Roadtrip- Chicago to Shreveport
03-22-15, 07:01 PM
#1
Roadtrip- Chicago to Shreveport
So I just did a 900 miles trip from Chicago to Shreveport and it was not without with little moments of excitement. After much debate I decided to travel with my winter runflats rather than my summer wheels. You might ask why. I wanted to use my torn up TRD rims rather than my new 20" Roderick as I heard the roads are pretty harsh down in Shreveport. Plus no spare for the 20"s and at least I would have some security with runflats.
I started my trip at 6:00am from the outskirts of Chicago. Made it about 220 miles and had a blow out on the highway at 75mph. Yup, driver rear tire shrapneled into pieces and I pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know how large the hole was so I tried some Fix a Flat to try to cover my bases. Nope, didn't work. So I limped on the shoulder to the next exit 5 miles up. Low and behold, a Goodyear station! Luckily they had a 245/40/18 in stock. Cheap Chinese Rotalla but I had no choice. $125 with M&B. Old tire sidewall was completely shredded. Back on the road an hour later.
I noticed when I left Chicago that my Google directions and my OEM nav were about 2 hours in difference. So I was usually sticking to the Google Nav but of course there were roads that didn't show on the OEM unit so it would appear as if I was travelling in the middle of a field. Haha. But nothing I wasnt used to. Unfortunately, a major roadway was blocked and then closed (57South), and brought traffic to a total standstill. They actually rerouted traffic through a few tiny towns that looked like something from Deliverance. I still can't find out why they closed 57South, but I do think it might be to drum up some business in those little towns (food, gas, souvenir shopping, etc).
Anyway, an hour and half and max speeds of 25mph, back onto a major roadway.
As it was getting dark I realized a new problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, my front ride height sensor had failed and the lights were pointing too low. I tried to adjust them with a screwdriver but didn't have one that was long enough to reach so I just traveled without the repair. Huge mistake! I coun't see anything more than 15 feet ahead of me. And most of the roads were in heavily wooded areas without street lighting. I was freaking out. Watching the edges like a hawk for deer and other woodland creatures. Did have a rabbit run across the roadway but spotted it with enough time to keep safe. Whew!
All in all made it safely here, and now just settling in for about 6 weeks, then back to Chicago. I made poor time due to the highway closure (hooray for those towns that made bank on tourists). I was getting about 23.5mpg the entire way keeping the speedometer around 75mph for most of it. I only had about 2 "true" fill ups. I was able to get over 400 miles to the tank! First fill got me 410 miles, second fill got me 433 miles. I was really topping the tank to the max, though. Total trip time was 16 hours. Here's some photos. Thanks for reading!
I started my trip at 6:00am from the outskirts of Chicago. Made it about 220 miles and had a blow out on the highway at 75mph. Yup, driver rear tire shrapneled into pieces and I pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know how large the hole was so I tried some Fix a Flat to try to cover my bases. Nope, didn't work. So I limped on the shoulder to the next exit 5 miles up. Low and behold, a Goodyear station! Luckily they had a 245/40/18 in stock. Cheap Chinese Rotalla but I had no choice. $125 with M&B. Old tire sidewall was completely shredded. Back on the road an hour later.
I noticed when I left Chicago that my Google directions and my OEM nav were about 2 hours in difference. So I was usually sticking to the Google Nav but of course there were roads that didn't show on the OEM unit so it would appear as if I was travelling in the middle of a field. Haha. But nothing I wasnt used to. Unfortunately, a major roadway was blocked and then closed (57South), and brought traffic to a total standstill. They actually rerouted traffic through a few tiny towns that looked like something from Deliverance. I still can't find out why they closed 57South, but I do think it might be to drum up some business in those little towns (food, gas, souvenir shopping, etc).
Anyway, an hour and half and max speeds of 25mph, back onto a major roadway.
As it was getting dark I realized a new problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, my front ride height sensor had failed and the lights were pointing too low. I tried to adjust them with a screwdriver but didn't have one that was long enough to reach so I just traveled without the repair. Huge mistake! I coun't see anything more than 15 feet ahead of me. And most of the roads were in heavily wooded areas without street lighting. I was freaking out. Watching the edges like a hawk for deer and other woodland creatures. Did have a rabbit run across the roadway but spotted it with enough time to keep safe. Whew!
