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Cross Country In A DSM

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WIDSM

15+ Year Contributor
245
0
Feb 4, 2006
milwaukee, Wisconsin
Driving from Seattle to Milwaukee in a dsm sounds like a joke, and nobody thought it would happen or that the car would make it out of Washington. Driving a dsm that is far from stock made it an even more unlikely candidate to take on a road trip.

But I wasn't going to hear it. I built this thing myself and I didn't cut corners, I knew it would make it. I loaded up my sea bags and my bike into the back of the laser and my sister and I took off Saturday on the 2500 mile road trip in a car with no a/c, no power steering, no cruise control, and worst of all no radio. On the first day we made it out to Montana without any problems. That eased my mind a little because it was a lot of driving and through the mountains.

We decided to make a few detours on way and drive through Yellowstone and The Badlands, stopping to see Mt. Rushmore in between. Everything was amazing, it was the first time I had seen any of this. We saw buffalo, moose, and all sorts of other animals on the way.

Climbing through the Big Horn mountains was the only time we had any sort of problem. While climbing through the mountains, with the car under a constant load and having to be in 3rd gear because 4th didn't have enough power the car would start to get hot. Well the car must have already been warm before starting the climb because this time we got maybe a mile into the mountains and we had to pull over because it was getting so hot. It wasn't to the point that it was overheating but it would be shortly. We stopped at a scenic pullover spot and I popped the hood and pulled the radiator cap. When I looked under the car I saw it was leaking coolant. I thought we were done for. Upon a closer look, it was the drain plug for the radiator leaking. There didn't appear to be an o-ring anymore. There was a steady stream of water coming out so I had to do something. I remember I had an extra o-ring some where in the car so I began frantically searching. An older couple stopped and asked what the problem was and I told them it was overheating. She said there was a natural spring on the other side of the road. So we filled up all of the bottles that we had and I replaced the o-ring. I had two bottles of water-wetter in the car and I poured those in to. The natural water tasted amazing by the way.

After that we didn't have any more problems with the car and we made it back perfectly fine in the laser yesterday. The car proved a true testament of endurance, not something that most think of when you say 4g63. This car has impressed me since the day I got it, and has been able to take anything I can throw at it. Now I can laugh when people tell me that these cars are unreliable because it has proven to be nothing but that.

I could ramble on more about the actual trip but I won't. I'm sure most of you don't want to read this much.

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Nice to hear this is happening more often. My buddy Tim is currently making his way from Virginia Beach all the way to Washington(somewhere close to Seattle) in his GVR4; loaded down with everything he owns. He even came south to stop by my area before heading to WI and then making his way to the PNW.
 
Congrats on your safe, nearly problem free road trip. When built properly and maintained well, a DSM can be a reliable car.
 
Congrats on the successful journey. I have driven my 91 turbo Laser from eastern South Dakota to Las Vegas and back. It was in summer and like you, I had no AC! It was a fun trip and the laser made it through the plains, mountains, and dessert in 22 straight hours of driving (1400 miles one way), no problems. No problems on the return trip either. How is that for reliability?
 
Nice work. Too many bad-seeds in our world who can't make it out of their own county. My 2g does 734 mile round-trips to my dad's place in the summer and has done them since '02.
 
Awesome thread. I couldn't agree with you more. I think if a DSM is built right it can be INCREDIBLY reliable. I have ALWAYS had great luck with DSM's. That's why I never could understand why people said they were crappy and unreliable all the time.

I used to have a chevy cavalier....NOW THAT damn thing broke down every other week...NO JOKE.
 
I don't see why long trips are touted as some miracle. Congrats on the 2500 journey, hope it was fun, but why do I feel like I'm the only person sometimes, who can drive their car for the full 3000 miles between oil changes without a problem? If you can't make it that long, you're doing something wrong.
 
I don't see why long trips are touted as some miracle. Congrats on the 2500 journey, hope it was fun, but why do I feel like I'm the only person sometimes, who can drive their car for the full 3000 miles between oil changes without a problem? If you can't make it that long, you're doing something wrong.

It's harder on a car that you purchased sitting for 4 years.
Everything breaks, to put it simply.


Everything.
 
When I was in the Army, I drove from Louisiana to Iowa 1600 miles round trip. TWICE. Kept the cruise control (when it works) on 75. No problems at all both times.

I remember the last time I left Iowa in a blizzard. The DSM was covered in snow. There was a 'lip' of snow under the license plate when I arrived on base in the deep south. Wish I could find that pic.
 
I really didn't want to drive out honda (2002) to south dakota and back (1500 miles) but I did.

I dont like driving my cars long distances. Thats what rental cars are for.


I'm dropping my talon off on saturday to its new owner about 175 miles away.... I think that would be its 2nd longest trip since I have owned it. I dont drive my cars too much except in the winter for hockey season lots of miles. thats what the honda is for.

I think I drive maybe 3k miles in the summer and close to 20k fall winter and early spring.
 
I've now driven my NT 3 times for 450 miles stints. Never had a problem. I drove my laser turbo 450 miles once and like 250 miles at a time once as well.

James :dsm::talon::laser:
 
I really didn't want to drive out honda (2002) to south dakota and back (1500 miles) but I did.

I dont like driving my cars long distances. Thats what rental cars are for.


I'm dropping my talon off on saturday to its new owner about 175 miles away.... I think that would be its 2nd longest trip since I have owned it. I dont drive my cars too much except in the winter for hockey season lots of miles. thats what the honda is for.

I think I drive maybe 3k miles in the summer and close to 20k fall winter and early spring.

Why are you selling your car??!!!?!!

James :dsm::talon::laser:
 
Why are you selling your car??!!!?!!

James :dsm::talon::laser:

Few reasons.

1. money for school. (really for the fees to play club hockey at ua)
1.a Fiance busting my balls
2. I wanted a new car to do some work to.

So when I get down to Bama I'm going to spend some time searching for a new 1ga thats in good shape and put it in the garage and start working on it.

I really dont keep my cars too long I like to fix them up and send them on thier way.

Good news is the guy that bought it has had 4 DSM's and he sold his a couple of years ago so hes getting back into the game.
 
Few reasons.

1. money for school. (really for the fees to play club hockey at ua)
1.a Fiance busting my balls
2. I wanted a new car to do some work to.

So when I get down to Bama I'm going to spend some time searching for a new 1ga thats in good shape and put it in the garage and start working on it.

I really dont keep my cars too long I like to fix them up and send them on thier way.

Good news is the guy that bought it has had 4 DSM's and he sold his a couple of years ago so hes getting back into the game.

1. Can understand that, but thats what we have loans for. :rocks:
2. Ive learn never to let women get between you and your dsm, unless its to hand you a part or tool :D
3. Just buy another dsm to add to your gallery. :thumb:

James :dsm::talon::laser:
 
this is my 3rd first one I bought and sold second I bought to make a sweet budget build and got into the 13's and well I learned a lesson about heat soak and the 3rd I did it right.

4th is going to be insane sleeper.
 
this is my 3rd first one I bought and sold second I bought to make a sweet budget build and got into the 13's and well I learned a lesson about heat soak and the 3rd I did it right.

4th is going to be insane sleeper.

GVR4, do it up!

James :dsm::talon::laser:
 
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