I hit a pot hole today in on RT20 in NJ . I tought I left my front suspension in the hole. I also blew a shock in my truck!.
It's about having fun. If the trip across the LA basin isn't fun, or puts too much wear and tear on your stuff, drag it onto the trailer and go. If the trailer is more hassle than it's worth, drive the car. Personally, the adventure of getting there is at least half the fun for me, but if the drive is more hassle than fun, bring the car on a stretcher.
yep i bleve it. try driving down richmond terrace in staten island i have to take my wallet out of my back pocket haha.
That reminds me, Easter Sunday coming back to the the Island from Conneticut and the 52 got real bouncy and funny in lane changes. Get home and had broke both rear shock bolts and my brake light switch loosened up and my brake lights were on the whole time. The shocks were gone anway. The Belt Parkway is like the military tests bombs on it! I saw pot holes on that road that you can actually drive into and out of!
There are fewer potholes but the freeways are wavy(don't forget the quakes) and bumpy and have truck bedliners and mattresses and crap in them. I don't blame you for trailering
What freeways are that bad you cant drive on them up here in the Central Valley? 99 is old but its not thaaaaat bad. It has its places where the trucks beat up the lanes but thats why there is more than one lane. 5 has enough lanes to stay outta the truck ruts. 132 and 120 are just country roads... We are like you and drive the crap outta our cars. Some roads are rough, some arent. It shouldnt be a reason to not drive your car. edit: I guess alot of it also has to do with what you are driving and how it is set up. I have a pretty heavy car thats on mostly stock suspension just lowered. It is pretty low though, never had a problem other than the occasional rut that grabs a bias ply or a pothole but never enough to make me want to trailer anything.
Ive driven both, our roads are nowhere near as bad as yours Thats the truth, we must have the worst drivers on earth x2 - if you dont enjoy driving old cars its time to hang it up- because thats what its all about- I enjoy the drive to the shows more than the shows themself. No shame in that
here's a little tidbit to consider.. when towing a trailer on freeways, you're supposed to be using the slower lanes which are also the most beat up. many a fine car has been roughed up worse when on/in a trailer. enjoy the drive..it's alot more fun.
The reason we dont have very many of those "smart cars" up this way is because they fall into the pot holes (that are more like sink holes) and they become fill.
its a car its ment to be drivin on good roads or bad, i drive the 710 every day to work and back and as messed up as that freeway is if i had a finished hot rod or custom i'd still drive it...just have fun...
Never said I wouldn't drive, just noted that the roads are in bad shape. I try, as best I can, to avoid the bad holes and concrete joints. It makes no sense to beat up the car unnecessarily. As for the bad drivers, I generally take back roads and surface streets instead of the Interstates as much as possible. Better scenery anyway. Nobody loves driving a hot rod more than I do.
Bingo! I avoid that street at all cost. Its such a busy stretch of road that I cant believe it has not gotten completely ripped apart and repaved. Its horrible. Tar patch work here and there, but after 2-3 months those pot holes are back... and only to be repaired in the same fashion in another 4-5 months. ugh!
I've got a trailer, it's nice for those times when your car isn't 100% shook down or whatever. But I prefer to drive just because trailering does have some inherent risk and a trailer wreck is usually a total loss...not always worth the risk. People drive like a-holes and cut you off when you're trailering, flat tires, etc. Then you've got a tow vehicle, trailer and your "ride" in jeopardy. That's a whole lot more $$$ at stake.
We drove down to Pomona over the 4th. A big problem you have from Sacramento on south is all the cracking. CalTrans has been fortunate to pick up some stimulus money for road resurfacing. We saw a lot of that happening. You guys get so many earthquakes that the road crews can't keep up with the cracking and they take the short cut of throwing sealer in the cracks. That is a very short term fix at best. We have a similar problemm from freeze/thaw in the mountain passes. Last trip into Eastern Washington loosened every bolt in the truck and a few fillings in my teeth. I don't see any shame in trailering. I'd planned on driving to B'ville but with the temps they are forecasting and no A/C it makes more sense to trailer the 1800 mile round trip.
I get to drive that daily. Lane 3 is destroyed, lane 4 is nearly destroyed. That's why my daily driver is one. They are still building them like that. I can't figure out why dumping the accelerating traffic entering the freeway right into the stream of traffic decelerating to exit the freeway is, or ever was, a good idea. I grew up in the East, and there were not any like that there.
theres a strip in jackson MS on the highway that gets you in a motion that won't stop if your lacking shocks, i kid you not. anyone thats ever hit this road will tell you. guy i takled to at the show broke his tanneau cover, misaligned his panels, and tweaked a lot of stuff outside of panels just because of that stretch of highway. he drove from oregan to louisiana but hit TN on the way and said we easily had the worst hes ever ridden on. i don't doubt him one bit.
Having driven in every one of the lower 48, I will take our roads over just about anywhere else! Yeah some of them are a bit rough, but if your Hot Rod can't handle the freeways here (that's Parkway or Expressway for you easterners) your car is not going to be able to take trips ANYWHERE. Maybe it's time to rethink your Shock, Spring and suspension travel package! If your car, or you, isn't up to it, trailer it - hey it's your car and your fun time so screw what others think. Enjoy yourself, the whiners about trailers are usually driving an 83 Monte Carlo, mom's Minivan or some other shit box anyway. As for our drivers, it hasn't always been that way in California. It's all the foreigners (from other countries AND other states) that don't know how the hell to drive. And they have managed to rub off their lack of ability on our younger generations. When I was a kid, you never ran a red light because most likely there were two guys squaring off on the other side of the intersection waiting for the green to give it a go and they would have T Boned the hell out of you!
Haha..... Ive driven on many of your roads in CA... You reckon they're bad? Try drivin on OUR excuse for roads....yours are like billiard tables in comparison to ours. And we DRIVE our cars EVERYWHERE !! There, I hope ya'all feel better !! Rat
Come on, in general CA roads aren't that bad. I'll agree, the 880 off Oakland is horrible mostly because of the huge load it takes including all the trucks which just pound it. Besides the crappy surface, there is also always crap all over it from the trucks. I have lost 2 windshields from rocks being thrown up and once I had just literally bought an OT daily car form a person and getting back onto 880 within a matter of minutes a big chunk of something, probably truck tire parts, came flying in the air and hit the front my until then almost perfect car and put a dent in the front edge of the hood that, literally minutes after buying the car. 880 does blow and I pretty much now despise that section of road, but the rest of CA really isn't that bad, especially considering how much use they get. I drive my 3/4 ton truck on them all the time and sure it is a bit rough, but that is just part of the charm. And yes, better to take non-hyway roads when you can anyway. Way more enjoyable experience regardless.
OOh don't trailer it unless you want to be "one of those guys" F--K them! It's your car and your life and your hobby. Enjoy it the way you want to. The Rebel has spoken!
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