All in all made it safely here, and now just settling in for about 6 weeks, then back to Chicago. I made poor time due to the highway closure (hooray for those towns that made bank on tourists). I was getting about 23.5mpg the entire way keeping the speedometer around 75mph for most of it. I only had about 2 "true" fill ups. I was able to get over 400 miles to the tank! First fill got me 410 miles, second fill got me 433 miles. I was really topping the tank to the max, though. Total trip time was 16 hours. Here's some photos. Thanks for reading!
Last edited by ShawnOk; 03-22-15 at 10:40 PM.
03-22-15, 07:15 PM
#3
WOW that's a hell of a tire! Looks like it's off a truck with that tread pattern! Glad you made it and I bet overall it was fun. Did you get to put the top down at all?
So I just did a 900 miles trip from Chicago to Shreveport and it was not without with little moments of excitement. After much debate I decided to travel with my winter runflats rather than my summer wheels. You might ask why. I wanted to use my torn up TRD rims rather than my new 20" Roderick as I heard the roads are pretty harsh down in Shreveport. Please no spare for the 20"s and at least I would have some security with runflats.
I started my trip at 6:00am from the outskirts of Chicago. Made it about 220 miles and had a blow out on the right. Yup, driver rear tire shrapneled into pieces and I pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know how large the hole was so I tried some Fix a Flat to try to cover my bases. Nope, didn't work. So I limped on the shoulder to the next exit. Low and behold, a Goodyear station! Luckily they had a 245/40/18 in stock. Cheap Chinese Rotalla but I had no choice. $125 with M&B. Old tire sidewall was completely shredded. Back on the road an hour later.
I noticed when I left Chicago that my Google directions and my OEM nav were about 2 hours in difference. So I was usually sticking to the Google Nav but of course there were roads that didn't show on the OEM unit so it would appear as if I was travelling in the middle of a field. Haha. But nothing I was used to. Unfortunately, a major roadway was blocked and then closed (57South), and total brought traffic to a standstill. They actually rerouted traffic through a few tiny towns that looked like something from Deliverance. I still can't find out why they closed 57South, but I do think it might be to drum up some business in those little towns (food, gas, souvenir shopping, etc).
Anyway, an hour and half and max speeds of 25mph, back onto a major roadway.
As it was getting dark I realized a new problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, my front ride height sensor had failed and the lights were pointing too low. I tried to adjust hem with a screwdriver but didn't have one that was long enough to reach so I just traveled without the repair. Huge mistake! I coun't see anything more than 15 feet ahead of me. And most of the roads were in heavily wooded areas without street lighting. I was freaking out. Watching the edges like a hawk for a deer. Did have a rabbit run across the roadway but spotted with enough time to keep safe. Whew!
All in all made it safely here, and now just settling in for aout 6 weeks then back to Chicago. I made poor time due to the highway closure (hooray for those towns that made bank on tourists). I was getting about 23.5mpg the entire way keeping the speedometer around 75mph for most of it. I only had about 2 "true" fill ups. I was able to get over 400 miles to the tank! First fill got me 410 miles, second fill got me 433 miles. I was really topping the tank to the max, though. Total trip time was 16 hours. Here's some photos. Thanks for reading!
I started my trip at 6:00am from the outskirts of Chicago. Made it about 220 miles and had a blow out on the right. Yup, driver rear tire shrapneled into pieces and I pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know how large the hole was so I tried some Fix a Flat to try to cover my bases. Nope, didn't work. So I limped on the shoulder to the next exit. Low and behold, a Goodyear station! Luckily they had a 245/40/18 in stock. Cheap Chinese Rotalla but I had no choice. $125 with M&B. Old tire sidewall was completely shredded. Back on the road an hour later.
