Trip To Arches, Canyonlands, & Zion National Parks

Hi my PC family,

We just got back home this weekend.  Our 2007-E350 2350 PC worked like a champ as usual.  One thing done wrong once before and I did it again during this trip was over-filling the gas tank to the point the check engine light went on.  After a few hundred miles of driving, the CE light went out and all was perfect again.  Our 3 year old pair of 6V AGM batteries continued to perform perfectly.  With 2 previous pairs of 12V batteries in the past, year number 3 would have been problematic.  I had installed a volt meter in our stove hood monitor panel which helped immensely to monitor battery health better.

This trip driving down hill on I-70 through the Rockies with our Jeep Liberty in-tow, I kept the transmission in gear #1 and let the engine rev up to 5500 rpm.  It was a very comfortable but loud experience, rolling down with flashers on just like the trucks.  I never had to use the brakes.

As far as our destinations were concerned, the 3 main parks visited were on my top 10 places to go to.  I am fascinated by God's engineering of his creative arches.  I love walking through each one I can.  Irene's 2006 Jeep Liberty was tested to it's limit at Arches NP driving the more primitive road to Tower Arch.  We had to turn back when the rock steps got too tall for the tires and vehicle clearance.

But the Liberty did great on Shaffer's Trail to Potash (also Muzzelman Arch) in Canyonlands NP and also did great through all of Long Canyon (in both directions) located near Dead Horse State Park.

In Zion NP we hiked up to Angel's Landing again (20 years since the previous time) which we wonder might be the last time for us.  At 59 years old we did fine but wonder if returning in another 10 years or so if we will be able to handle it then.

Our drive home from Zion, we took a scenic route stopping in at Bryce NP, Escalante Grand Staircase NM, and Capital Reef NP.  I think it was the first time ever that we were in 4 national parks and monuments in a single day.

Something we never did before on any trip previously taken, we never stepped into a store to buy food or other supplies with one exception, buying fruit along a roadside one time.  We enjoyed restaurants as we always did in the past, but at our destination camp sites, we managed to work with what we brought from home.

With a 2 year old grand daughter, Irene had to control me a little bit at visitor center gift shops.  I must want her to be a park ranger or something.

After 3 days on the road, it's good to be back home.  The worst job at home is getting all the bug juice off the PC.  Driving later that first night home from Hanksville UT north to I-70, a bird didn't make it and vaporized against the E350's A/C condenser.  At home, it took me some time to clean that up right.

Maybe I will will get around to posting a few pics of the trip, but it will be some time given Irene's S7 phone has nearly all the pics.  I was the videographer with my S5.

Hey Ron,  sounds like a great trip. Re bug juice on the PC, have you ever tried dryer sheets? They take the bugs right off. We use them on our cars and they work like a charm...quick and easy. Just a thought.

Ron, I enjoyed your trip report to Utah.  That is one our favorite Western destinations.  I have a question in regards to using the engine braking.  I typically keep the transmission in tow/haul mode while in the mountains and find it very useful in minimizing braking going down hill and controlling transmission temperature going uphill.

I find when monitoring transmission temperature going down hill it will increase as the engine and drive train is called on to dissipate the stored energy.  I try to limit the transmission temperature to about 207 degrees either climbing or descending which on occasion I have had to supplement the engine braking with wheel braking to control the temperature.  I am curious whether you saw an increased temperature and if so to what extent?  You mentioned having the selector in position 1 and engine speed at 5500 rpm.

I have never been above about 4,000 rpm.  I found an older Ford spec which listed the Max V10 engine speed at 5,200.  It appears I may be too conservative in limiting speed.  Do you have a more up to date engine speed spec?

Hey Ron,  sounds like a great trip. Re bug juice on the PC, have you ever tried dryer sheets? They take the bugs right off. We use them on our cars and they work like a charm...quick and easy. Just a thought.

Hmmm....I'll have to try that one.

Thanks for the tip!

I have a question in regards to using the engine braking.  I typically keep the transmission in tow/haul mode while in the mountains and find it very useful in minimizing braking going down hill and controlling transmission temperature going uphill.

I find when monitoring transmission temperature going down hill it will increase as the engine and drive train is called on to dissipate the stored energy.  I try to limit the transmission temperature to about 207 degrees either climbing or descending which on occasion I have had to supplement the engine braking with wheel braking to control the temperature.  I am curious whether you saw an increased temperature and if so to what extent?  You mentioned having the selector in position 1 and engine speed at 5500 rpm.

I have never been above about 4,000 rpm.  I found an older Ford spec which listed the Max V10 engine speed at 5,200.  It appears I may be too conservative in limiting speed.  Do you have a more up to date engine speed spec?

You ask some interesting questions of which I have no technical answers for you.

My dash board tachometer has no red line zone.  It is clean to the max of 6000 rpm so I figured it was okay to get near it.  I have no idea what the transmission temperature increased by though my ScanGauge-II could have told me if I had displayed that data.  What I can say is that I did not notice any ill effects from doing so.  The trek down I-70 like that in 1st gear was not for that long, maybe for 15 minutes done twice in each direction.  I figured the transmission and engine were both designed for it or the tach would have had a red zone.  When doing so, the engine sounded loud but of no concern, actually precision-like.  The transmission never made a sound that I could tell, nothing heard over the sound of the engine.

