@mysteryman,
I got your email, MM. The southern route via hwy 10 is my final choice based on the info you provided. Thank you very much. It was helpful. I don't want to chance getting caught in the snow on hwy 40 and it is iffy whether my car would make it up the long steep incline to 8000 feet. Hwy 10 has a lot more to offer for a successful trip.
@roger,
Hi Roger,
I'm not avoiding having my car having pass a smog test in NM. What I am trying to avoid is having to pay for a California smog test when I'll only be here for a couple weeks and New Mexico's DMV requires new resident vehicles be licensed and registered within 30 days of arrival in the state. I'll already have to pay for the registration twice (CA and NM), just want to eliminate the duplicate cost for a smog test in both places too.
@Butrflynet,
My guess is you'll be fine, very fine, unless stopped for some other reason, in which case you can explain. Lot of empty land, including of police cars, on the trip you're taking.
I guess I'm confused - is your CA sticker not current because of this? CA would be the place to wonder, but there are jillions of cars and they're watching, usually, for other than stickers.
@ossobuco,
No, it is not current. They will not issue one even though I've already paid the fee. It needs a smog certificate to complete the process. By the time I had enough money saved for the oil change and smog test fees, the decision to move to New Mexico had been made and it seems a waste of money I don't have a lot of; especially when I have to repeat the process again in NM 30 days later.
When the Calif. DMV is open again next week (they're on 4 day work weeks now) I'll try calling again to see if I get a different answer to the question about some kind of temporary sticker or waiver.
@Butrflynet,
Well, I fooled around for quite a while here with an expired CA sticker (though when I did the drive it was ok ). Not that I'm proud of it.
To me, driving through CA is where a CHP cruiser would catch you, frankly for little, they'd have to be desperate. Unless of course you're speeding rather much. I did speed on my journey from CA, as did virtually everyone else. So, you'd have to stand out.
I haven't had a speeding ticket since 1968 when I was stopped driving my very own first car, driving a VW at 68 miles an hour in a 65 mph zone. The officer told me that VWs shouldn't go 68.
Strangely enough, we were talking about Bugs at the Boston gathering today, Osso, and I was reminiscing about my first Bug, a 62 with the mouse fur upholstery, and how it would do 68 with the gas pedal flat on the floor and only on the dead level. There's a hill going out of Cambridge toward Concord with about a half mile of flat divided highway leading up to it. I'd floor it on the flat, hit my 68, and be doing 36 mph with the pedal still flat to the floor (and at least one downshift)at the top of the hill. Not exactly a machomobile. I was never able to get a speeding ticket tho. The cops have to make allowances for looney Boston drivers or they'd have to work twelve hours shifts to write up all the tickets they'd have to issue, so 68 in a Bug was a cakewalk here.
@MontereyJack,
Amusing, MJack. I remember that 'I think I can, I think I can, I think I can' sensation going up hills. (My bug was a '67, and I had an old VW bus for a while in the seventies.) A friend's Bug, older than mine, pooped out going up the Highway 5 "grapevine"... an experience memorable primarily for the scam the gas station at the top ran in getting young women drivers - or maybe any drivers - to pay too much in repair costs so they could continue traveling. It turned out they were famous for that.
Being a California driver, osso, you probably escaped the winter thing about Bugs--the heater boxes invariably rusted out just before winter, or the first time in winter you tried to close them, the cable or the flap would sigh and fall apart, so the only difference between being inside the car and being outside was you were out of the wind inside. 15 degrees outside, 15 degrees inside, well, maybe 20, body heat did something--which was why it was always better to travel with a carful in winter. And you needed an ice scraper not only to clear your windshield so you could see to drive, but to clear your windshield INSIDE, when the moisture in your breath turned to ice just where you were trying to look out. Kids these days have it soft, they don't know the trials of the spirit we had to go thru just to get somewhere.Maybe we didn't have to put cardboard in the soles of our shoes to walk to school, but we had to put plywood on the floor pans of our bugs so our feet didn't drag on the ground where the floor had rotted out.
But I loved that car and was heartbroken when the engine died at 108000. Somewhere I have a blurry picture my girlfriend took while we were moving, somewhere on the road in Nova Scotia, when the odometer turned 100,000.
@ossobuco,
Not sure it's a scam to be overcharging for auto repairs on the Grapevine. It's not like breaking down close to home -- you REALLY need to get on your way. Supply and demand and all that.
A scam is the time I was driving through Montana (or maybe it was Wyoming; in fact, I'm pretty sure it was Wyoming, now that I think of it) and I had to swerve around a board full of nails on the interstate and thinking, "What the **** is that about?"
A couple of miles up, at the next exit, was a service station with a big sign advertising tire repair. Coincidence? I dunno, I've driven across the country three times now, and that's the only time I've ever had to dodge a board full of nails...
@MontereyJack,
Very funny description.
But why am I laughing? Sounds very true.
@patiodog,
Gee, the odd tack or two would seem to be a more subtle ploy...
Yeh, I don't know it was a scam. I forget what had to be done (after all, it wasn't
my car, but her boyfriend told us it was a scam. He was a test pilot, thus knew all...
