Driving from Alta to Heavenly

AH wrote:

Has anyone got a suggestion on where to stop (maybe 2 places) on the way
from SLC to Reno on the I-80?

Gas up in Wendover and Winnemucca, then again when you arrive in
Sparks. Between these stops are rest areas with bathrooms.

Beware of the speed zone around Elko. The speed limit is 65 mph, not
the 75 mph limit for the rest of the freeway. I got stopped there a
few weeks ago.
--
terry morse

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 22:16:52 -0700, Seth Bullock
wrote:

Walt wrote:

AH wrote:

Ahh.. of course.. for some reason I thought AWD when I say FWD.. anyway..
this is all good news..


There's actually a subtle difference between Four Wheel Drive and All
Wheel Drive that escapes me at the moment. Subaru makes a big deal out
of the fact that their cars are AWD not 4WD. The common TLAs are

4WD Four Wheel Drive
AWD All Wheel Drive
FWD Front Wheel Drive
RWD Rear Wheel Drive

4WD vehicles are vehicles which can be switched from a 2WD state into
4WD, and back out. On older vehicles, this requires manual hub locking,
on modern rigs, a push button. You have a choice.

AWD means all 4 wheels are always powered, whether you like it or not.

Doesn't AWD also allow some differential slip between the inside and
outside wheels in a turn, where 4WD doesn't (and consequently binds up
and does itself harm if used on dry pavement)? Or is that just _some_
4wd drivetrains?

bw

bdubya wrote:
On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 22:16:52 -0700, Seth Bullock
wrote:


Walt wrote:


AH wrote:


Ahh.. of course.. for some reason I thought AWD when I say FWD.. anyway..
this is all good news..


There's actually a subtle difference between Four Wheel Drive and All
Wheel Drive that escapes me at the moment. Subaru makes a big deal out
of the fact that their cars are AWD not 4WD. The common TLAs are

4WD Four Wheel Drive
AWD All Wheel Drive
FWD Front Wheel Drive
RWD Rear Wheel Drive

4WD vehicles are vehicles which can be switched from a 2WD state into
4WD, and back out. On older vehicles, this requires manual hub locking,
on modern rigs, a push button. You have a choice.

AWD means all 4 wheels are always powered, whether you like it or not.


Doesn't AWD also allow some differential slip between the inside and
outside wheels in a turn, where 4WD doesn't (and consequently binds up
and does itself harm if used on dry pavement)? Or is that just _some_
4wd drivetrains?

All motor vehicles require differential wheel rpm between the inside and
outside wheels, on both axles. 4X4 requires additional different rpm
rates between front and back axles. - some provide it by slipage against
the surface, others by an additional differential in the transfercase.
AWD has the differential, allowing use on dry pavement. My beasts don't
causing binding in 4X4 on dry pavement.

All in all, I prefer an old arrangement 4X4 - shift in transfer case,
lockable hubs. Less parasitic drivetrain drag in 2X4, more positive 4X4
action when required, and cheaper to buy and mainitain. The later is, I
believe, why it's getting really hard to find a genuine old style 4X4
rig - the comp[anies can't make enough profit on inexpensive components.

BTW, The most common hubs on 4X4 are automatic hubs that lock themselves
when you shift to 4X4; manual hubs are rarer (I put some manual after
market hubs on my 53 Willy Four Wheel Drive pickup.)

Also I believe Willy/Jeep trademarked "Four Wheel Drive" back in the
good ol days, which is why everyone alludes to 4X4 and AWD and 4WD and
other odd ball locutions instead of plain old four wheel drive.

Lucky wrote:
"Richard Henry" wrote in message news:iikfd.18516


I carry a box with the wrong size chains in them in the back of my Jeep,
just so I'll have some to show. I figure if the road is so bad I need to
put chains on over the 4WD, I'm going back home instead.


Heh Heh.
well you can stop pretending to be a powder skier then.

Going home was one of my best decisions ever.

Early the morning of March 31, 1982 I was trying to force my way up the
Alpine Meadows access road, backing up repeatedly and ramming my way
through drift after drift; when the road became completely impassible I
considered snowshoeing the last few miles - had the shoes and pack and
proper clothing; but I decided to turn back. I went home.

Going home was one of my best decisions ever.

AH wrote:
"Bob Lee" wrote in message
...

Stop for what?


For a break! I would like to get out every 3/4 hours and walk around for 30
minutes..

There really isn't anything to see; so stop where-ever you feel like it.
BTW, you might want to conseder splitting your drive - leave after
skiing until early afternoon, hole up part way in a cheap motel, and
have a much more reasonable drive.

(Actually there is one thing to see, but it's hard to find even tho it's
right on the freeway, and its interesting only to peculiar people [comme
moi] - an eccentric guy built a weird house/compound/fort out of odd
waste materials, old bottles, broken down cars, concrete, etc, all by
hand as his mode shifted. Strange guy (long dead) strange edifice. Not
too many hundreds of miles into the desert east out of Reno. But you'll
likely not notice it.)

"Walt" wrote in message
...
David Harris wrote:

As for dealing with Dollar, they're nothing special. In fact, I don't
think any of them have much to differentiate themselves one way or the
other, but Dollar should be just fine to deal with.

Not my experience at all. Dollar is the worst car rental company that
I've ever dealt with. They have a habit of taking more reservations
than they have cars, leaving you stranded at the rental desk. It's
happened to me, and it's happened to many others.

If you're idea of how to start a vacation is spending all day waiting
around the airport for your *reserved* car, then rent from Dollar. If
you like being told "your car will be ready in twenty minutes" every 20
minutes for six hours, rent from Dollar. If you like standing around the
kiosk with 50 other angry travelers while the desk help plays dumb and
the manager hides, rent from Dollar.