I noticed when I left Chicago that my Google directions and my OEM nav were about 2 hours in difference. So I was usually sticking to the Google Nav but of course there were roads that didn't show on the OEM unit so it would appear as if I was travelling in the middle of a field. Haha. But nothing I was used to. Unfortunately, a major roadway was blocked and then closed (57South), and total brought traffic to a standstill. They actually rerouted traffic through a few tiny towns that looked like something from Deliverance. I still can't find out why they closed 57South, but I do think it might be to drum up some business in those little towns (food, gas, souvenir shopping, etc).
Anyway, an hour and half and max speeds of 25mph, back onto a major roadway.
As it was getting dark I realized a new problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, my front ride height sensor had failed and the lights were pointing too low. I tried to adjust hem with a screwdriver but didn't have one that was long enough to reach so I just traveled without the repair. Huge mistake! I coun't see anything more than 15 feet ahead of me. And most of the roads were in heavily wooded areas without street lighting. I was freaking out. Watching the edges like a hawk for a deer. Did have a rabbit run across the roadway but spotted with enough time to keep safe. Whew!
All in all made it safely here, and now just settling in for aout 6 weeks then back to Chicago. I made poor time due to the highway closure (hooray for those towns that made bank on tourists). I was getting about 23.5mpg the entire way keeping the speedometer around 75mph for most of it. I only had about 2 "true" fill ups. I was able to get over 400 miles to the tank! First fill got me 410 miles, second fill got me 433 miles. I was really topping the tank to the max, though. Total trip time was 16 hours. Here's some photos. Thanks for reading!
03-22-15, 11:01 PM
#4
So I just did a 900 miles trip from Chicago to Shreveport and it was not without with little moments of excitement. After much debate I decided to travel with my winter runflats rather than my summer wheels. You might ask why. I wanted to use my torn up TRD rims rather than my new 20" Roderick as I heard the roads are pretty harsh down in Shreveport. Plus no spare for the 20"s and at least I would have some security with runflats.
I started my trip at 6:00am from the outskirts of Chicago. Made it about 220 miles and had a blow out on the highway at 75mph. Yup, driver rear tire shrapneled into pieces and I pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know how large the hole was so I tried some Fix a Flat to try to cover my bases. Nope, didn't work. So I limped on the shoulder to the next exit 5 miles up. Low and behold, a Goodyear station! Luckily they had a 245/40/18 in stock. Cheap Chinese Rotalla but I had no choice. $125 with M&B. Old tire sidewall was completely shredded. Back on the road an hour later.
I noticed when I left Chicago that my Google directions and my OEM nav were about 2 hours in difference. So I was usually sticking to the Google Nav but of course there were roads that didn't show on the OEM unit so it would appear as if I was travelling in the middle of a field. Haha. But nothing I wasnt used to. Unfortunately, a major roadway was blocked and then closed (57South), and brought traffic to a total standstill. They actually rerouted traffic through a few tiny towns that looked like something from Deliverance. I still can't find out why they closed 57South, but I do think it might be to drum up some business in those little towns (food, gas, souvenir shopping, etc).
Anyway, an hour and half and max speeds of 25mph, back onto a major roadway.
As it was getting dark I realized a new problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, my front ride height sensor had failed and the lights were pointing too low. I tried to adjust them with a screwdriver but didn't have one that was long enough to reach so I just traveled without the repair. Huge mistake! I coun't see anything more than 15 feet ahead of me. And most of the roads were in heavily wooded areas without street lighting. I was freaking out. Watching the edges like a hawk for deer and other woodland creatures. Did have a rabbit run across the roadway but spotted it with enough time to keep safe. Whew!
All in all made it safely here, and now just settling in for about 6 weeks, then back to Chicago. I made poor time due to the highway closure (hooray for those towns that made bank on tourists). I was getting about 23.5mpg the entire way keeping the speedometer around 75mph for most of it. I only had about 2 "true" fill ups. I was able to get over 400 miles to the tank! First fill got me 410 miles, second fill got me 433 miles. I was really topping the tank to the max, though. Total trip time was 16 hours. Here's some photos. Thanks for reading!