Quote from: Free2RV on October 02, 2017, 06:24:01 am

Hey Ron,  sounds like a great trip. Re bug juice on the PC, have you ever tried dryer sheets? They take the bugs right off. We use them on our cars and they work like a charm...quick and easy. Just a thought.

Hmmm....I'll have to try that one.

Thanks for the tip!

Wet the vehicle and the dryer sheet. Rub the bugs off and then wash off the vehicle with your vehicle wash soap, then rinse.

Got it!  I will try it today.....assuming my wife still has some drier sheets lying around.  In recent years she sprays a Shaklee product concoction on the clothes in the dryer.

We just got back from a similar trip, coming back through Cedar Breaks, Zion, and Capitol Reef from being out in Oregon. It was my first mountain trip in our PC and was a learning experience how how to keep the tranny as cool as possible. (Never had an issue with the engine temp) I use a scanguage and monitor the tranny and engine temp with the goals of keeping the tranny as far below 210 and the engine below 220 as much as possible,  and never at or above those numbers. I was able to keep the tranny at 207 or lower and the engine temp never got over 210.

My self guidelines are now:
1) never let cruise control drop 2 levels down as the tranny heats up quick
2)Always use tow haul on steep climbs and drops
3) With tow haul when you brake, it downshifts which at times is the right thing and at times you wish it wouldn't (short braking)
4) The easiest way to get it out of an overly downshifted tow haul is to take tow haul off and then reapply it

Regardless sometimes you just need to take it slow.

Its a beautiful area and well worth seeing. My biggest disappointment with the area was with all of the campgrounds filling up early in the day. I am used to and enjoy going til I want to stop and then finding a campground..usually by around 4. Not possible in this NP area even in late September.

My biggest disappointment with the area was with all of the campgrounds filling up early in the day. I am used to and enjoy going til I want to stop and then finding a campground..usually by around 4. Not possible in this NP area even in late September.

"Amen" to that.  The parks were jammed with people this past September, maybe 1/3 of them from Europe.  I can't complain, great to see responsible people spend good money here in the USA.

We never have reservations so we "wing" it every night.  It does get challenging at times.

Arches campground was closed due to construction.
In Arches and Canyonlands, we stayed in an RV park in Moab, no hookups for $20/night.
Later at the 2nd BLM outside of Moab up the Colorado River for $7.50/night with our Annual NP pass.
A few nights at Horse Thief BLM outside of Canyonlands also for $7.50/night.

At Zion, God was gracious, and so was the campground host.
We pulled into South Campground at 6:00pm on a Sunday evening.
The host said they had two handicapped sites they hold until 6pm.  Perfect timing.  But someone else had left a normal site a short time earlier and the host gave it to us.  That site cost was $20/night.

We also spent a few nights in Walmart lots and a few also in rest areas.

We do our best to travel cheap.....it's what we do.

We had to stealth camp a short ways from Kodachrome State park when it, Bryce and everything in between was full. Also had to take a dry camp spot at a campground west of Torrey & Capitol Reef. Charged us $30 for a rocky/weedy piece of ground and we were not allowed to use generators at anytime. 

We hit the same early arrival thing when we were in that area. Capital Reef was full before noon but we had read reviews and knew to roll out of Moab early so we were lucky and got a site. While playing in the area we noticed clusters of rigs in different spots. They were waiting it out on BLM dry camping areas to try for a site in the NP the next day. The NP rangers and camp hosts had a printed sheet showing local spots you could camp. It was also posted on the visitor center sign board. I don't know if they all have that but it would be worth checking if you hit a full campground. We also kept checking the reservation system and have managed to jump into a cancellation at the last minute for some of the parks.

Ron, a few more years and those NP rates you paid get cut in half. One perk for getting old. John already got his card and we're loving the bargains.

I know about that lifetime senior NP pass with 1/2 price rates.  I hope they still offer it when we become of age.

Hey Free2rv
. Thanks for the drier sheets suggestion for the bug removal.  I washed my unit yesterday and it really works great.  This forum is great for all kinds of information.  Thanks again.
Syd

Hey Free2rv
. Thanks for the drier sheets suggestion for the bug removal.  I washed my unit yesterday and it really works great.  This forum is great for all kinds of information.  Thanks again.
Syd

Glad you tried it and found how easy it was. We learned that little trick of the trade years ago on irv2 and have been doing it on our cars and motorhome ever since. We used to struggle to get the bugs off and now it's a piece of cake. Happy to pass that along to help others.   

Ron,  that sounds like a great trip.    How did you fare climbing the mountain grades ,  speed-wise  ?        Even with keeping it floored in 3rd or 4th  gear I can only manage  about 42 mph,
no toad,  tires all at 75 pounds.       Other than that it seems to run fine.      Is this typical  ?     
jim