I've rented from Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Budget, Trifty and Alamo.
They're all more or less interchangeable. Dollar sucks.

Want other opinions? See
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-Transportation-Auto_Rental-All-Dollar/display_~reviews/sec_~opinion_list/pp_~1/pa_~1#list

Scroll down past the first dozen or so obviously fake 5-star reviews
written by Dollar's marketing department

--
//-Walt
//
// Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community

The reviews there seem pretty mixed.. some people rate them very good.. some
people rate them very bad..

I'm in a bit of a situation, because a lot of companies don't rent to under
25's, and a lot of companies (enterprise, payless.. some others I can't
think of) won't let you take the car our of CA, NV or AZ when you rent from
LA.. and I'm going to Utah for a bit of the trip.. the ones that do rent to
under 25's normally charge $25 a day and charge a pretty hefty cost to start
with.. dollar is charging me $100 a week for a reasonable car which I can
take anywhere, and its only $20 a day for being under 25..

So my choice is unfortunately limited.. if anyone has a better suggestion
for what to do, that doesn't cost much more than $240 a week (inclusive of
underage charge) then let me know..

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:14:11 GMT, "AH" wrote:


"Walt" wrote in message
...
David Harris wrote:

As for dealing with Dollar, they're nothing special. In fact, I don't
think any of them have much to differentiate themselves one way or the
other, but Dollar should be just fine to deal with.

Not my experience at all. Dollar is the worst car rental company that
I've ever dealt with. They have a habit of taking more reservations
than they have cars, leaving you stranded at the rental desk. It's
happened to me, and it's happened to many others.

If you're idea of how to start a vacation is spending all day waiting
around the airport for your *reserved* car, then rent from Dollar. If
you like being told "your car will be ready in twenty minutes" every 20
minutes for six hours, rent from Dollar. If you like standing around the
kiosk with 50 other angry travelers while the desk help plays dumb and
the manager hides, rent from Dollar.

I've rented from Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Budget, Trifty and Alamo.
They're all more or less interchangeable. Dollar sucks.

Want other opinions? See
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-Transportation-Auto_Rental-All-Dollar/display_~reviews/sec_~opinion_list/pp_~1/pa_~1#list

Scroll down past the first dozen or so obviously fake 5-star reviews
written by Dollar's marketing department

--
//-Walt
//
// Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community

The reviews there seem pretty mixed.. some people rate them very good.. some
people rate them very bad..

I'm in a bit of a situation, because a lot of companies don't rent to under
25's, and a lot of companies (enterprise, payless.. some others I can't
think of) won't let you take the car our of CA, NV or AZ when you rent from
LA.. and I'm going to Utah for a bit of the trip.. the ones that do rent to
under 25's normally charge $25 a day and charge a pretty hefty cost to start
with.. dollar is charging me $100 a week for a reasonable car which I can
take anywhere, and its only $20 a day for being under 25..

So my choice is unfortunately limited.. if anyone has a better suggestion
for what to do, that doesn't cost much more than $240 a week (inclusive of
underage charge) then let me know..


If you can get a major corporation to rent the car for you, most
companies will wave the age requirement - they did it for my x
girlfriend all of the time. If you have a job, it might be worth
trying to rent through them as if its a business trip.

nate

"bdubya" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 22:16:52 -0700, Seth Bullock
wrote:

Walt wrote:

AH wrote:

Ahh.. of course.. for some reason I thought AWD when I say FWD..
anyway..
this is all good news..


There's actually a subtle difference between Four Wheel Drive and All
Wheel Drive that escapes me at the moment. Subaru makes a big deal out
of the fact that their cars are AWD not 4WD. The common TLAs are

4WD Four Wheel Drive
AWD All Wheel Drive
FWD Front Wheel Drive
RWD Rear Wheel Drive

4WD vehicles are vehicles which can be switched from a 2WD state into
4WD, and back out. On older vehicles, this requires manual hub locking,
on modern rigs, a push button. You have a choice.

AWD means all 4 wheels are always powered, whether you like it or not.

Doesn't AWD also allow some differential slip between the inside and
outside wheels in a turn, where 4WD doesn't (and consequently binds up
and does itself harm if used on dry pavement)? Or is that just _some_
4wd drivetrains?

ALL drivetrains allow different inside and outside wheel speeds. The bulge
in the middle of the axle is the differential, which allows the different
speeds. However, at low speeds on dry pavement, you also need a
differential between the front and rear axles. Most 4WDs do not have one.
AWD does.

"bdubya" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 14:18:28 -0600, "pigo"
wrote:



What kind of car are you getting? Good snow tires and moderation of speed
should do you just fine.

If you know a place in SLC that rents cars with good snow tires,
please advise. I'd really appreciate it.

bw

Like a FWD sedan but with better than normal tires, type of thing? I know
there are lot's of Montero's and Sub. Wagons and the like. We've got the
normal places like Enterprise. That's one of the ones I go to. I've never
paid too much attention to their tires though. I get one on the weekends
sometimes for a quick jaunt to Vegas.

pigo

"AH" wrote in message
.uk...

"Bob Lee" wrote in message
...
Stop for what?

For a break! I would like to get out every 3/4 hours and walk around for
30 minutes..

When I was working for TrekAmerica tours many moons ago I used to camp at
Rye Patch Reservoir. I think it's just E. of Winnemucca. There was a
campground there and a nice place to get out and throw some rocks or
something.

If you get out of your car every 45 minutes and walk around for 30 minutes
you're NEVER going to get to Reno! In your car you should be able to do it
in 1 stop. But if your not used to the long USA drives take 2 and walk while
the tank is filling.

My foreign clients on the tours could manage about 2 hrs between stops, but
they were mostly girls.

pigo