charge for shop supplies/grease, but no charge for seals.

When I queried this, they said the seals were fine. I guess I am either too polite or too timid to complain, but it really made me wonder if they did any work at all on the trailer. I have always changed seals as a matter of course whenever I repack bearings.

My guess is they may have just pulled the drums and perhaps thrown a bit of extra grease in the bearings, but never pulled the inside bearing at all, but I stopped short of accusing them as of course I had no evidence of this - just left me with a bad feeling!

I have bought a set of seals and one spare bearing set, so this winter when we are in warmer country I will pull at least one wheel to see if there is any cause for concern and may need to do a repack myself - if i can quietly do it without being chucked out of a campground!

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by ScottMac

Wingeezer,

We recently switched from a gasser to a diesel. Fueling up with the diesel is actually less stressful since, as many have stated, many stations have their diesel pumps on the outside or in a lot of cases set apart from the gas pumps - making it easier to get in and out.

In central Oklahoma, it is a mixed bag for handle colors - some of them are green and some are yellow. I've always thought they should be yellow. If you go to the store and buy a fuel container - gas containers are red, diesel cans are yellow, water generally blue or green. I think there should be some "standardization and coordination" in that regard. After all, green is go, yellow, yield and red, stop. Imagine the fun if not all signal lights were consistent!!

We tow with an '08 Ford F-250 Long bed SuperCab (extended cab, not crew). Our F150 did OK, but the diesel is like night and day. We now put our Goldwing in the back of the truck and I use the tow/haul mode - the additional braking the engine provides in this mode while towing is amazing. I have used a fuel additive from day one (many 6.4l owners are reporting less frequent regen cycles using an additive). Ford allows for this and it will not void the warranty as long as the additive meets Ford's specifications. This is printed in the owners manual.

Do you travel with your Wing? We love setting up and using the bike to get out and explore new territory.

Thanks for the encouraging comments! I'm sure I will be fine once we get out on the highway and get stuck in!


I would dearly love to travel with the Goldwing and considered it fairly seriously, but I just don't think it would work for us.

I'm a fairly little "Geezer" - maybe 150# wringing wet, and as you know, the Goldwing weighs over 900# fuelled up. Once it starts to go over, ain't no stopping it! I would be really nervous trying to handle it up & down ramps into the bed of our truck which is pretty high being a 3/4ton 4x4.

As well, it is only a standard box, so I guess I'd need the tailgate down & I'm not sure if that would cause clearance problems - never really looked at it.


I know there are hydraulic or cable winch rigs to self-load a bike into a pickup truck bed, and I would have considered that, but another big factor is that on our last truck - and now on the new one, we use a Leer cap and make much use of the pickup to keep extraneous junk and clutter, even boots & extra clothing and food, in a multitude of those big rubbermade boxes - works very well for us.

So my compromise is to take mountain bikes on the front of the truck and reserve motorcycle trips for the summer. Our Wing is a 2006 and it has taken me from coast to coast in Canada and also to Florida last summer. I built a small luggage trailer to pull behind when the "Mrs" decides to come with me on multiple day rides!

[ScottMac]

Wingeezer,

Understand completely. We had a shell on our F-150 - when we bought the F-250 to add the motorcycle (started with a Suzuki C50 Boulevard, traded up to '08 ABS Wing this past July) to the mix, we had to "find a new home or leave it at home" for several things we used to carry in the bed.

Our 9' ramp attaches (stays attached while trailering - tailgate off) to the hitch shank and is 43 inches wide, so it is a "ride up with feet down" setup. Surprisingly enough, the 900 lb. Wing is easier to ride up than the 600 lb. Boulevard. The Wing has so much low end torque and power in first gear, I just let the clutch out and she glides slowly up. I had to give the Bully a bit of throttle to get up the ramp and then shut it down very quickly to prevent going through the back of my cab! That GL1800 is an amazing piece of machinery!

Well, keep the rubber down and the chrome up... hmmm ... since this is an Airstream forum ... keep the rubber down and the aluminum up!!

[WK57ABF]

Wingeezer & ScottMac,

Just a quick chirp in. I'm a frail 69 year old and never ride up the ramp, don't want the bike on top of me! We have Blue Ox 7' x 3' ramp and always wheel the bike up. We find a grass bank to raise foot of ramp some 18" - 24" and the bike is easily pushed up with a bit of a run to get up speed and momentum. Always sit on bike when unloading.

