Category: Vehicles

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Schauf Expedition(ish)

Most of you know that in 2018 I was able to go on a trip of a lifetime with my friend Jim Newmann to help him drive a Mercedes G-Wagon back home. It was spectacular to say the least and something neither of us will ever forget.

Time for another expedition(ish). Let me explain.

In 2020, I will be visiting the IBM Tucson office a bit more than usual. I think I have been to the office twice, because for the last 20 years with IBM I have worked from home. The round trip from Indecision Ranch to IBM Tucson and back home is just over 80 miles. As we know from Linda commuting the the Tucson Fire Academy, miles can add up on a vehicle.

We don’t want to put any more miles on Linda’s vehicle (“Pearl”, a Land Rover Supercharged) nor my vehicle (“Earl”, an F250 Super Duty) because we tow the Airstream with it. So – I have been searching for a new daily driver. Given the Guatemala trip, to say that I am impressed with Mercedes diesel engines would be an understatement. So I started the search.

I was geeking out with Jim today on the phone, talking cars. He has been helping me keep an eye out for a good one in California and putting up with my stupid questions. Craigslist has a saved search function so we had been sending listings back and forth. Today, he mentioned I should keep my eye’s out for a “w124 car”, which is a Mercedes chassis designation. Jim knows these cars very well so I took that to heart. We finished our conversation and hung up the phone.

2 minutes later my personal Mac dinged. It was a new Craigslist listing, for a w124 car in Los Angeles. I sent it immediately to Jim who stated “Wow nice car and low miles..”. Hook set. I spoke with the gentleman on the phone and a cash price was set.

I fly tomorrow morning to San Diego, where my brother Jim will pick me up at the airport and we will expedision(ish) to Los Angeles to look at the vehicle. Much shorter than the trip home from Guatemala!

IF all goes well, this will be in the driveway by the weekend!!

1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel
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The Newmann Expedition

I will be heading out on an expedition from Guatemala to Tijuana with my long time friend Jim Newmann and two other soon to be good friends Van Johnson and Luis Reyes. The trip is estimated at around 3,000 miles.

Jim has purchased a 1985 Mercedes Geländewagen or G-Wagon. Just so happens it belonged to Luis’s uncle who lives in Guatemala City. So we are going to go get it!

I will be flying from Tucson to San Diego on Sept 26 and Jim and I will depart Tijuana, Mexico the evening of Sept 27. We plan on spending a few days in Guatemala and then heading out. This is NOT the exact route we will be taking, I just used it to calculate possible mileage and tolls. We will only be traveling during the day and staying on toll roads as much as possible.

Stupid WordPress wont let me embed the map… grrr.

We hope to return back to Tijuana around November 8th. However given the length of the journey, the age of the vehicle (and its passengers) we are not able to predict for sure when we will return. It’s going to be a great time!

I have started growing a beard for low maintenance and have all sorts of new immunizations. I am packing light! Two pairs of ExOfficio travel underwear (they better work as promised ExOfficio!) 4 pairs of KÜHL Stealth Liberators, a few shirts, two pair Merrels and other “stuff”.

I am taking some newly acquired tech gear to help along they way as well, so we should have internet access the entire trip, thanks to the Solis Skyroam.We may also have a couple of Spots with us just in case.

I will try to remember to update the blog at least each day with that days follies.

“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we not take a trip; a trip takes us.”
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

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The Ultimate Uber

In March I spoke at a little IBM convention in Las Vegas called “Think 2018” – it’s actually a very large convention – but that isn’t the point. They have cool stuff in Las Vegas. Its not my favorite town by any stretch of the imagination but it surprised me this year.

I needed an Uber to pick me up along with my good friend Mark Leaser so we could go have a nice steak. This is the Uber vehicle that arrived – not what I was expecting!

Yes – that is a Tesla Model X, the ultimate Uber! The driver was just getting started with a company that will be providing car services with multiple Tesla’s in Las Vegas.

If you don’t know anything about Tesla, they build and sell electric vehicles. Actually I would say they are more in the software industry. Every Tesla they sell within a specific model is the same hardware, but they can enable and disable features based on what you pay for with the software that runs the car. Yeah – wrap your head around that for a while.

They do some pretty cool things besides never needing an oil change or engine maintenance or overhaul. They have a “Mars Rover Mode” (video 1) and they will also perform a Christmas Song for you! (even better video 2). Kaylan, the second one is for you!

Mars Rover Mode:

Christmas Performance! I get a bit excited….

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F250 Super Duty Dog Platform Build

We need space in the backseat of the truck for the dogs so they can go with us on some upcoming trips. I started researching some flat platforms for the rear seat of the F250. Apparently there were some model years in which Ford had an option for a flat steel fold out platform. Our truck does not have that platform but rather some very nice underseat storage with a handy 12V DC power outlet. In researching and talking to some guys on the inner web, I located a few of these platforms for purchase.

But then I went to measure how much room the dogs would have with the flat steel platform in and without removing the rear seat. Turns out not too much! I could gain another 1.5 feet of room by rooming the rear sear. More is always better so I decided to remove the rear seat in the King Ranch and build my own dang dog platform!

Note: The middle seatbelt has a very small release hole where the normal red release button should be. Took me a while to find that. Simply insert a pin and push. Make believe your removing a seat belt for a bee. It works. Also, be careful when removing the connector for the under seat 12 volt power socket as that is a bit tricky.