Need someone to explain some things to me please. I am trying to get estimates from Uhaul's website on a truck and car dolly configuration. Everytime I enter the make and model of my car it replaces the car dolly with a car towing equipment but doesn't say why.
Here's the info in the car dolly user guide:
Quote:LOADING
The vehicle-in-tow MUST be loaded facing
forward (front wheels on tow dolly). Failure to load
facing forward may result in sway or WHIPPING and
lead to total loss of control.
Here's a scan from my 93 Mercury Cougar's owner's manual about towing:
From what I am reading it sounds like my car cannot be towed at highwy speeds or for any great distance with a front load on the dolly without it doing damage to the transmission. The manual recommends rear loading to avoid this.
The two items, the Uhaul instructions and my car's manual seem to be in conflict. Is this the problem and should I not consider using a car dolly? Is there a workaround for this or am I stuck using a towing trailer that has all four car tires off the ground?
@Butrflynet,
I've forgotten your car, already. If it is front wheel drive, the front wheels go on the dolly. If it is rear wheel drive, the old work around was to have someone remove the driveshaft before towing.
Don't take that as final advice, but that's my understanding of how it is done.
@roger,
It is a '93 Mercury Cougar. The owner's manual doesn't specifically say, but the info on this consumer's website seems to be saying that it is rear-wheel drive.
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/1990-to-1997-mercury-cougar.htm
Quote:1990-1997 Mercury Cougar Review
The Mercury Cougar got a clean-sheet redesign for 1989, and saw no major changes for 1990. As before, the new Cougars differed from the mechanically similar Ford Thunderbird primarily in their formal roofline and Mercury grille. A 140-horsepower, 3.8-liter V6 and 4-speed overdrive automatic came standard in the base LS. For the premium XR7, Mercury added a supercharged and intercooled version of the overhead-valve V6, which delivers 210 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque. Both engines were paired with either a 5-speed manual or optional automatic. Four-wheel antilock disc brakes came standard on the XR7, but were optional on the LS.
Quote:Year to Year Changes
1991 Mercury Cougar: The supercharged V6 engine and 5-speed transmission have both been dropped from the powertrain lineup for 1991 and replaced with Ford's 5.0-liter High Output V8, also used in the Mustang and Lincoln Mark VIII. The engine comes standard on the performance-oriented XR7 and optional on the Cougar LS. Exterior detail changes include a revised hood, grille, headlamps, and taillamps, plus new side molding.
1992 Mercury Cougar: The 1992 XR7 hit the showrooms with new alloy wheels and a freshened interior that includes new seat and door trim. In addition, the parking brake is now activated by a floor-mounted pedal instead of a console-mounted lever. To mark the 25th anniversary of the Cougar a special LS model arrives midyear, equipped with a distinctive monochromatic color scheme, the H.O. 5.0-liter V8, BBS aluminum wheels, and special trim.
1993 Mercury Cougar: For 1993, all Cougars are listed as XR7 models. However, Mercury has purposely de-emphasized Cougar's former performance image by dropping most of the XR7 model's sporty equipment. The surviving model is equipped much like last year's LS. Both the adjustable suspension and performance tires on last year's XR7 are gone, while the antilock brakes and limited-slip axle are now optional.
Quote:Consumer Guide® Road-Test Evaluation
The V6 provides adequate acceleration, but we really do prefer the optional V8. If possible, find a 1994 model with the new 4.6-liter unit. While it doesn't get appreciably better gas mileage, it's smoother, quieter, and feels more potent than the old 5.0-liter. Expect 0-60 times of about 8.8 seconds, which is almost two seconds faster than with the V6. The automatic seems sluggish and reluctant when asked to downshift and pass. While we endorse the optional antilock brakes, the traction control we tried did not perform well. Handling is old-school Detroit at best: plenty of body lean and not very appealing. Even the XR7 model prefers to be driven in a straight line over challenging curves. Ride can best be described as plush, even floaty on the base model. Interior room is good for four adults, but rear-seat leg room is not as good as the car's size would suggest. Controls are for the most part good, but the optional electronic gauge cluster is hard to read in daylight and prone to early failure.
Value for the Money
All-in-all, Cougar is a solid choice in the coupe market, but its rear-wheel drive and gas-guzzling engines are too big a disadvantage in this hotly contested market segment.
Rear wheel drive, then. Then, my opinion is that you can have the driveshaft removed, and tow it with the front wheels on the dolly. The driveshaft goes in the towing vehicle, by the way.
Where are all those car people when we need them?
just my own experience here, no expertise, when I moved from denver to phoenix I rented the uhaul with dolly, they (uhaul) hooked up the dolly and put my GMC Jimmy(rear wheel drive) on the dolly (front wheels off the ground) put the transmission in neutral and away I went driving 60mph straight thru from denver to phoenix.
@dyslexia,
Manual transmission, though, right?
@dyslexia,
The rumor on that heavy iron Detroit stuff is that there is an oil pump in the automatics that works when the tranny is driven by the engine, but not when it's driven by the driveshaft, so the transmission suffers loss of lubrication while turning. This is just "heard on the street" stuff to me.
If you are going to dolly it that far, pulling 4 bolts and freeing the drive shaft is a very good idea.
You will need to invest in a plug for the back of the transmission so you don't leave a trail all the way to NM...