I started my trip at 6:00am from the outskirts of Chicago. Made it about 220 miles and had a blow out on the highway at 75mph. Yup, driver rear tire shrapneled into pieces and I pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know how large the hole was so I tried some Fix a Flat to try to cover my bases. Nope, didn't work. So I limped on the shoulder to the next exit 5 miles up. Low and behold, a Goodyear station! Luckily they had a 245/40/18 in stock. Cheap Chinese Rotalla but I had no choice. $125 with M&B. Old tire sidewall was completely shredded. Back on the road an hour later.
I noticed when I left Chicago that my Google directions and my OEM nav were about 2 hours in difference. So I was usually sticking to the Google Nav but of course there were roads that didn't show on the OEM unit so it would appear as if I was travelling in the middle of a field. Haha. But nothing I wasnt used to. Unfortunately, a major roadway was blocked and then closed (57South), and brought traffic to a total standstill. They actually rerouted traffic through a few tiny towns that looked like something from Deliverance. I still can't find out why they closed 57South, but I do think it might be to drum up some business in those little towns (food, gas, souvenir shopping, etc).
Anyway, an hour and half and max speeds of 25mph, back onto a major roadway.
As it was getting dark I realized a new problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, my front ride height sensor had failed and the lights were pointing too low. I tried to adjust them with a screwdriver but didn't have one that was long enough to reach so I just traveled without the repair. Huge mistake! I coun't see anything more than 15 feet ahead of me. And most of the roads were in heavily wooded areas without street lighting. I was freaking out. Watching the edges like a hawk for deer and other woodland creatures. Did have a rabbit run across the roadway but spotted it with enough time to keep safe. Whew!
All in all made it safely here, and now just settling in for about 6 weeks, then back to Chicago. I made poor time due to the highway closure (hooray for those towns that made bank on tourists). I was getting about 23.5mpg the entire way keeping the speedometer around 75mph for most of it. I only had about 2 "true" fill ups. I was able to get over 400 miles to the tank! First fill got me 410 miles, second fill got me 433 miles. I was really topping the tank to the max, though. Total trip time was 16 hours. Here's some photos. Thanks for reading!
03-23-15, 02:45 PM
#7
Lead Lap
Glad you made it safely Shawn.
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03-23-15, 10:35 PM
#8
Thanks all! I truly feel the love! I did make it safely, and The Lex is running well. Going to try to make it into Lexus to get the headlight situation worked out. As for the trip, I was not able to drop the top as my trunk was packed pretty full. Too bad though, weather was nice. Unlike Chicago. Haha. I heard there was some major snow overnight. And not that fluffy powder stuff either. I heard it was pretty heavy and naturally the city took their time to remove most of it. Today, Shreveport was about 70 degrees, sunny, and muggy. Guess I 'm just going to have to "suffer" through the Louisiana weather... pool side while I do my reading for Boards. Whomp Whomp.
TexSexLex, let me know when you're coming into town again and we can grab some eats!
TexSexLex, let me know when you're coming into town again and we can grab some eats!
Last edited by ShawnOk; 03-24-15 at 12:46 AM.
03-23-15, 11:53 PM
#9
Instructor
Gotta love the Grand touring aspect of our cars. Truly remarkable engineering. Glad you made it safely.
03-24-15, 04:06 AM
#10
I wonder how the SC would look with a trunk mounted luggage rack like we used to have on British Roadsters? Surprisingly, I'm not kidding. Probably a bad idea
03-25-15, 08:45 PM
#11
Thanks all! I truly feel the love! I did make it safely, and The Lex is running well. Going to try to make it into Lexus to get the headlight situation worked out. As for the trip, I was not able to drop the top as my trunk was packed pretty full. Too bad though, weather was nice. Unlike Chicago. Haha. I heard there was some major snow overnight. And not that fluffy powder stuff either. I heard it was pretty heavy and naturally the city took their time to remove most of it. Today, Shreveport was about 70 degrees, sunny, and muggy. Guess I 'm just going to have to "suffer" through the Louisiana weather... pool side while I do my reading for Boards. Whomp Whomp.
TexSexLex, let me know when you're coming into town again and we can grab some eats!
TexSexLex, let me know when you're coming into town again and we can grab some eats!
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