John

[Cracker]

Just to get it off my chest - although I doubt if it does any good - I always make it a point to suggest to the station attendant that they put a simple "diesel" sign on the appropriate non-commercial island. It's been my experience that there is absolutely no standardization on where to find the diesel pump and - invariably - you spot it just after the point of no return! Even where the only diesel is at "truck" islands it would be great if the stations would just point out the location of the small nozzle! If I fail to spot the right pump in time I usually just pull out and "go around." This is sort of like handling a large boat - if your first approach to the dock gets screwed up, cancel it and start over. Trying to salvage a bad approach to the dock - or, in this case, to the diesel island, does nothing but provide entertainment for the bystanders!

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by Cracker

Just to get it off my chest - although I doubt if it does any good - I always make it a point to suggest to the station attendant that they put a simple "diesel" sign on the appropriate non-commercial island. It's been my experience that there is absolutely no standardization on where to find the diesel pump and - invariably - you spot it just after the point of no return! Even where the only diesel is at "truck" islands it would be great if the stations would just point out the location of the small nozzle! If I fail to spot the right pump in time I usually just pull out and "go around." This is sort of like handling a large boat - if your first approach to the dock gets screwed up, cancel it and start over. Trying to salvage a bad approach to the dock - or, in this case, to the diesel island, does nothing but provide entertainment for the bystanders!

Cracker,

That's just the concern that got me to start this thread in the first place!

Being new to diesel, but already knowing that you have to think pretty quickly as you approach a gas station, to make sure the pump that you choose is going to give you a good exit route, I figured that maybe unless there is some sort of standardization as to where the diesel pump is, the problem would now be compounded - and I guess you have confirmed it will be so at least part of the time!

Anyway, I've picked up some good tips from asking the question, and in the worst case scenario, your plan "B" (ie take a second pass at the station) should always be an option!

I guess I'll just deal with it!

Yesterday, I did receive my "Next Exit" book that at least shows me exit by exit where I can find diesel, and also, they print in red as opposed to black where the gas station is what they consider to be RV friendly, so i think that will become a good friend!


Brian

[Gene]

Next Exit is great, and we would have really appreciated it for one trip where we forgot to bring it. It's a nice size for the passenger's lap, unlike Woodall's which is like having the Manhattan phone book to deal with.

Cracker, glad you got it off your chest. We don't have a diesel, but I can understand your frustration. I've never understood why retailers of all sorts don't think of ways to make it easy to spend money at their store.

And glad to hear that we're not the only ones who get confounded by gas stations and the unfriendly ways they are often built. We're good customers—we buy a lot of fuel; you'd think they'd want us to come back.

Gene

[99Limited34]

I put a 100 gallon auxiliary fuel tank i the back of our truck, and modified the filling necks of the trucks stock tanks so they will accept the high flow filling nozzles, makes filling up much easier, having the big tanks means we can be very selective as to where we fill up, I usually go to flying J's as they're easy in and easy out..Having the ability to carry 140 gallons of fuel is really nice..

[JBinKC]

Friends: We traveled 10,000 miles this year with our 26-gal original equipment fuel tank. I had one close call, where I couldn't find a filling station with diesel until I got pretty low. Except for that, I have to stop long before the truck does. I'll add a 5-gal jerry can for our 3,000-mile WBCCI Southwest Adventure Caravan in April '11, but my experience so far is that an aux tank hasn't been necessary, or even desireable because of the added weight, expense and bulkiness in the truck bed. Best wishes, John

[Pahaska]

26 gallons is simply not enough to suit me.

I have a 40-gallon aux tank in the truck bed. I wouldn't be without it. That, plus the 26-gallon regular tank gives me 66 gallons, good for about 2 days travel. I figure I have an effective 60 gallons. I can pick the stations with good access and with good prices.

My tank automatically starts refilling the main tank when it gets down to 1/3 and slowly fills it up to 2/3. I put a LED on the dash so I know when it is refilling. If the main tank gauge goes below 1/3, I know the aux tank is empty. I have never gone below 1/3 in the main tank in three years with this system.