Seat Removed:

The platform will be about 35.5 inches deep and 57 inches wide in the truck.

Next we need some support slats to run front to back under the platform for support. The issue here is that the floor isn’t “flat”. Ford decided that would just be too simple. SO I invented the special “Schauf Contour Tool” which is a 35.5 inch piece of cardboard to match length of platform with duct tape and bamboo skewers and a level. I am pretty sure Sears will start carrying them soon. This will also me to measure each slat to perfectly match the contour of the floor.

Measure Contour of Floor

Next using the SCT (catch up people, its an acronym for the tool) I adjusted the skewers along the SCT to match the contour of the floor where this particular slat will make contact.

Hey don’t laugh. Worked pretty well so far!

Update: So apparently this type of tool was already invented and is called a “Contour Tool”. There are up more than a few of them available on Amazon – however they are NOT 35 inches long! Dang another patent down the drain. 

Plot the points on the slat

At this point I transferred the contour points onto the 35.5 x 6.5 slat and connected the dots. I learned how to do that at an early age. Still can’t stay in the lines though.

First Slat done!

Ok, so after cutting it looks like the SCT will work. I need to measure out and cut about 3 more slats. I wish the floor were the same the width of the truck but it isn’t. Thanks Ford.

 Since we chose MDF for strength and weight, I had to augment it so the slats have better support. (Zoom in).  I used 1×1’s on each side of each slat for extra support and so that I would have a solid surface to drill into from the top. 

Also since it’s about 198° in the garage here in Arizona, even at night, I am fabricating in the kitchen. I promise I’ll clean up the mess honey. This picture shows the structurally complete platform. 

OK time to see if it fits in the truck! And it does! I forgot to take a picture of the level showing a completely centered bubble. 

I then positioned the Engle refrigerator so that I could maximize space for the dogs and determine where to put the tiedown points. 

The boys were very excited and have plenty of room!


At some point I’ll finish up with carpet to match the interior of the truck but for now will just use their dog beds. 

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F250 Intercooler Upgrade Install

Well, got the upgrade parts today and was able to get the installation done today as well after work. The install took me about 2 hours because its the first time I have wrenched on the F250 and the fitment of the pipe, given that its comprised of 4 parts each of which can rotate and need adjustment, took some time.

Its also the first time that I have needed Vaseline and window cleaner when working in an engine compartment. Stop giggling Jim and Chris. The Vaseline is for the lubrication (ok, now just Chris stop giggling) of an o-ring that gets removed from the old intercooler tube and placed into the new bad-assness part (beautiful CNC-machined aluminum piece) on the top of the engine. The window cleaner allows the boots to slip onto the pipe and will dry so not as to allow slippage later.

I used the H&S Intercooler kit and it comes with very good installation instructions. Even though the instructions provided are online and in color, I believe a couple of things are missing from them:

1 – There should be more detail about the fitment of the high quality bead-rolled stainless steel pipe to the boots. The pipe itself has raised ridges and I had some question about where the clamps should be placed in relation to the ridges on the pipe. I had seen a picture during my research showing the correct fitment but alas I did not bookmark it. I figured it out however and placed the clamps to the outside of the ridges on the boots so that any pressure created inside the boot would end up pushing the boot against the pipe and not OFF the pipe. That’s what we are trying to avoid in the first place…. well that and the pipe exploding. I don’t think this stainless steel pipe will explode like the plastic one did on Mike’s truck but I digress.

2- There should be a better picture showing the correct position of the air temperature sensor connector on the CNC machined aluminum part which fits on the throttle body assembly. I could not find a way to have the H&S logo on top as stated in the instructions as this would rotate the air temperature sensor connector right into the fan shroud. I still have not found a way to make two items occupy the same physical space thus my rotation solution.

3 – For those of us who are new to wrenching on our F250’s there should also be a mention of the “gold wrench”. Upon reconnecting the battery and jumping in the truck to start it, I was confronted with a nice golden wrench on the display on the dash. I assume this is the trucks way of telling you “hey someone disconnected my battery” as after I started the truck, turned it off and put the key back in – no more golden wrench. I am sure there is a better description of this on the Powerstroke forum.

4 – The instructions should also state that small children and those with sensitive hearing should not be present during the installation as foul language will most certainly be used and at increasing volumes.

So here are the pictures:

Kit:

Before:

During:

After:

I then took a vigorous test drive and threw some turbo pressure at the new parts and they did very well, didn’t blow up or off and got me home. There was a slight hiss on the long boot and a spray of windex while the turbo was spun up did show some bubbles so I tightened that clamp a bit more.

Time will tell but I now will feel more confident when towing or carrying some good weight in the truck. And if anything fails it will be my fault and I will know how to fix it.

This experience also has given me an idea for the trucks name. Yes, I name my vehicles but they must earn the name. Since the truck did draw blood and it has a blue logo, I was thinking that “blueblood” might work. Then I decided to extend that to some noble blueblood name, so I am thinking Alfred or something like that. Ohhh – how about Frederick the Ford? He was a pretty calm monarch. Plus Pixar does not have any hip white truck names and I will not call the truck “Mater”. I will have to run the idea past the naming committee (Linda).